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 "Dessert for Breakfast" Bidding after Limiting by Marti Ronemus

February is "Dessert for Breakfast" month, and it comes right in the middle of the Winter doldrums when we need it most. I'm dedicating this column to my BFF's father, Earl, whom I sadly never met. He concocted a dish that is stunning in its simplicity, and sets a standard for breakfast dessert that is almost impossible to beat.

Picture a bowl of hot, creamy, steamy oatmeal, oozing comfort and tastiness. Top it with a scoop of the best French Vanilla ice cream you can find. That's it... perfection in a bowl. Can you taste it?

Let's refocus. We're going to apply Earl's concept of simplicity being the key to perfection to our bidding. Here's our concept for today: After we LIMIT our hand, we can make a bid we normally couldn't. Huh? Watch...

Question 1

  Your Hand
♠ 4 3 2
♥ 5
♦ K Q 10 9 6 4
♣ 6 5 4 		 
Q: 1 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1♥Pass
1 No-trumpPass2♣Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 2♦: We want badly to tell Pard about our Diamonds, but after his 1♥ opener, we don't have the cash to buy the ice cream, er... two-level. BUT!! We get another chance. When Pard bids 2♣, we can show our Diamonds. Will Pard think we found a King in our hand? No. He will know we are showing a long, strong suit, and that we hate both of his. Pard now knows the story. He will know we didn't have enough points to bid the suit initially. If we don't get to play this in Diamonds, we are going to be a Crummy Dummy.

Your result so far:
Open Question

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Question 2

  Your Hand
♠ Q 3 2
♥ 5
♦ J 8 7 6 4 2
♣ K 6 5 		 
Q: 2 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1♥Pass
1 No-trumpPass2♣Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass: See the difference? This time, we don't have a suit worthy of bidding. Our Pass tells Pard we'd rather play this in his likely seven-card Club suit than Hearts. We limited our hand to 6-9, and again, Pard will know the story.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
♠ 7 4 3
♥ 7
♦ Q 10 9 8 7 6 4
♣ 8 6 		 
Q: 3 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1♥Pass
Pass1♠2♣Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 2♦: We were right to pass the first time (unless we play Weak Jump Shifts... story for another day), but this time we need to speak up. First, consider: Pard has bid again, even though our initial pass told him we have less than 6 pts. He has a BIG hand and deserves to hear from us. Again, he will know we have a LONG suit and hate both of his. If we Pass this time, poor Pard will find himself playing in a possible six-card suit. We will neither deserve nor get our Dessert for Breakfast.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
♠ J 10 7 3
♥ 10 8 2
♦ 10 8 3
♣ J 9 5 		 
Q: 4 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1♥Pass
PassDouble2♦Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 2♥: Once again, our Pard showed a second suit after we passed, limiting our hand to 5-ish. This time however, we have no suit of our own. We know we have an eight-card Heart fit, so let's bid it. Pard, because of our initial Pass, isn't going to get excited.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
♠ K Q 3
♥ 3
♦ J 10 9 8 7 3 2
♣ 5 4 		 
Q: 5 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1♥1♠
1 No-trumpPass2♣Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 2♦: We've got the idea by now. Our 1 No-trump bid tells Pard we only had 6-9 pts, and that we hold a Spade stopper (or darn well should!). We don't like either of Pard's suits, and we sure don't have the points to bid No-trump again. Time to tell Pard about the suit that will prevent us from being a Crummy Dummy.

And now, before the ice cream melts, let's play our hand.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

Overall Results

Your results:   out of    Average: 

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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