"National Mutt Day" by Marti Ronemus

"National Mutt Day" is a personal favorite. My husband's and my lives are infinitely enriched by our two rescue mutts and I know many of you who've adopted shelter cats and dogs feel the same. Here's a quote for you: "In every heart there is a hole. In every shelter there is love to fill it."

'Nuff said. And our bridge tie in? Mutts are often considered to be inferior to purebreds, and a lot of bridge hands that look like losers turn out to be (forgive me) the cat's meow.

Let's look at five.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - As South, what is your choice?

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	1 NT	Pass
2♥	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 3♥: We know Pard's little yippy 2♠ bid was a false preference, showing support with as little as two-card support. When we bid 2♥, we asked him to take a preference, and good dog (er, Pard) that he is, he'd rather us play in a 5-2 fit than a 4-3. Our hand is just too distributional to stop here. When we rebid our secondary suit, we are showing we are 5-5, and have a more than minimum hand. Pard will put it in game if we've got that Golden Fit, or plop it in the best suit at the three-level.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠
♥ A 8 4 3
♦ 8 7 6 4 3
♣ A 10 3 2

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	Pass
1 NT	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

A: 4♥: My little (!) dog Sparky thinks he's a Rottweiler, and this little hand gives us the same feeling. The principle here is that, with the eight-card Heart fit, our void suddenly became a winner. Sure, Pard might be a little bit light, but with the dummy points for the void, we have to do it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - Again, South?

South	West	North	East
1 NT	2♠	3♥*	4♦
?

*Not a transfer, systems off. Shows 8-9 pts and five Hearts.

A: Double: Our cards are magnificently defensive, and even tho' there's a great Heart fit, we have NO ruffing value. These guys are going down big time. It's not enough to count points. Our Not Vul game is only worth 400-420, and if we set them two, it will be worth 500. Let's show our teeth and snarl. They are going to cower in the corner!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South opens?:

South	West	North	East
?	-	-

A: Pass: We've seen this one before and it's called "The Rattlesnake." Many experts recommend passing. Aces and spaces, a meager 12 pts... Better to let the opponents crawl to game and then maybe we can double. Even better will be if they bid our short suit and then we can get to double, either as a Negative Double or a Take-Out Double. Be wary of taking initial action, but don't be afraid to enter the auction later.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ J 2
♥ J 10 9
♦ Q J 7 4 3
♣ A 6 5

Q: 5 - One more chance for South to bark down the house!

South	West	North	East
-	-	1 NT	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: We're really chasing our tail on this one. Should we bid 2, inviting? Should we jump to game? The jacks are so questionable. But we're in the mood to howl, and we do. Besides, we don't have to play this, our Pard does! (Incidentally, you weren't thinking of bidding Diamonds, were you?)

We're going to see how this works out.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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