[ArcLight]

playing with a pick up self rated expert you don't know.

1. IMPS, all white.

Do you open with (no flannery)?
♠A J x x
♥K Q T 9 8
♦x x
♣J x


I opened 1 heart. Bidding went -
1♥ 2♣ 4♥ 5♣,
???


What now?

(I passed - leaving it up to pard - was that ok?)
1♥ 2♣ 4♥ 5♣,
p - p - X

pard doubled with
♠ T 9
♥A x x x x
♦Q 9 x x
♣Q x

What would you lead?
Pard lead the heart Ace, ruffed in dummies void.
Result 5♣ X making 6

Pard yelled at me for opening 1♥.
I asked what the double meant, and he said "cards"
He said I should have not opened and that I should have pulled his double.

What went wrong?



2. IMPS white on white
RHO deals

pass - pass - 1♣ - 1♥ (by pard)
3♦ (weak jump shift in competition) - ?

What do you bid with:
♠ K x x
♥ A x x x
♦ x x
♣ T 9 8 x

Do you bid 3♥?
Pass?
(no special fit jumps, conventions)
-------------------

The bidding continued:
p - p - 1♣ - 1♥
3♦ - p - 5♣ - p
p -??

What do you bid over 5♣?
pass?
DBL?
other?

The "self rated pick up BBO expert pard" passed, result:
5♣ - 4 for a bottom. At most tables 4♥ made 4 or 5


3. Lastly. Playing UDCA, this pick up pard said you lead the lower card from a doubleton. x from Yx rather than Y. Thats news to me! I know some may have an agreement to do that, but thats independent of signaling.

What I found surpising is the willingness to freely apply ones own preferences regardless of if they are standard.

[whereagles]

1. Your bidding was flawless. Pard sux.

2. I would have bid 3♥ and dbled 5♣ later (regardless of having bid 3♥ or not).

3. Low from doubleton is played by some people. It's not standard, of course. The ease to think "my world = your world" simply shows lack of culture. Unfortunately, that attitude is a standard.

[mcphee]

I would open the bidding 1H while not delighted as it is marginal. I always love it when players smash for penalty to show their CARDS but they have none. To me this double was similar to the Village People singing Macho Man. I think passing 5C is clear.

I believe you must bid over 3D and the question is either take a shot at 4H or bid only 3. The value bid is 3 but you have a rather nice hand where game may make many times partner passes 3. I would definetly apply the wood to 5C.

Lastly at this stage of the proceedings I would suggest, in a nice manner, that perhaps partner should remove expert from their profile. (I am holding off after that dble hand 1) and insert some oether level, perhaps World Class.

[P_Marlowe]

#1.1 Pass, but a matter of style
#1.2 Pass is certainly ok, as long as you
are aware, that pass is non forcing
#2.1 3H
#2.2 would not be there, but I may pass
double is ok
#3. If you know only your preferences, you
believe they are standard
Leading the lower one from two smalls is ok,
it is part of 2nd/4th, and as far as I know
UDCA just referes to attidude and length signal,
but not to a lead convention, ... I may be wrong

With kind regards
Marlowe

[helene_t]

What Whereagles said. Why don't you point this "expert" to this thread?

[jtfanclub]

ArcLight, on Dec 6 2007, 08:40 AM, said:

3. Lastly. Playing UDCA, this pick up pard said you lead the lower card from a doubleton. x from Yx rather than Y. Thats news to me! I know some may have an agreement to do that, but thats independent of signaling.

Leading low from an honorless doubleton is a pre-alert in ACBL games.

Whether leading low or random from Jx or Qx is an issue of contention.

[jdonn]

helene_t, on Dec 6 2007, 09:25 AM, said:

What Whereagles said. Why don't you point this "expert" to this thread?

Except for on hand 2, no WAY am I doubling 5♣. Or 6♣. Or 7♣. Of course it's moot since if you bid 3♥ to begin with partner is acting over 5♣.

[pclayton]

1. 1♥.
1A. Pass. I'm fixed

2. 3♥
2A. Let the genius figure out to double or bid 5♥.

Since 5♥ is my favorite contract (next to 5♥ x'd and xx'd), both of these answers go against my grain. It's not surprising to see bidding 5♥ on both is the winning call.

3. Tell your pard that crack kills.

[ArtK78]

1. The 1♥ opening is normal. Pard bid 4♥, which could mean anything from a purely preemptive raise to "I am bidding to make and hoping we don't have a slam." You have nothing to say. so you pass. Partner doubled 5♣ which does, indeed, mean he has cards. It also means that he expects to beat 5♣. Why he expects to beat 5♣ is beyond me. Your pass is clear.

