[whereagles]

I really think you should use the gadgets. If you don't use them on the rare occasions they come up, you're better off not wasting memory on them.

[Echognome]

For what it's worth, the opposite hand is:

♠AQJTxx
♥x
♦xx
♣KTxx

You will find small slam easily starting with a cuebid.

But the lesson here I felt was not to start with EKCB. You will have no idea what to do over a 5♥ bid (or whatever you play that shows 1 keycard) from partner, although it's certainly the easiest way to find grand if he has 2.

[skjaeran]

Jlall, on Nov 15 2007, 11:12 PM, said:

skaeran, on Nov 15 2007, 05:00 PM, said:

The fake void splinter/EKCB is a well-known strategy, btw.

yes I know. That does not mean opponents play for it to be happening. If I were to play against the same opponents for tens of thousands of boards I agree with mixed strategy, however I don't expect this situation to happen vs the same opponents more than once in my life ever, so a mixed strategy does not make sense. It's just a question of what level they are thinking on, and what level they think you are thinking on at the time.

Yeah, agree with this. I was thinking more in general here. The bridge community in Norway is small enough that if I pulled this stunt a couple of times "everyone" would know about it - thus the mixed strategy.