"Rats--Fun AND Profit!" Big Hand Bidding by Marti Ronemus

And you thought rats were animals to be avoided and could bring nothing good. Nay, I say. Not in Michigan. Until the law was repealed in 2000, if you brought a rat corpse "in a state of good preservation" to a town or city clerk, you could receive a bounty of a dime.

Imagine the horror and consternation of Laura Ring, Marathon Township clerk, when an enterprising resident brought 76 rats to collect that bounty. She said she wore surgical gloves to work for a month after that. The good citizens of Michigan must have been mightily disappointed when the law was finally repealed, and they lost that delightful source of income.

Today we're going to look at some delightful opening hands. What should we do with these monsters? Hint: We are using 20-21 as our 2 No-trump opening count.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K Q J 10 8 2
♥ A 2
♦ A K 2
♣ A 4

Q: 1 - South: What should we open the bidding?

A: 2♣: We've got 21 pts, which meets the 2 No-trump requirement. But we don't want to play this hand anywhere but Spades. We are going to open 2♣, and then we're going to rebid 2♠. We've got 9 tricks in our hand (we need 8-1/2 for an unbalanced 2♣ opener) and our bid has committed our side to game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South: What should we open the bidding?

A: 2 No-trump: We've got a balanced hand, 21 pts, and a plethora of stoppers. Discuss with Pard whether or not we open 2 No-trump with only three suits stopped. Most agree that three suits stopped is just fine.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South: What should we open the bidding?

A: 1♠: A very strong case can be made for any of these bids, so give yourself credit. Many would be reluctant to open 2♣, with only 8 tricks in hand. An equal number wouldn't want to open 2 No-trump with a singleton...and this shape! 5-4-3-1? We're going to open 1♠ and jump to game on our next bid. We're not happy, but...

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K Q J 10
♥ A 5 4 2
♦ A Q 2
♣ A K

Q: 4 - South: What should we open the bidding?

A: 2♣: We have a balanced hand, but too many points to open 2 No-trump. Our plan is to open 2♣ and rebid 2 No-trump, which shows 22-23 pts.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South: What should we open the bidding?

A: 2♣: We've got 8-1/2 tricks in hand, and an unbalanced hand. We're going to rebid 3♣ to show our suit and commit our side to game. Let's collect that bounty!

Ready for 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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