"Invasion of the Pink Flamingos" by Marti Ronemus

In a fit of what can only be considered whimsy, in 1979 the City Council of Madison WI named the Pink Flamingo the Official City Bird. What prompted this? The students at University of Wisconsin Madison "pranked" the University Dean by planting over 1000 plastic flamingos on the Dean's lawn. What a sight that must have been. The Dean wisely took the prank in the spirit in which it was intended, and now Madison has more pink flamingo lawn ornaments than any place on earth.

With that cheerful image in mind, let's begin our quiz.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	p
2♠	p	p	3♣
?

A: 3♦: We can't rebid the Spades, as we've already shown our support and point count. BUT!! Now's our chance to show our extreme distribution. Pard will know we couldn't bid them initially because we lack point count. Now's our chance to show our true colors. (Pink?)

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	4♠	p
p	5♣	p	5♥
?

A: Pass: With 13 pts, it might seem we should double, but consider: Our ♥K is in front of the Heart bidder. Kiss that one goodbye. West is marked with at least 10 cards in the round suits, maybe 11. We just have no source of tricks. Were we to bid Diamonds, we would go down for a phone number.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ K 8 6
♥ K J 10 2
♦ 3 2
♣ A Q J 2

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	2♠	p
?

A: 2 No-trump: We are close to game. Figure Pard for 5-1/2 tricks. We've got a nine-card trump fit, our nice trump honor, and some trick-taking values. Bidding 3♠ for most would just be an advance of the pre-empt. Bidding 2 No-trump asks for a feature outside of the trump suit, which would be very useful to know. Our other choice is to go right to 4♠. Give yourself a pink flamingo for either answer.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	p	2♣**	Dbl
?

**Game force

A: 3♣: Since Pard's bid is game force, there's no need to rush. Redouble won't give us anything extra. Why not show our Club suit, and then rebid the Hearts, which will show a 6-4 hand. If you don't play 2/1, then your bid would be 3♥, so give yourself credit for that also.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	p	2♥
?

A: Double: We can hear the sound of flamingo wings flapping over this one, so let's talk. East/West have shown probably only holding eight Hearts between them, so Pard is marked with five. He is also marked with at least 10 points. A double will enable him to Pass and convert the double to penalty if he wants. Does he have four Spades? We don't know yet, but his next bid will tell us. What if he bids 3♣? Correct to Diamonds. Most people play that a correction AT THE SAME LEVEL does NOT show a big hand. Talk it over with Pard.

Let's play 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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