2. I would bid 3♥ over 3♦. After that, it is up to partner. I would certainly double 5♣ if that comes back to me.

3. Leading low from a doubleton is not a part of UDCA. To the best of my knowledge, it is also not a part of 2nd/4th best leads. It is a separate agreement entirely. It is true that it requires a pre-alert in ACBL competition. I believe that its use is far more common in Europe than in North America. I have a friend who swears by it, and I have seen others swear at it. The few times I have seen it in action it has led to poor results, but I don't have enough experience with the method to determine whether it has merit or not. In any event, if anyone playing in a pick-up partnership assumed that we lead low from a doubleton, then we have two choices. (1) change that assumption; or (2) terminate the partnership.

[keylime]

1. I definitely open. If I don't pard is not going to play me for what I have.
1A. Pass is ideal. Once pard doubles, he's saying that it's easier to take three tricks versus 11 tricks. Frankly, he's on bad crack and need to pull it to take insurance (it's IMPs).

2. 3♥ is plenty and it doesn't hang partner. I do smack 5 of minor tho, and smack it as if life depended on it.

3. Your pard is an idiot. Many playing UDCA around here use standard honor lead of H from H-x and not low-high (which is pre-alertable).

Blacklist today's village idiot and move on.

[neilkaz]

1) I'd probably open since I have 10 HCP in my long suits and my 5 card ♥ suit is really good with T98 added. However, no pickup expert should criticize the pass or open decision here.

1a) You have an auto pass over 5♣ and an even more clear pass of PD's X. Note that you lose 4 minor suit tricks and a ♠ in 5♥x vs decent defence.

PD's X is quite poor with a dub Q of trumps, and he allready bid his hand with 4♥. For all he knows, the opps have their bids and even after the expected cash of the ace, their may be only 1 more defensive trick available. This was not a forcing pass situation to me, after PD preemptively jumps to game.

2) I bid 3♥ very clearly here ! 4 card support with the ace, and the outside K maybe useful. I don't care for pass at all to be honest and bid 3♥ at any form of scoring. (4 is a bit pushy for me given today's light overcalling style at the 1 level)

2a) I have T98x in trumps and they need 11 tricks ! I also have an ace and a king and here, my ace is somewhat more likely to be useful as we may have only 9 trumps between us, rather than 10 last hand. Perhaps opener, has AKQJxxx in ♣, but perhaps not and he is in major trouble and is losing a trump trick he may not expect to lose. Even if we take no ♣ tricks, we may often set them. I just have to double here as they are going -2 or more quite often and my double won't help declarer all that much, IMHO.

2b) So after criticizing your optional opening decision the first hand, PD fails to support your overcall with 4 cards and then doesn't whack 5♣. I'd leave to walk the dog after this hand, and would clearly make it known that I don't own a dog while doing so .

3) A few years ago I asked the same question to a WC friend and author of a book on defence who usually plays UDCA in WC events. At least here in the US, UDCA is a signaling system and not a lead system and you don't lead low from 2 small.

.. neilkaz ..

[mike777]

ArcLight, on Dec 6 2007, 08:40 AM, said:

playing with a pick up self rated expert you don't know.

1. IMPS, all white.

Do you open with  (no flannery)?
♠A J x x
♥K Q T 9 8
♦x x
♣J x


I opened 1 heart.  Bidding went -
1♥ 2♣ 4♥ 5♣,
???


What now?

(I passed - leaving it up to pard - was that ok?)
1♥ 2♣ 4♥ 5♣,
p - p - X

pard doubled with
♠ T 9
♥A x x x x
♦Q 9 x x
♣Q x

What would you lead?
Pard lead the heart Ace, ruffed in dummies void.
Result  5♣ X making 6

Pard yelled at me for opening 1♥.
I asked what the double meant, and he said "cards"
He said I should have not opened and that I should have pulled his double.

What went wrong?



2. IMPS white on white 
RHO deals

pass - pass - 1♣  -  1♥ (by pard)
3♦ (weak jump shift in competition) - ?

What do you bid with:
♠ K x x
♥ A x x x
♦ x x
♣ T 9 8 x

Do you bid 3♥?
Pass?
(no special fit jumps, conventions)
-------------------

The bidding continued:
p - p - 1♣ - 1♥
3♦ - p - 5♣ - p
p -??

What do you bid over 5♣?
pass?
DBL?
other?

The "self rated pick up BBO expert pard" passed, result:
5♣ - 4 for a bottom.  At most tables 4♥ made 4 or 5


3. Lastly.  Playing UDCA, this pick up pard said you lead the lower card from a doubleton.    x from Yx  rather than Y.  Thats news to me!  I know some may have an agreement to do that, but thats independent of signaling.

What I found surpising is the willingness to freely apply ones own preferences regardless of if they are standard.

1) Easy pass if playing with you Arc, not even close. I need much much more for a first or second seat one bid.

[EricK]

In number one, the first and most serious mistake was when partner accidentally selected "Expert" as his rating. He made a couple more after that, of course.

In number two, I would have bid 3♥. But it probably doesn't matter what I do - if partner behaves like he did in number one, then every bad result will, apparently, be my fault anyway.

As for number three, a small mind can only hold a limited amount of information. So it is to be expected that once he has installed his agreements up there, there is no room left for the contemplation of alternatives.