"A Little Bling" No-trump Overcalls by Marti Ronemus

As someone who loves a little bling (perhaps too much so), I was enchanted to find out that sequins date back to the pharaohs of Egypt, and in fact, "gold sequin-like disks" were found adorning King Tut's mummy.

Early sequins were made of precious metals so weren't really part of everyday couture. Then a way was found to use Eastman Kodak film acetate, and to our enjoyment and fun, they are now made of plastic and are ubiquitous.

Today we're going to add some sparkle and glamour to our bidding by looking at No-trump overcalls. No-trump overcalls promise the same thing an opening bid of No-trump promises, with the addition of a stopper or two in the opponent's suit. Pard can then use Stayman and Transfers. Let's try some.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K 10 4 3
♥ A Q 9 2
♦ K Q 8
♣ K 5

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♣
?

A: Double: We've got the point count for a 1 No-trump overcall, but our ♣K is a bit shaky as a stopper. A Takeout Double is actually more descriptive anyway.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ K 10 4 3
♥ A Q 9 2
♦ K Q 8
♣ K 5

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♥
?

A: 1 No-trump: Same hand, but this time RHO (right hand opponent) opened 1♥. We are showing Pard our sparkle, 15-17 HCP, and promising Heart stopper(s). Discuss with Pard whether your partnership can now use Stayman and Transfers. Most say yes, but not all. BTW, are you worried about the Clubs? Don't be. We open 1 No-trump with only three suits solidly stopped all the time.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ K 10
♥ Q J 4 3
♦ K J 8 2
♣ K 5 2

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♥
?

A: Pass: We would like to bid, oh how we would like to bid. BUT! What can we say? We don't have the points to bid 1 No-trump. We don't have a five-card suit to overcall. We can't double because we lack Spades. The good news is we have a Pard who won't let this go by. He will be paying attention to the bidding and know we are marked with points.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 10
♥ Q J 4 3
♦ K J 8 2
♣ K 5 2

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	Pass	Pass
?

A: 1 No-trump: Same hand, same number of points, but this time, we are in the balancing seat. If we pass the auction is over. In the balancing seat, we "steal" three points from Pard's hand, and bid as if our hand were 3 pts bigger. That would allow us to bid 1 No-trump. Pard, when he responds, will subtract 3 pts from his hand before he takes action.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K 10
♥ A Q J 4 3
♦ Q J 3
♣ Q 5 2

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
?

A: 1♥: We've got the points and stoppers for a 1 No-trump bid, but more importantly, we've got a sequined suit of our own. Keep in mind that No--trump generally says, "I have no suit, but I've got a lot of points." Let's show our shining Hearts and see what happens next.

And now on to 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.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

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