"Pet Rocks" by Marti Ronemus

And you thought nothing good ever came from hanging out in bars? Nay, nay! How about this? On a cold day in the winter of 1975 Gary Dahl was in his favorite watering hole with a bunch of pals, and the conversation turned to how much trouble their pets were. As beer-fueled conversations are likely to do, a hilarious discussion of what the perfect pet would be ensued.

And from that discussion, Gary came up with the Pet Rock, which was a HUGE marketing success, making Gary a millionaire several times over. The craze only lasted six months, but it has certainly become part of our cultural consciousness.

Unfortunately, rarely is a good bridge game ever fueled by alcohol. We need our wits about us, as we'll see with this quiz and hand.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
p	p	p	1♥
?

A: Pass: Pay attention. In the DIRECT seat, a 1 No-trump overcall after passing would be an Unusual No-trump bid, NOT a balancing No-trump. Got that? You have a Pard. Let HIM balance!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
p	1♥	p	p
?

A: 1 No-trump: NOW we are in the balancing seat. Our 1 No-trump balancing bid shows 10-11 points (we would have opened with 12) and stoppers in the opponent's suit. If you're not clear on this, go back to the last question. If you don't get this right, you could end up with a rock thrown at you.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 3 2
♥ J 4 2
♦ A K 9 8 7
♣ 6 5 4

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	1♥	p
?

A: 2♥: Yeah, yeah. The Diamonds are tempting. BUT! Remember the Wonderbra rule. With a minimum hand, support Pard with support. Firstly, you don't have quite enough cash to buy the two-level. Secondly, bidding Diamonds in most partnerships would deny holding three Hearts. Also discuss with Pard whether a new suit over an overcall is forcing or not.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♥	Dbl
?

A: 2♦: We are going to cue-bid the opponent's suit. This is forcing, shows a fit with Pard and 10 points. A good, solid, rock-like bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 6 5
♥ A K 8 7
♦ K 9 5 4
♣ J 9 4

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♠	2♣	p
?

A: 2♠: This concept is one that a recent Eddie Kantar (visit www.kantarbridge.com and enjoy!) article reminded me about. When Pard's minor-suit overcall catches us with a fit and a nice hand, No-trump should be our goal. With this hand, we've got everything except a Spade stopper. Cuebidding Spades in this scenario is asking Pard to bid No-trump with a stopper, otherwise to return to our jointly-held minor.

Ready to adopt a Pet Rock of 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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