"St. Patrick's Day" by Marti Ronemus

We need to get right down to our quiz. Today is St. Patrick's Day, and being half-Irish, I have bars to hit, green beer and Irish Whiskey to drink, jigs to dance and song to sing. No time for bridge.

Before we begin... a quick warning. Never doubt the existence of leprechauns. Growing up, our house was full of them, and socks, homework and essential items disappeared frequently. They also are an explanation for why finesses never work.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ Q 8
♥ 3 2
♦ J 10 9 3
♣ K Q J 8 6

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-			2♥
Pass	Pass	2 No-trump	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: This is on the edge. Pard's balancing 2 No-trump shows a 13-15/16 point hand with Heart stoppers. With only 9 pts, we could pass, but we have two trick-producing suits that look like the Leprechaun pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Let's give it a try.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	1♦
Dbl	Pass	3♣	Pass
?

A: 3♦: We want to force the auction. Our initial Double was Negative, showing 4-4 in the majors. If we were to bid a major now, it would be showing five. Our only choice is to cuebid East's Diamonds. Pard will know we don't have Diamonds or we would have bid No-trump. With a Diamond stopper, he'll bid No-trump. Otherwise? Something else.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	Pass	Pass	Pass
?

A: 2♥: Foruth seat bidding is a little different. This is not preemptive, but rather shows a nice six-card suit and very close to a full opener.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 8
♥ A 10 6 5 4 3
♦ K 10 8 7 2
♣ 9

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
?	-	-

A: Pass: Even on St. Paddy's Day, we will not preempt a suit this bad in first seat. Please. Also, with that outside five-card suit... a Pass is better. We may end up having a Diamond fit with Pard. Relax, the auction is just beginning.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 8
♥ A 10 6 5 4 3
♦ K 10 8 7 2
♣ 9

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	Pass	Pass
?

A: 2♥: In third seat, live it up. The good news is a passed hand is not (usually) supposed to advance a preempt, so Pard isn't going to do anything.

Let's get to our hand... the St. Patrick's Day parades are starting.

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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