"Much Ado About Nothing" by Marti Ronemus

For sheer and utter boredom, not much beats the 1986 opening of Al Capone's secret vault, hosted by Geraldo Rivera. For a mind-numbing two hours we watched and waited to see what was in there, and it turned out to be... an empty bottle. It was the highest syndicated TV program of its time.

Oh, but wait! You thought THAT was bad? How many of you were willing to watch the "flight" of the white Bronco during the OJ Simpson trial? (I admit it... I watched too.) Don't we have anything better to do with our time?

Sure we do! We're going to perfect our bridge game. Let's go.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	1♥
?

A: 1 No-trump: We've got the right-ish shape for a Negative Double, but a 1 No-trump bid would be much more descriptive. Our Spade suit is pretty dreadful to be "selling" with a Negative Double.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	1♥
?

A: Double: NOW we're talkin'! A Negative Double will show our Spades and a willingness to live with Clubs.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♣	p	1♦	p
?

A: 3♣: What a fantastic hand. We need to tell Pard and while the point count is a wee bit low for a jump rebid, bridge is a game of tricks, not points, and this hand is loaded. We're so hopeful Pard bids 3 No-trump, but we'll settle for game in Clubs if we have to.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♥	p
2♦*	p	2♥	p
?

*Cuebid: "I've got a fit with you and 10 plus pts. Tell me more."

A: 3♥: Pard has shown a 7-11ish pt hand. Ours is good enough to invite. If Pard's got a super nice 9 or more, he'll take us to game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A 7 5
♥ Q J 10 8 7
♦ 5
♣ 5 4 3 2

Q: 5 - South:

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

*Cuebid: "I've got a fit with you and 10 plus pts. Tell me more."

A: Pass: Our overcall was questionable to begin with, although we can be forgiven looking at the vulnerability and our singleton in their suit. Let's not compound our "errors" though by bidding game.

So let's try 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.

Play on ANY Device

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

Rate yourself:

0 - 40%	We applaud your effort. Review the subject and try again. You'll be surprised how much better you'll do. We're here for you!!
41 - 50%	Buy your mentor a cuppa and ask for clarification on the ones you got wrong. No mentor? Make finding one a priority!
51 - 60%	Nice improvement! One more review and you'll have this down solid!
61 - 80%	What a good job! All that's left is some fine tuning
Over 80%	Wow! It's time for you to become a mentor. Find someone who needs help and share your knowledge!