[AL78]

MPs, NS vuln, 5CM, strong NT.

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1♦ guarentees 4+. What do you think the second double shows and what do you do here?

[Douglas43]

If a weak NT opener was being played, I would expect opener to have extra values but no clear-cut bid. I would now bid 4♦, which I would regard as natural and non-forcing (I play 4m as forcing in the absence of competition, but not here). A braver bidder might try 4♥, but I'd rather show my support than the fifth heart.

Not so sure about strong NT sequence, but I'd assume something similar. Opener would pass with a weak NT hand, so it must be too shapely for 1NT. Maybe 2-2-5-4? Would still bid 4♦ but maybe regular strong NT players would do more.

[apollo1201]

 Douglas43, on 2022-June-05, 03:21, said:

Not so sure about strong NT sequence, but I'd assume something similar.

Definitely extra values, so maybe unbal with H tolerance (1354 or 1363) and strength of at least a strong NT, pr may also be a balanced 18-19’w/o S stopper

I’m risking 4H in all cases, trying to look confident 😅😅

[AL78]

Two different responses, neither of which I did. I passed and went for the magic MP score of +200. If it weren't for some careless defence it would have worked.

[apollo1201]

 AL78, on 2022-June-07, 11:53, said:

I passed and went for the magic MP score of +200.

My 2nd choice, only because MP and they are red. And risky for risky why not put CK on the table.
But surely 4D is the safe bid
What did partner have?

[Gilithin]

I think the best way of viewing this Double is the same way as a cue bid - partner wants to play game but is not sure yet as to where. They might have a flexible hand with heart tolerance, as suggested previously, but they might equally have a one-suiter with extras and no stopper, or a minor 2-suiter. Our job is to describe our hand - as we do not have a stop, the call that does that is 4♦. It is not like it gives up on 4♥, with the flexible hand type partner can continue 4♥ as choice of game. Passing the Double seems like a very eccentric decision even at Favourable.

[AL78]

 apollo1201, on 2022-June-07, 17:34, said:

What did partner have?

I can't remember. Unfortunately this club still uses human dealt hands, so unless I write down the full deal during or after play, I won't recall the full layout.

[pigpenz]

 AL78, on 2022-June-08, 16:59, said:

I can't remember. Unfortunately this club still uses human dealt hands, so unless I write down the full deal during or after play, I won't recall the full layout.

try going to your hand history or BBO my hands its works better than most memories

[pescetom]

 pigpenz, on 2022-June-09, 15:10, said:

try going to your hand history or BBO my hands its works better than most memories

Maybe you weren't reading carefully: he said a club that still deals by hand.
Usually they will not have hand histories online after play, even if it is not difficult for the organization to photograph or scan several travellers at once.

If a hand is interesting to a player (as here) then (s)he can always take a photo, al78 is part of a fast dwindling generation that ever considered writing down a hand

[AL78]

 pescetom, on 2022-June-09, 15:15, said:

Maybe you weren't reading carefully: he said a club that still deals by hand.
Usually they will not have hand histories online after play, even if it is not difficult for the organization to photograph or scan several travellers at once.

If a hand is interesting to a player (as here) then (s)he can always take a photo, al78 is part of a fast dwindling generation that ever considered writing down a hand

Thanks to the digital age I have got out of the habit. I sometimes come across interesting hands that I mean to write down at the end of the session, then forget to do it. This club is looking into getting a dealing machine. The hands most likely to stick in my mind are when I'm declaring and so I see two hands for an extended time.

[pescetom]

 AL78, on 2022-June-09, 16:13, said:

Thanks to the digital age I have got out of the habit. I sometimes come across interesting hands that I mean to write down at the end of the session, then forget to do it. This club is looking into getting a dealing machine. The hands most likely to stick in my mind are when I'm declaring and so I see two hands for an extended time.

Remembering hands is a skill that a rare few are born with, but can also be learned or at least improve over time.

When I started playing I was dumbfounded by my club's blind player who could and would shout "Stop! We played this board last tuesday, it hasn't been redealt" as soon as he examined his (braille embossed) cards. At that time I was lucky if I could remember my distribution on the previous board, let alone specific cards. Now I realise that he always pays attention to board number (to be certain of vulnerability and Dealer) and is always North, both of which help. I was surprised and pleased a few weeks ago when I was able to shout "Stop! We played this board on Friday, but I was in West", after recognizing the cards of my then opponent.
Listening to conversations between world class players at Salsomaggiore, it was evident that many had recall of cards, the auction and the sequence of play for almost any board worthy of discussion in the last few days, despite playing 30-50 per day.

[AL78]

 pescetom, on 2022-June-10, 15:28, said:

Remembering hands is a skill that a rare few are born with, but can also be learned or at least improve over time.

When I started playing I was dumbfounded by my club's blind player who could and would shout "Stop! We played this board last tuesday, it hasn't been redealt" as soon as he examined his (braille embossed) cards. At that time I was lucky if I could remember my distribution on the previous board, let alone specific cards. Now I realise that he always pays attention to board number (to be certain of vulnerability and Dealer) and is always North, both of which help. I was surprised and pleased a few weeks ago when I was able to shout "Stop! We played this board on Friday, but I was in West", after recognizing the cards of my then opponent.
Listening to conversations between world class players at Salsomaggiore, it was evident that many had recall of cards, the auction and the sequence of play for almost any board worthy of discussion in the last few days, despite playing 30-50 per day.

In the dim and distant past I have recognised deals that have been played before due to a mistake in the pre-dealing, although it took me two or three hands before I realised I recognised them. I can sometimes recall mine and my partner's hand if we are defending but I cannot recall all four hands, unless it is a real standout deal. Since the adoption of dealing machines and online results with hands, there is no need to do this, so I have never trained myself. Generally what sticks in my mind is the overall statistical property of the hands from a session, such as defending a lot, being on lead a lot, or if myself or partner declare a lot relative to the other.

There was one a week ago where partner opened, RHO doubled, LHO bid 2♦ (I don't think I responded as I had a near bust), then RHO bid 2♠ and played there, making +140 for a bad score our way. At the time I couldn't understand why we got a bad score as I couldn't see where we had blown a defensive trick. I would have liked to have writen down the deal and studied it more closely, and maybe post it here as a problem. The one thing that stuck in my mind was RHO held a four card spade suit, dummy came down with three of them, and from recollection they broke 3-3.

[Cyberyeti]

 AL78, on 2022-June-11, 03:10, said:

In the dim and distant past I have recognised deals that have been played before due to a mistake in the pre-dealing, although it took me two or three hands before I realised I recognised them. I can sometimes recall mine and my partner's hand if we are defending but I cannot recall all four hands, unless it is a real standout deal. Since the adoption of dealing machines and online results with hands, there is no need to do this, so I have never trained myself. Generally what sticks in my mind is the overall statistical property of the hands from a session, such as defending a lot, being on lead a lot, or if myself or partner declare a lot relative to the other.

There have been 2 instances I can remember of cards not being redealt. One failed to be redealt twice, and having sat in different seats with wildly different auctions, I managed to play the board on the latter 2 occasions without realising it was the same hand till dummy came down. This sort of thing can happen when opener has a 751 2 count, and their partner has a big hand with 8 of their void suit. The latter 2 occasions, knowing the hand made no difference to the play, you were always booked for the same score so results stood.