"Bridge Must-Have" by Marti Ronemus

Yes, we need solid bidding. Yes, we need to Count and Plan before we play. Yes, we need defensive tools. BUT!! There's another Must-Have we bet hasn't been considered carefully enough. Our derriere!

A couple quick points to consider: Our derrieres are the hardest working muscles in our body, and when it comes to booty, bigger might be better! (Imagine my glee when I heard that!). Physical therapist Clifford Stark says many injuries are caused by weak glutes. He also advises that strengthening the buttocks helps decrease back pain. "When a patient complains of back injury and pain, I immediately turn to the glutes."

And for those unhappy with their posteriors? Well, the newest and fastest growing area of plastic surgery is butt lifts and implants. Really? Incredible.

Now that we're firmly settled on our you-know-whats, let's work on another solid foundation... our bidding.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	Dbl	2♦
?

A: 3♦: This is a tough one. We could jump in Hearts, but Pard might only have three. We could jump in Clubs, but then we've passed 3 No-trump. Let's make our problem Pard's problem with a cue-bid. We've got game-going values, but aren't sure where. Pard will give us more information about his opening hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

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

A: 2♦: We certainly can't rebid our Hearts. We'd like to bid No-trump but we hate our Clubs. By NOT bidding No-trump, we're denying a Club stopper, right? A support of Diamonds leaves room for Pard to place the contract or rebid a suit, below No-trump.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 9 8 7
♥ K 9 6 5 4
♦ 8 4
♣ A Q 9

Q: 3 - South:

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

A: 1 No-trump: What else can we say? We've got the fourth suit stopped. Can't rebid the Hearts, don't want to raise the Spades, hate the Diamonds. There you have it.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	Pass
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♥: Yes, we've got an eight-card Spade fit, BUT!! If we get to play this in Hearts, we've got at least five tricks. If we play in Spades, we may end up a Crummy Dummy, as Pard could be locked out of dummy. Let's show our suit again, plus our minimum values and see what happens.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

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

A: 4♠: We love this hand... solid! We've got three quick tricks, an eight-card fit. Unlike last hand, our Hearts don't need to be trumps. Go for it. Our distribution points add to our value.

Ready for a nice 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

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