[the hog]

mike777, on Feb 3 2007, 07:50 AM, said:

pclayton, on Feb 2 2007, 02:36 PM, said:

The_Hog, on Feb 1 2007, 02:23 AM, said:

Two way splinters, (s/t void), are a waste of space when one looks at their frequency. Bids are better used for something more constructie and descriptive.

Agree 100%. We had void splinters on the cc for 3 years and they didn't come up once.

Again Phil I am quite shocked by this frequency statement, I have them come up at least once a month or more.

I guess you play about 10,000 hands a month? I played this method for a whole year with one pd and had it come up once - and I played quite a lot!

[mike777]

great ..great post about void splinters...need to count now

[1eyedjack]

I used to play
1S-3N = no minor shortage
1S-4C = Diamond shortage
1S-4D = Club singleton
1S-4H = Club void.

After 1S-3N or 1S-4C opener could relay to identify the extent of the shortage without committing beyond game (1S-3N-4C-4D = no shortage, 4H = Heart singleton, etc).

After 1H it is the same but a step lower.

It had a certain elegance to it - the lower level bids containing a wider variety of hands commensurate with the amount of bidding space available for clarification.

But that was in the days before I knew better: that with no shortage you do better to show your slam try at a lower level, and the greater importance of splitting the ranges compared with the extent of shortage. Flavour of the moment is a simple jump shift to show another range of splinter.

[blackshoe]

I've been reading about Hardy Raises. Haven't had a chance to play them yet, but a couple players around here have, and they like 'em.

Briefly:

1♥/♠ - 3♦/♥ -- "Under jump shift" - 9+-12-, 4 trumps, singleton or void somewhere. methods exist to distinguish singleton/void and find out where.

1♥/♠ - 3♠/NT -- "Over jump shift" - 12+-15-, 4 trumps, singleton or void somewhere. Can find out where, but not enough room to distinguish singleton from void.

With 15+ or more, go through Jacoby 2NT.