"Don't Stand Next to Him" by Marti Ronemus

This week in 1972, Roy Sullivan was struck by lightening for the fourth of what would eventually be seven times. And survived. The odds of this happening has more zeros after it than I can count. It is somewhat explained by knowing that Roy was a Forest Ranger.

Still folks, seven times? He claimed to not remember what the strikes felt like, and seemed unharmed but for some burns. Who knew being a Forest Ranger was so dangerous!! Marauding bears, crazed tourists, those I can understand. But lightening? Seven times?

I bet your chances for getting all five quiz questions are higher than being struck by lightening, so let's go. But keep Roy in your thoughts today.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	p
1♠	Double	Redouble	2♥
?

A: Pass: Except under very unusual circumstances the Pard of the redoubler is obligated to Pass. Pard may want to double the Hearts for penalty. He may want to do any number of things. Our job is to pass and await further developments. The Redoubler will bid again.
(PS: as a side note... I kept getting this wrong until Eddie Kantar stepped in to straighten me out. Thanks, Eddie! And folks, for a fun and illuminating experience, go to www.kantarbridge.com .)

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	p
?

A: 1♠: Many would prefer to make some sort of game-force raise of the Diamonds (this would be a great time for Inverted Minors!), but we like keeping the bidding low to find out more about Pard's hand. If he were to make a minimum 2♠ bid, we could then bid No-trump just in case he's raising with three pieces. Give yourself credit if you found a game-force raise in Diamonds also.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A 10
♥ A Q J 7
♦ 5 4
♣ A K 10 5 4

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	3♦	p
?

A: 5♦: This is especially tough for those of us who belong to the Clint Eastwood School of Bidding, and HATE game in minors. BUT!! We find that more and more, people are preempting 3♦ with only six cards. Our fear is that we can be locked out of dummy if we are in No-trump. Our Pard's vul preempt promises a sound suit and statistically will hold five to five and a half tricks. We've got five, five and a half of our own and feel we must be in game. If we had a third Diamond, we'd go with No-trump. Give yourself credit also if you did anyway.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A K 9 8 7
♥ K Q 4 2
♦ Q
♣ K Q 7

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♠	3♣	p	p
?

A: Double: Another very tough one. We would be struck by lightning if Pard were to bid Hearts, as he eschewed making a Negative Double the first time, but he could if he was weak. What we'd love to hear is a Diamond bid. If we bid 3♥ after Pard DIDN'T Negative Double, it would strongly tend to show five. No-trump without a Diamond stopper is a bit scary, although a viable option. We like the double, because it shows our Heart position, is forcing and will get the info we need from Pard. He may choose to raise our Spades, he may convert to penalty, who knows. But the other options are questionable too. Those darn preempts do their job, don't they!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♠	p	2♣
?

A: 3♥: A brief glance at the favorable vulnerability encourages us. We've got a great shape, a great suit, and would just love to throw a bolt of lightning at those opponents. This should do it. Pard, as a passed hand, is very unlikely to bid. Should the opponents get the contract, at least Pard will know what to lead.

And so, on to 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

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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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