"Bacon Day" by Marti Ronemus

At last! The day I wait for all year. BACON DAY is finally here. As my Faithful Readers might remember, my contributions to family pot-lucks were often overlooked, to my dismay. (C'mon. Who can resist scalloped Brussels Sprouts?)

Then I started bringing Candied Bacon Strips. My family usually has snatched the bacon off the platter before I can even get it to the table.

And this year I have cranked it up a notch. I found a recipe for Candied Bacon with a Bourbon Glaze. Talk about gilding the lily.

And so it goes with our bridge games, as we strive to improve daily. And it's time for our quiz.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 4♠: Give yourself credit for whatever you answered, as a strong case can be made for each bid. We chose 4♠ because it's the simplest and cleanest. It shows 19-21 points, a four-card Spade suit and makes our problem Pard's problem.
Many, with first- or second-round control of each suit, would use Blackwood. And if you play Splinters, this is the perfect hand for a 4♦ bid. And a desperation bid of 3♣, a jump shift, could work also.
It's like Bacon... it's all good. Talk this one over with Pard.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
2♣	Pass	2♦**	Pass
2♥	Pass	3♣***	Pass
?

**Waiting
***Second negative

A: 4♥: You can't give up now. Even if Pard has zero points, you've got nine tricks in your hand. Surely you (with your outstanding play skills!) can find one more trick somewhere.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 9 8
♥ A K Q 10 6 5
♦ A J 9
♣ A 9

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	2♦	Pass
?

A: 4♥: There are those who would only bid 3♥ with this, since the High Card Point is 18. We want Pard to know about our outstanding suit and game-going values, so a jump to game should do it. We can't Splinter like our last example, and we can't use Blackwood because of our Spades. No bid is perfect, but this is close.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 3 2
♥ A K 10 8 7 6
♦ K 9 8
♣ 9 8

Q: 4 - South:

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

A: 4♥: Pard is showing a minimum opener, but when he supported Hearts, our hand went through the roof. With a ten-card trump fit and our ♦K, we just can't resist the smell of bacon crisping.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A K Q 9 6 5
♥
♦ A 4 3 2
♣ A 9 8

Q: 5 - South:

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

**Help Suit Game Try, asking for help in that suit

A: 4♠: Our Help Suit Game Try bid says to Pard, "Yes, I know you only have 6-9 points. I have a side suit with 2-3 losers. Can you help me in Diamonds?" Pard's 3♥ bid is Candied Bacon, saying "No. But I can help in Hearts." Notice we can still bail out at 3♠. But should we? No. We're going to use Pard's Hearts as a place to DUMP Diamond losers.

Let's see if we can prevail on our hand. If so, we'll have earned a bacon treat.

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

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!