"Guilty!" by Marti Ronemus

Want to know if someone is telling the truth? Let's take some tips from airport screeners.

The main method TSA uses, called Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) involves a list of 94 signs of anxiety and fear, like lack of eye contact or sweating. Interestingly, one report found that SPOT is ineffective, only slightly better than random chance.

Another method of screening is simply to talk to suspects. Open-ended questioning—known as the Controlled Cognitive Engagement method (CCE)—is 20 times more effective than trying to monitor based on behavior. In this approach, the agent just "chats" with the passenger, asking random open-ended questions like "Where did you go to college? What did you major in?"

In the study, officers using conversation-based screening caught 66% of deceptive passengers, compared to just 3% who used behavior-based screening.

Now, doesn't this give us food for thought (especially for those of us with teenagers)? Let's think of our bids as random, conversation-based questions, and see if we can spot the guilty party!

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ K 7
♥ K 10 9 2
♦ K J 10 9
♣ A K 10

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♦**
2 No-trump	Pass	3♣	Pass
?

**Weak, 5-9 ish points with a six-card nice suit
*** "I would have bid 1 No-trump, but the Dirty Dog stole my bid. AND! I've got his suit stopped.

A: 3♥: The point of this question is: Is Pard's bid Stayman? Are systems on when you overcall a Pre-empt with No-trump? While some play System Off, we prefer Systems On, as it gives you more flexibility and keeps the big hand off the table.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	2♣*	Pass
2♦	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

*Strong and artificial

A: 3♣: Wouldn't you know that Pard would open 2♣ when you are absolutely flat broke? There are those who would jump to 4♥ with the 3-card support, but without even a 10 or 9, we prefer the second negative.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ K Q J 9
♥ 10 8
♦ J 10 5 4
♣ 6 5 4

Q: 3 - South:

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

A: 3♦: Pard reversed. How do we know? He bid a suit we by-passed and is higher ranking than his first suit. He has more Clubs than Diamonds, probably 5-4. His bid is forcing. We have two 8-card fits, but experience has shown that 4-4 plays better than 5-3.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 8 7
♥ K
♦ A K Q
♣ A J 10 9 8 5 4

Q: 4 - South:

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

A: 3♦: We've been told repeatedly that if you don't have a first- or second-round control OF ALL FOUR SUITS in our hand, we shouldn't use Blackwood. If we did, and Pard responded with one ace (or control) what would we do? Since we've agreed on a suit, a new suit at this point is control-showing. Pard will know we've got a control of Diamonds and will take it from there.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	4♥	Pass
?

A: 4 No-trump: This is a sort-of no-brainer, but it provides a good contrast to our last question. We didn't have a first or second-round control of each suit in that situation, so we showed our cheapest first-round control. Here, we have all four suits covered.

AND!! No contract is too high when Pard has to play it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

Play on ANY Device

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

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