"Clean Up Detail" by Marti Ronemus

What is the first thing I'll do when I hit the lottery? Big house? New Car? Luxury vacation? Nope. I'm going to hire someone to do my laundry. I HATE that chore. Imagine my horror when I found out about some other cleaning chores that should be done.

The shower drain and shower head--WEEKLY!! Pillows twice a year. Fridge should be DETAILED monthly. The dishwasher and washing machine, monthly (how does one do that? I'll save it for another day).

And here I thought I was doing a fairly good job. Darn. Well, let's turn to our bidding, where we can do an even better job.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K J 9 8 4
♥ 3
♦ A Q 8 5
♣ Q 10 3

Q: 1 - As South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	3♥	Pass
?

A: Pass. You have no responsibility to save your partner from a sticky situation of his own making. You've got an 8-card Heart fit and nowhere to go. Pard has 5-1/2 tricks and you have maybe 2-ish. Hush now. If you bid Spades, that's forcing, and No-trump, with potentially only one way to Pard's hand is scary to contemplate.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ K Q 9 6 5 3
♥ 7 4 2
♦ 6 5
♣ 4 3

Q: 2 - South?

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

A: 2♠: Pard reversed so passing is not an option. Pard has shown five Diamonds and four Hearts (most likely) so we've got two possible seven-card fits. We need to show that we are weak and one-suited at the lowest level we can. Then it's up to Pard to clean up the situation.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 6 2
♥ A 7
♦ A Q 10 7
♣ A K 9 7 5

Q: 3 - South?

South	West	North	East
1♣	Pass	1♠	Pass
2♦	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: Pass. Remember last question? We're now the reversing Pard, and we know Pard's bid is VERY negative. We've got an 8-card Spade fit, and Pard's bid is non-forcing. Clean it up and play it in his suit. Otherwise he may be a very Crummy Dummy. (Although, we might bid one more time in Spades if the opponents get in the act with Hearts.)

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 8 5
♥ 4
♦ A 8
♣ A K Q 10 7 5 4

Q: 4 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	2♥	Pass
?

A: 3 No-trump: Let's make something fancy with our cards. We've got seven Club tricks, one Diamond and either a Heart or a Spade trick. Bid what we can make!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
?

A: 3♣: Just a nice natural standard-gray bid. We promise an opening hand and if nothing else direct a lead. With a couple more points, we'd double. Pard can do the math. He knows we've got more than a basic minimum. If he doesn't take us to game, we don't have one. Also with a Heart stopper he's got other options. Why don't we bid No-trump? Our single stopper just isn't enough.

And now that our bidding is all cleaned up, let's turn to 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.

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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!!
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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!