Bartender Appreciation Day by Marti Ronemus

O the noble bartender... (s)he who listens to our tales of woe, nods wisely with an occasional word of encouragement, while mixing a Magic Elixir to transform our moods. Who but the bartender will listen to and accept our excuses and rationalizations for What Went Wrong?

Some of us are lucky enough to have partners who will put up with this whining, but most of us have to tip generously as we settle our tabs.

Let's see what your excuses for misbidding these will be. (Just kidding!)

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♣	2♥
?

A: 3♣: Not the easiest hand to bid, is it? There are those who would Pass, because the intervening bid enables Pard to bid again. Normally 2♣ would be forcing, but with no other biddable suit, nothing extra, Pass tells that story. We like 3♣ however, since this gives us a chance to show our Club honor with a minimum bid. We don't like 2♠ because rebidding freely an unsupported suit promises six. We would do that if we had no other bid, but we do.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

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

**Splinter bid that shows a serious trump fit and a singleton or void in the bid suit, and at least game-going values. Yum.

A: 4 No-trump: Pard's promised singleton/void in Spades erases your losers. That, combined with trump support and values, make this worth a try. You've got first or second round control of every suit, and you can still bail out cheaply if needed. There are three olives in this martini. Drink up!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A Q 10 9 6 5
♥ A 8
♦ K Q 2
♣ 9 2

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♠	3♣
?

A: 4♠: This hand turns into a real Happy Hour the minute Pard supports our Spades. A nine-card trump fit, shortness in our weak Clubs... We are upgrading this hand to game-going. We need very little from Pard.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A J 8 2
♥ 2
♦ K Q 9 3
♣ A 10 9 2

Q: 4 - South?:

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

A: Pass: Pard has rejected both of our offered suits, and has shown a minimum hand. He also is seriously distributional. We have a misfit. He will be a Crummy Dummy if we don't allow Hearts to be trump. Take a relaxing sip of beverage and make our problem, his.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 2
♥ Q 10 9
♦ K J 10 9
♣ 8 7 6 5 4

Q: 5 - South:

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

**Help Suit Game Try: Pard, I know you only have 6-9 points, but I need help in Diamonds. Can you help?

A: 4♥: Pard asked for help in Diamonds, and boy oh boy do we have it! We take the partnership to game. Were our honors elsewhere, we might just bid 3♥.

Well, that's Last Call. Let's go play a 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.
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