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 "Who Do You Trust?" Balancing by Marti Ronemus

Number five on the list of most trusted jobs is -- DOG WALKERS! When you think about it, it makes sense. We doggie parents trust our most precious possession, our dogs, plus the keys to our house to these people. That indeed requires a high level of trust.

Also, think how skilled they must be. When I walk my two little dogs, I often feel like I'm trying to fly two kites at once. Watch a dog walker, managing a half-dozen assorted dogs, picking up poop, keeping them focused and friendly to each other. Wow.

And surprisingly, it can be a lucrative full-time job in a big city. One dog walker told how he supports a family of four, put his wife through grad school and bought a house... walking dogs!

While we ponder this, let's think about trust... in an auction where we must balance, Pard has trusted us when he passed. Are we worthy?

Question 1

  Your Hand
 A 4
 K 10 9
 A J 4 3
 Q 10 8 7
 
Q: 1 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
-1PassPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 1 No-trump: Remember, in the balancing seat, we "borrow" 3 pts from our Pard. Thusly we overcall 1 No-trump with 12-14 pts. Pard knows what we're doing, and he'll subtract 3 pts before responding. Can he use Stayman and transfers? Sure, if this is your partnership agreement. And, with East having less than 6 pts., Pard is rated to have some nice stuff. This may well be our auction.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 2

  Your Hand
 A 4
 K 10 9
 A J 4 3
 K Q 10 8
 
Q: 2 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
-1PassPass
?


 Your choice:
A: Double: Keep in mind, we are borrowing those 3 pts. That gives us a hand too big to overcall 1 No-trump. Remember, with giant hands, we start with a Double, then bid.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
 J 8 4
 Q 6 5 4 2
 A 8 4 3
 2
 
Q: 3 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
-1PassPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 1: Is this the worst or what? In the direct seat, we would Pass without a thought. BUT!! East has less than 6 pts., and we're only holding 7 HCP. Where are the points? We're betting a bunch of them are in Pard's hand, but he doesn't have the shape for either a double or an overcall. We have to protect his points by bidding. With distribution and the three points we're stealing from Pard, we can scrape up a bid. Pard is trusting us to not let the auction die.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
 5 4 3 2
 K Q 4 3
 4 3
 A J 6
 
Q: 4 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
-1PassPass
?


 Your choice:
A: Double: Perfect. We are short in the opponent's suit, 4-4 in the unbid majors, and can tolerate anything Pard bids. We are borrowing 3 pts. from Pard, so we even have enough pts to not hesitate. In the direct seat would we double with this hand? Some might because of the perfect shape even tho' it's a little light.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
 A K J 5 4 3
 7
 A J 5
 A 10 6
 
Q: 5 - South:
SouthWestNorthEast
-1PassPass
?


 Your choice:
A: 2: In the balancing seat, a jump is NOT weak, but shows a VRY strong hand with a Big Dog of a suit. It shows a hand we could make a Big Hand Double with, but with a super suit of its own. Woof!!

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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