"Reality Check" Slam Territory by Marti Ronemus

In the "guilty pleasure" category is a daytime TV show, "The Price is Right." You know you've seen it, even if by accident while searching for the remote. Perhaps you've even visualized yourself on the stage, winning for example that great NEW CAR!! (Announcer voice)

Well, here's a reality check for you. Aurora De Lucia won a BRAND NEW CHEVY CRUZ LS!! Here's what happened next. First she had to sign an agreement that if she revealed the show results before it aired, she would forfeit all her prizes.

Then before she could collect her car she had to pay $2067 sales tax, federal tax of $9000, California tax of 8%. She decided to sell the car and had to pay tax on the RETAIL price, not the resale price. All in all, she netted $6000.

Would she do it again? Heck yes!!

And now a reality check on our bidding. We're going to be playing around with big hands today.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	3♥	Pass
?

A: 4 No-trump: Wow! Pard has shown a six-card Heart suit and 16-18 pts. Our ♥Q has become a winner rather than a wasted honor. We have a total of at least 32-34 pts. We could go directly to slam, but better to double-check we aren't missing two Aces. Give yourself credit also if you bid 6♥.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	3♠	Pass
?

A: 4 No-trump: Bridge is a game of tricks, not points. Let's count our tricks. If Pard has the ♠A (and he almost has to if we play disciplined preempts), we've got seven tricks in Spades. Then we've got four outside quick tricks. That's eleven tricks. We can easily see a twelfth from the ♣10 or a Diamond ruff. We need to find out if Pard has one Ace. If he does, we've got it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ Q 8 7 6
♥ 3 2
♦ A K J 8
♣ Q J 8

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
1♠	Pass	3♠	Pass
?

A: 4♠: Pard's shown 16-18. Added to our 13 is just shy of the points needed, but more important is the texture of the hand. The quality of our trump suit will certainly not get any high bids on "Price is Right." We've got the two quick losers in Hearts, an unbid suit, which prevents interest in No-trump. We've got a very nice raise to a Spade game, so that's our choice.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	3♣	3♥	5♣
?

A: 6♥: In favor of Hearts, we've got a spectacular hand. Look at that void! Look at those trumps! We can't get hung up on the tricks we might lose. We need to realize that both East and West have shown weakness. Kudos to East for his fabulous preempt, but we are on this quiz show to win, and 6♥ is the winning bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K 9
♥ A K 8 7 6
♦ A 10 6
♣ Q 4 3

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	Pass
1♥	Pass	3♣	Pass
?

A: 4 No-trump: Also give yourself credit if you went right to slam. We've got slam, and either bid is just fine. The point is, you have to be there if you want to win the car.

Ready to play a hand? We can use a reality check on our play.

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

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
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51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
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