"Whatever Happened to..." by Marti Ronemus

Richard T. James, a naval engineer, created the slinky in 1945, and by 1950, had made BILLIONS (in today's dollars) from it. So what happened to him after he fell into all that money? He went bonkers, and went on one of the biggest "eat, drink and be merry" sprees of all times. Ultimately, he came to his senses (sort of), and repented. He swung too far the other way though, and gave away all his money, keeping only enough to join a cult and buy a ticket to Bolivia. He abandoned his wife and six kids. Fortunately wife Betty had her feet on the ground and saved the business.

So, with our bidding, will we follow Betty's example and be safe and sane, or like Richard, berserkly swing from one side to another? Hmmm.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A K Q J 5 4
♥ 8
♦ 8 7 6
♣ 10 5 4

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♥
1♠	2♥	3♥**	4♥
?

**Cuebid showing a fit and at least 10 pts.

A: 4♠: My goodness! How can we resist bidding game? Pard's got at least 10 pts, and West's bid shows weakness. We like the weak hand behind us. Our Slinky is on a roll.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A K Q J 5 4 3
♥ A 9 3
♦ A K Q
♣

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
2♣	Pass	3♣**	Pass
?

**Positive response, showing at least 8 pts, and a solid gold suit. Some partnerships insist the "solid gold suit" include the Ace. Talk it over with Pard.

A: 6♠: Can you think of a single reason to NOT bid slam? What about Grand Slam? Not so sure... are we underbidding? We'll find out when we play the hand after our quiz.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A 8 7
♥ J 8 3
♦ 7 6 5
♣ 10 9 7 4

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	2♠	3♥	Pass
?

A: Pass: Yes, we've got some support and an Ace in "their" suit. But we see exile to Bolivia in our future. Pard rates to have a very nice hand with a solid suit, but we have nothing to offer.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K J 10 8 4
♥
♦ 8 7 3
♣ K Q 10 9 7

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♥
1♠	2♥	3♥**	4♥
4♠	Pass	Pass	5♥
?

**Cuebid showing 10 plus pts and a trump fit.

A: 5♠: This is a tough one. A double isn't going to garner us that much. There are those who might pass, but we see victory in a 5♠ bid. Pard's points rate to be in Diamonds, don't you think?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ Q 8 6 5 4
♥ 6 5 4
♦ A J 10
♣ 5 4

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	Dbl
?

A: 4♠: In this competitive auction, with our ten-card trump fit, we would be sadly remiss if we didn't go to game. We want to avoid their finding a game somewhere, so we've got a preemptive strike here. We love our ♦AJT, figuring we've got a 75% chance it's worth two tricks. Let's swing for the stars.

And now 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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