[gwnn]

you're playing in an allegedly high level competitions versus one of the proven noobs.

1NT-3NT;
6NT.

you happen to have about a balanced 10 count, with honors spread evenly in your suits, on lead.

May you call the TD? What if you defeat 6NT 3 times, and opener has a nice 17 count?

[mycroft]

Why would you call the TD? What infraction do you think may have occurred?

Given that that's going to be the TD's first question...

"The opponents don't bid normally" isn't an infraction per se.

[rogerclee]

Are you drunk or something, I don't understand what is going on.

[JanM]

Well-l-l, it sounds like what's going on is similar to a very old story I remember being told (I honestly don't remember by or about whom).

Pair comes to a table in a MP event and on the first board they bid 1S-3S-6S, opener having no possible reason to bid 6S. The contract goes down 2 or 3. On the next board, the bidding by the other side starts 1S-3S. Opener calls the director and asks "am I allowed to bid a slam on my opponent's wire?"

[Stephen Tu]

Well, if the 1nt was announced as "10-12", then 3nt-6nt, and opener shows up with the 17 count then you get a rollback to 3nt if they happen to make it, as opener has UI then. But if it's down 3 there's no damage.

OTOH if it's announced as "15-17" and he shows up with 17 there's absolutely no rule that your opponents aren't allowed to be crazy. If they happen to randomly make it then you lose 13 imps or get a bottom or whatever, there's been no infraction.

Unless you have evidence of a wire or the like.

[jillybean]

Nice to see Im not the only one having blonde moments, must be more to the story

[blackshoe]

Heh. Yesterday, my partner and I bid like this: 1NT-2♣-2♥-2NT-3NT-4NT-P. (opps silent). So I'm sitting there waiting to see what partner has for her 4NT bid. She had a balanced 14 HCP opposite my 17. I guess she wanted me to bid slam if I had 19 or 20 for my bidding.

[mycroft]

The prototypical LOL auction (actually perpetrated on me, years ago, by a pair of literal LOLs) is:
1D-2D; 3D-4D; 5D-6D.

No Alerts. Cold.

[SoTired]

I was playing with a novice partner against 2 pros.
She dealt and opened 1H (2C) 2H by me, (3C) ... long pause... 6H
(p) p ... long pause... (7C) X... down 3, which was a successful sac against our cold 6H contract.

After the hand, I asked the pro why he bid 7C and he said, "She looked like an honest lady to me."

[mycroft]

I've bid 1S-4S (weak, 5 and a stiff); 6S once, but I was playing EHAA where there is no strong bid, and partner had a 25-count. If I had been 6-4-2-1 instead of 6-5-1-1 for my 1-count, he would have made it, too.

[han]

1S-4S-6S is of course very different from 1NT-3NT-6NT.

[jdonn]

I have seen 2NT 4NT 7NT and 2NT 6NT 7NT, both making.

[crazy4hoop]

JanM, on Aug 5 2008, 07:31 PM, said:

Well-l-l, it sounds like what's going on is similar to a very old story I remember being told (I honestly don't remember by or about whom).

Pair comes to a table in a MP event and on the first board they bid 1S-3S-6S, opener having no possible reason to bid 6S. The contract goes down 2 or 3. On the next board, the bidding by the other side starts 1S-3S. Opener calls the director and asks "am I allowed to bid a slam on my opponent's wire?"

I think Alan Truscott wrote an article about this and he entitled it "Crosswires."

As to the auction, maybe the NT opener meant to pull out 2NT and when his partner had enough to raise to game, he leaped to 6 upon seeing he had only bid 1NT with his 20-count with a good 6-card minor and was taking a chance that they could make 12 tricks opposite a 9-10 count. I almost feel like the stronger the pair is that does this and it makes, the more I would want to get the director involved, not just with this pair, but also to get the next table to discuss the hands a hell of a lot more quietly, if at all. Of course, a novice could overhear something, too, so I would still call the director and explain what happened or maybe even speak to the director privately about what happened (at least if it were a club game). If a tournament, I want the director and recorder involved after the hand regardless of the result in case such behavior from this pair has become or will become commonplace.

[Stephen Tu]

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

I heard of one auction roughly 1nt-2nt-3nt-6nt explained "if you had more than a minimum I wanted to be in slam" .

[JoAnneM]

You call the director for something like this and everyone around you is going to hear it, especially since people tend to talk louder when they have a gripe.

There is no penalty for bad bidding, and if they went down three what is your problem?

Did I mention that every time the director is called to a table that the game is disturbed for every table around that table?

[ASkolnick]

The problem with the 1NT-3NT-6NT is that there would be no penalty if it is just bad bidding.

The problem occurs if there is a conversation off-line saying "What do you have?" , "I have the maximum 17", "Good, I have 15", now let's bid one more.

[han]

This happened in face to face bridge.

[jtfanclub]

What if opener has:

Ax
Ax
AJTxxx
Axx

and knows he's seriously outclassed? Is it still a director call? Or are you allowed to take a shot?

EDIT: I know, none of you would bid 1NT with this. Bet you wouldn't bid 1NT-3NT-6NT either.

[han]

Yes, both the suggestion to open 1NT or to rebid 6NT are truly truly awful.

[jtfanclub]

han, on Aug 8 2008, 02:28 PM, said:

Yes, both the suggestion to open 1NT or to rebid 6NT are truly truly awful.

It's a noob taking a shot, not 'what the experts would bid'.

Sure it's stupid, but is it really worthy of a director call?