"Talk About Long Shots" by Marti Ronemus

It was 1984 and it was a VERY bad year for NBC. All nine of their new shows had failed...a record that remains unbroken to this time. BUT!! Salvation was at hand. Out of sheer desperation, they gave a chance to a long shot... "ALF," a show where the star was a puppet.

The premise was risky.. an Alien Life Form crashes into a family's garbage and ends up moving in. Among NBC's many worries was that Alf, a beer drinking, vulgar, cat-eating, wise-cracking barbarian would be seen as a "bad example." (Hey, it was 1984... standards were a little different.)

But this was a long shot that paid off. "ALF" became a fixture on "Hollywood Squares," his posters outsold Bon Jovi (true!!), and he became a pop culture icon.

For those of us who, upon reading the above description of ALF, had a fleeting thought that it sounds like a partner, let us remind you that the long shot was a success. And how about us? Are we a long shot or a sure thing?

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K J 8 4
♥ 7 2
♦ 5 4 3
♣ J 9 4 3

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	Dbl	1♥
?

A: 1♠: We're off the hook but we're going to show our Spades. At the one level, it's not much of a long shot. Might Pard only have three Spades? Yup, but again, we're at a low enough level not to worry.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ K J 8
♥ 7 2
♦ 5 4 3
♣ A 9 4 3

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	Dbl	1♥
?

A: 1 No-trump: This is a tiny bit of a long shot, but with our Club stopper, why not? Our Spades are nice, but... we could end up in a six-card trump fit. Ouch.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A 10 9 8
♥ J 10 8 5
♦ 5 4 3 2
♣ 7

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	Dbl	2♦
?

A: Double: This hand in theory might be too weak to bid, but hey. We've got all those honorettes and great shape. Pard at most has one Diamond, and we've got a singleton also. Most agree that our double says "Pick the major you like best." This protects us from the dreaded 4-3 trump fit. (BTW, this is called a "responsive double.")

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	Dbl	2♦
?

A: 2♠: Forget the double like we used last hand. It would promise two majors. Forget the Clubs. Settle for a nice major contract. Passing is just too cowardly.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 3 2
♥ 5 4 3
♦ K 10 8 7
♣ A Q 9 3

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	Dbl	2♥
?

A: Double: It's that "responsive double" again. This time though, since Pard doubled a major, we're saying "Pick your best minor." He's got to have four cards in one of them, and this way we'll end up in the right place. No long shot, this!

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!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
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
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!