"Hold Out Hope" Competitive Auctions by Marti Ronemus

It's the day after Christmas, the second day of Chanukah and the first day of Kwanzaa. We're exhausted from the holidays already and see the Winter doldrums looming. BUT! We bring HOPE! It won't be long till Spring, and as a little foretaste of what's to come, we bring you some Baseball facts.

Back in 1859, William Chadsworth revealed what became a sports staple, the baseball box score, where the results of an "at bat" are shown in boxes. A single was "S," a double "D," a triple "T." What about a strike out? He used "K" since S was taken, and started a system that endured over 150 years.

That may not sound like much, but for those trapped in mid-Winter blues, it at least moves our minds forward.

Speaking of forward, we need to make some decisions on moving the auction forward. Ready?

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K J 8
♥ J 10 4 3
♦ Q 5 4 3
♣ 4 3

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	1♠
2♥	Pass	3♥	Pass
?

A: 4♥: We only have 7 HCP and 1 for distribution. BUT! When East bid Spades, our hand jumped in value. We are BEHIND the Spade bidder, making our ♠K-J suddenly look pretty darn good. We have hope!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ K J 8
♥ J 10 4 3
♦ Q 5 4 3
♣ 4 3

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Pass
2♥	2♠	3♥	Pass
?

A: Pass: Same hand, but a big difference. The Spade bidder is BEHIND us, which seriously decreases the value of our hand. Our Spades are likely losers, leaving our hand with very little.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	1♠	2♥	2♠
?

A: Pass: With distribution, we've got the required 16-ish pts to invite, but we don't hold out much hope for this hand. West likely will devour our ♠Q, and we've likely got at least 2 Spade losers. Plus with West likely to be the stronger hand, our tenaces are suspect. Pard has the right to advance the auction if he's got a good reason.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	1♠	2♥	2♠
?

A: 3♥: We have no wasted values. Pard can't have more than a singleton Spade, we've got that singleton Club and no wasted honors. If Pard's holding a red King, we are headed for a home run.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	1♠	2♥	Pass
?

A: 3♥: But wait! We've got 19 pts (including distribution). Shouldn't we be bidding game? Yes, BUT!! We're worried about the Spades, as well we should be. East didn't raise his Pard, which with three Spades he would do in a competitive auction. We would start out with three Spade losers. That's too close for comfort. We are just going to invite. If Pard holds out hope for game, he can then bid.

Let's see if we can hit our hand out of the park.

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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