"Marilyn and Joe" bidding Misfits by Marti Ronemus

This day in 1954 Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were wed. For those of a Certain Age, these two people are iconic symbols of the 20th Century, and live strong in our memories. Their glamour, talent and charisma defined a generation.

And we can't help but think about them when we talk about bidding misfits (not coincidentally the title of Marilyn's last movie). Whew. Almost as much a misfit as some of the hands we'll be seeing.

Ready?

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

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

A: Pass: Remember this: Two minimum hands in an uncontested auction should rarely be above 2♠. And you do have a minimum hand, as you sure can't add any points for shortness in Pard's first-bid suit, can you? Pard's shown a six card Heart suit, so let him play. Otherwise, he may well be a Crummy Dummy.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	p	2♥	p
2♠	p	3♥	p
?

A: Pass: We've seen this one before, haven't we? Usually between married couples! Pard's bid is not forcing, and shows at least a 6-card suit. If Pard had two Spades, maybe even one, he'd have passed. This can only get worse. Pass!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	p	1 No-trump	p
2♥	p	3♦	p
?

A: Pass: This is just no fun at all. Pard's bid shows a minimum hand with a long suit. Since he bid 1 No-trump initially, we know his limit. Yes, we've got 16-ish points, but where are the tricks? Once again we must pass.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

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

A: 2 No-trump: FINALLY! We get a forward-going hand. We welcome a lead into this hand and with all suits firmly stopped, show our intermediate invitational hand. Now it's up to Pard.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A Q 9 8 7
♥ A J 8 4
♦ K Q 4
♣ 8

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	p	1 No-trump	p
2♥	p	3♦	p
?

A: 4♦: Pard's shown a minimum hand with a long strong suit. We can't bid No-trump because of the wretched Clubs. We've already told our major suit story and Pard didn't care. Our hand has increased nicely in value with Pard's 3♦ bid. Let's tell him that. If he's at the top of his range, we could have a nice game.

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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