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 Misfits "Pizza Blotting" by Marti Ronemus

Pizza, of all things, is rife with controversy. Some will never be resolved, like which is better, Chicago pizza or New York. The latest discussion is whether or not to blot pizza with a napkin or paper towel to soak up all the surface grease. Huh? Isn't that where all the yum is? Nutritional experts (read: spoil sports) say we can reduce the calorie per slice by 20-50 calories.

Not worth the effort, we say? Well, consider this. The average American eats 23 pounds of pizza a year. That means blotting could save 6611 calories which adds up to the equivalent of losing two pounds. Many view this "blotting" as a culinary crime, but hey, two pounds is two pounds.

Today's quiz deals with another thorny issue: How do we handle the bidding when we have a misfit with Pard. Keep in mind that the worse the misfit, the more important it is to not get overly-ambitious. In other words, blot like crazy!

Question 1

  Your Hand
 K 8
 A 2
 A J 9 8 7 6 5
 9 8
 
Q: 1 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
111 No-trumpp
?


 Your choice:
A: 2: A case can be made for all four answers, and we're going conservative. Here's why. Pard has a Heart stopper, maybe 1-1/2 or 2 and we've got one. We're pretty much at the top of a minimum opener. BUT! Pard does NOT have four Spades. How do we know that? He would have made a Negative Double if he did. The quality of our trump suit, Diamonds, isn't that great. While we've got lots of honorettes, if Pard has no Diamond honors, we could have problems. Not to mention the Clubs. Let's change things up a little.

Your result so far:
Open Question

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Question 2

  Your Hand
 K J 8
 3 2
 A K J 8 7 6 5
 9
 
Q: 2 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
111 No-trumpp
?


 Your choice:
A: 3: This time, we're proud to rebid our suit, and jump a level. We've got a trick-taker of a hand. Pard's got Hearts stopped and we've got Spades. Pard will know by our rebid that we want game, but there's something wrong with our shape. Our bid is forcing and leaves lots of room below 3 No-trump. We've still got a misfit and need to show it.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
 K J 8
 3 2
 A K 10 8 7 6
 A 9
 
Q: 3 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
111 No-trumpp
?


 Your choice:
A: 3 No-trump: Now we've got it all... Pard's got Hearts covered, we've got the rest. When we have a misfit, we have to be a little cautious, as we've said before. While we still have a misfit, we blot for safety.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
 A K J 10 9 5
 3 2
 4
 J 8 7 2
 
Q: 4 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1p
1p2p
?


 Your choice:
A: 3: When faced with a misfit, even with a secondary suit fit, we need to be very careful. Maybe we should just show Pard our minimum support hand and our six-card Spade suit. This is an independent suit, and we don't mind playing even opposite a void. We've got a nice fit in the minor, so we'll try to invite.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
 A K J 10 9 5
 3 2
 4
 J 9 8 4
 
Q: 5 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
--1p
1p2p
?


 Your choice:
A: 2: We can discuss this one, but this has all the hallmarks of a major hot mess. We don't have a fit anywhere. All we've got going for us is our independent suit. Let's show Pard our sad story by a minimum-hand rebid of a six-card suit, especially with a minor misfit.

While we still haven't made a decision on blotting our pizza, we have solved some bidding and are ready for 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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