[jillybean]

I've been playing too much MP - will someone please tell me again, what are the strategies for IMP games?

Thanks
jb

[kenrexford]

If you are not down yet, bid the game.

[aguahombre]

kenrexford, on Nov 25 2009, 11:27 AM, said:

If you are not down yet, bid the game.

that works.

[Phil]

Add a King to your hand. Bid games until going for -1100 is a regular occurrence. The usual stuff.

Seriously:

- Bid vul games to the hilt;
- Try to get a plus score when its an obvious part score
- Bid the safer game, not the higher scoring game.

Others can add on.

[pooltuna]

jillybean, on Nov 25 2009, 01:21 PM, said:

I've been playing too much MP - will someone please tell me again, what are the strategies for IMP games?

Thanks
jb

bid V games with 40% expectation of making ...i.e. 3-2 trump break and a finesse
be more conservative with NV game bidding since you need 50% expectation. Be very aware of how exposed you are when you are V vs NV. This translates into very good 2 level minor suit overcalls and very sound preemptive bids...i.e. you open 2♠ you better be able to take 6 tricks in your hand ...i.e.

---

and this is a minimum holding

[gwnn]

Don't change your bidding too much. That's the worst thing you could do. The most important adjustment is maybe trying for slam in minors is a better idea in IMPs than MPs since in MP's you dont want to declare 5C with 28 points and a 5-4 fit and 2 top losers.

[Stephen Tu]

You can actually take the nifty safety plays you read about in books.

[georgeac]

Stephen Tu, on Nov 25 2009, 02:29 PM, said:

You can actually take the nifty safety plays you read about in books.

this is a good one. also, i just continue to bid until opps stop or x

[Jlall]

1) Bid game
2) Don't double partials
3) Generally opt to sell out at the 3 level in competitive auctions rather than take the push when it's close
4) Make game
5) Beat game

[jillybean]

Thanks all.

[shevek]

People have neglected to mention the PUSH SEAT.
Best to agree that one player can look at the vul, the other just bids normally.

You sometimes get this

1NT (15-17) - 2NT - 3NT

where 2NT was bid on a bad 8 count "because we're vulnerable", accepted by opener on a bad 16 or good 15 count "because we're vulnerable".

In this case, responder can push the boat out if he wishes but opener should bid straight down the middle.

[suokko]

shevek, on Dec 8 2009, 12:11 PM, said:

1NT (15-17) - 2NT - 3NT

where 2NT was bid on a bad 8 count "because we're vulnerable", accepted by opener on a bad 16 or good 15 count "because we're vulnerable".

And I have passed 1NT with bad 10 count.

It is more like that hand which is good should bid aggressively and if both are good then both should bid aggressively. This way you can find the making 23 hcp games while staying out of bad 25 hcp games.

[helene_t]

gwnn, on Nov 25 2009, 07:45 PM, said:

Don't change your bidding too much. That's the worst thing you could do.

Absolutely.

At matchpoints you generally bid games that have 50% chance or more. At IMPs, you need slightly less when nonvulnerable and more substantially less (38% or such) when vulnerable. This is not a huge difference.

You can stretch a little when accepting partner's invites when vulnerable, but if partner also stretches to invite when vulnerable (say after a 1NT opening, responder stretches to invite with a bad 8-count and and opener stretches to accept with a bad 16-count) then you will end up in too many games that have a lot less than 38% chance.

Here is a suggestion of how to avoid that: agree with partner that invites are not influenced by the scoring and vulnerability. However when deciding whether to accept, of course you are free to take whatever factors you want (also state of the match, abilities of the opponents etc) into account.

[jh51]

While the poster asked about game bidding, it should be noted that small slams should be bid if they are at least a 50-50 proposition, without regard to vulnerability.

What you gain if both tables take 12 tricks and you bid slam and they did not is exactly what you lose if you take only 11 tricks under the same conditions.