"Superstition" Responding to Invitations by Marti Ronemus

It's Friday the 13th, Faithful Readers, and you know what THAT means! Danger abounds. Black cats, ladders, The hugely talented Stevie Wonder told us in 1972 "When you believe in things you don't understand, that's superstition."

And as bridge players, we do a lot of believing what we don't understand... especially newer players. You have faith in point count blindly at first. But as you gain in experience, you begin to see how illusive qualities like "texture."

Today, we're continuing Monday's theme. We're going to be responding to invitational bids. Remember that all invitational bids show their point count and ask us to go to the next bonus level if we are at the top of our stated point count or we have extras.

Decisions, decisions. And judgment, not superstition, will guide our answer.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

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

A: Pass: Pard has shown 16-18 points and a Spade fit. He is asking us if we've got the values for game. Ugh. We've got a bare 7 points, no shape (shortness in Pard's first-bid suit isn't all that great an asset). We're going to pass.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

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

A: 4♠: Notice we have the same 7 points as the last question. BUT!! Look at that Diamond suit. Plus the two "honorettes" in the trump suit. This is texture, and even though it's only 7 points, we would encourage going to game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	3♥	Pass
?

A: Pass: Yuck. All the lucky rabbit's feet we can stuff in our pockets won't make this hand worth bidding game. The texture is lousy... scattered honors, flat shape, nothing extra. Some might go to game with this because of the protected Club honors, so give yourself half-credit for that.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	3♥	Pass
?

A: 4♥: We've got texture galore. Again, the point count is the same as last question, BUT!! All the honors are clustered in the long suits. There is not only a doubleton, but a singleton... we've got 10 cards in two suits. This hand is definitely game-going and we're proud to bid it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
2♥	Pass	3♥	Pass
?

A: 4♥: We are delighted to have a chance to bid again. We limited our hand with our 2♥ bid to 12-14/15. Pard is showing 10-12 and asking us to go to game with extra. Once again, we've got lots of texture: Nine cards in two suits, all our honors stuffed in our long suits, and a fabulous side suit.

And now, let's see how lucky we are with 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.

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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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