"I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" by Marti Ronemus

Back in 1964, Buck Owens made "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" his signature song, and a zippy little number it is, too. For us bridge players it is a reminder that sometimes we've got a real bidding problem that we have to get rid of.

And a good example is bidding after the opponents have pre-empted. This is something we need to think about, because pre-empts are getting more and more vicious. We need to grab those tigers by the tail.

We tackled this subject earlier in the month, so this should be a good review.

Our choices are: Overcall, Double or Pass. Which shall it be?

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: 3♣: No way the tiger wins on this one. We've got a nice hand and a great suit. We are promising a decent five-carder, and a sound opener. We've got it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 -

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: Pass: Rats. We have to let this tiger go. We can't pre-empt a pre-empt. We would have opened this 2♠, but are now out of the auction. If we bid 2♠, we would be promising an opening hand. We have to let it go for now, and hope to take action later.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: 3♠: This hand is way too nice for just a plain old overcall. We need to jump. Last question, we saw how you can't pre-empt a pre-empt. This questions we see when we DO jump! Here's a little rule of thumb: When the bid to your right is LIGHT, a jump by us shows strength. When the bid to our right is STRONG (like a regular opener) a jump by us shows WEAKNESS. Got that?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: Double: Perfect. We're promising an opening hand with shortness in the opponent's suit, four in the unbid major, tolerance for any suit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: 2 No-trump: Maybe you'll recall that this bid tells Pard we would have opened 1 No-trump but their pre-empt robbed us of the ability to do so. Pard will know he can now use Stayman or Transfers if appropriate. Unlike the last hand where we doubled, we have stoppers in the opponent's suit, which is what makes all the difference.

And now, let's look at a different kind of tiger when we 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.

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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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