"Now THAT'S a Bar Bill!" by Marti Ronemus

Your "I can't believe it's true" for the day is a doozy. Or should I say Boozy. On Sept. 15, 1787, two days before ratifying the Constitution, the 55 members of the Constitutional Convention had a party. A surviving bar tab lists the following served at the gala: 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 of claret, 8 of whiskey, 8 hard cider, 12 magnums of beer and 7 bowls of alcoholic punch. My, my, my. One can only wonder what the bill AFTER the ratification looked like!

You may draw your own conclusions, but may I suggest that you remain clear-headed for your quiz today!

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	Dbl	2♣
?

A: 3♠: We've got such a nice shape and at least a nine-card fit in Spades. In favor of Spades, we've got 10-ish points. To just bid 2 Spades would be giving Pard the cheap wine.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

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

A: 3 No-trump: We cannot bid the Diamonds, as the suit is a wee bit ratty, and we already know where nine of Pard's cards are. The only sensible bid, since we can't pass, is a No-trump game. We're not happy about this. Pass the Madeira.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

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

A: 4♥: This is more like it! We need to tell Pard we've got nice support and game. If we bid 3♥, it would just be taking a preference and could be done with just two Hearts. Pard will like this dummy.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ J 8 7 6
♥ Q J 7 6 5
♦ A 2
♣ K 2

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	p
1♥	p	1♠	p
?

A: 3♠: We are indeed opposite an opening hand with 13 points in support of Spades. BUT! With only an eight card trump fit and a poorly-located ♣K (as dummy) we are going to downgrade this a little. If you went to game, you can't really be faulted, but this hand lacks texture.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A 10 9 7
♥ A K 7 6 5
♦ 3 2
♣ 3 2

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	p
1♥	p	1♠	p
?

A: 4♠: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the same number of points, but this hand has it all. GREAT trump support, no wasted honors and three quick tricks. The Hearts are likely to be an excellent place for Pard to DUMP losers. Break out the champagne, but don't drink too much, as we are about to 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.
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