"Crying in the Rain" Opening Bids by Marti Ronemus

No one wants to be left "Crying in the Rain," like the Everly Brothers in 1961. And that's why we look for reasons to open the bidding, rather than reasons to pass.

Today you are the opening bidder and will need to decide whether to pass or open and WHAT to open. Seems simple, right? (You should know better by now.)

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
?	-	-

A: 1♥: I can hear you moaning "How can I open a suit that looks like that?!" Listen, Binky, you aren't saying you have GOOD Hearts, you're saying you have FIVE Hearts.

What else can you do? You can't open the Diamonds... you'll never be able to persuade Pard you've got a five-card major. You can't bid No-trump with two doubletons and nine cards in two suits.

We're going to play this hand after our Quiz, and you'll see the wisdom of your choice.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
?	-	-

A: Pass: Passing does indeed leave us Crying in the Rain, but sometimes ya just gotta do it. We can't really stretch the points to open, we've got scattered honors, and that ♣J isn't doing anyone any good. Rats.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - You're still South and YES, it is the SAME hand and NO, this isn't a mistake! Be careful here...

South	West	North	East
-	-	Pass	Pass
?

A: 1♠: We need to talk about this one. It's the same hand we just looked at but this time, we're in third seat. With this scenario, the points are probably scattered around the table OR West is gigantic. While we don't open four-card majors (in the USA, anyway), this is an exception.

Pard is a passed hand, so we don't have to worry about him going crazy. If he raises our Spades with only three pieces, ho hum at a low level. Also, our Spades aren't that bad, AND! Most importantly, like Godzilla going through Tokyo, we've eaten the whole first level of bidding. No crying here.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 6 5 4 3 2
♥ A K Q J 10
♦ 2
♣ K 8

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
?	-	-

A: 1♠: Gotta be the Spades. A little saying: "Five-five, take a dive." Bid the higher ranking suit first. It's that simple. Quality is not what you look at. A very hard concept for less experienced players is to remember that we bid our overall shape and point count, not where our points are ... initially.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ K J 4 3
♥ K J 2
♦ K J 4
♣ 4 3 2

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
?	-	-

A: Pass: We can discuss this one all day. I am a firm believer in opening all 12 point hands. EXCEPT 4-3-3-3 with no quick tricks. If you opened it 1♣, give yourself credit. This is one of those things that come down to a question of style. Talk to your Pard about it.

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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