Toronto, Ontario

Welcome to the Hand of the Day. There are two ways to navigate this section. You can either right click here to save this file and play the hands (if you have a program that allows you to load and play .PBN files) without seeing any of my commentary or you can scroll down and see what I had to say about the hands. It is probably more interesting to play these hands but I always like to offer my partner a choice. If you are curious to see how Pam and I made out, then you can click here to see the tournament schedule and the games we played or here to see if we placed in anything.

Tuesday) Well it's the nearing the end (board 20 of 28) of the second session of the A-x Pairs and you find yourself having to bid against Jason and Pam and their new, crazy, unpronounceable system. The good news is that they are vulnerable and you are not. The bad news is that the bidding is a bit mesmerizing. Are you up to the challenge of making the right choice?

1)14+ HCP and an unbalanced hand or
22+ HCP and a balanced hand
2) 0-3 hearts, 4+ spades, 4+ HCP
3) 18+ HCP, at least 5 hearts, forcing
4) 3 hearts, forcing to game

What happened) This is the Ax pairs so the opponent made the right choice and bid 5D. Of course we also made the right choice and doubled for penalty.

          1) 14+ HCP and unbalanced or 22+ HCP and balanced
          2) 0-3 hearts, 4+ spades, 4+ HCP
          3) 18+ HCP, at least 5 hearts, forcing
          4) 3 hearts, forcing to game
          5) forcing

Tuesday Result) We could only set 5D by 3 for +500 and an average score of 12 out of 25 matchpoints.

Wednesday) We all know that I am fond of the occasional psych bid. Take a look at my hand below and notice (trust me) that it has the shape for a nice psych. In case it is relevant, it is about halfway through the first session of the Ax pairs game, you are having a 50% game, no one is vulnerable and you are in second seat.

In the weird system that we are playing, your bidding options are many and varied:
    1) Pass: I have always wanted to pass with a hand like this but can never bring myself to try it.
    2) 1H: 9-14 HCP, at least 4 hearts, unbalanced hand, could have any suit longer
    3) 1S: 9-14 HCP, at least 4 spades, 0-3 hearts, unbalanced hand, could have a longer minor
    4) 1NT: 11-14 HCP, balanced
    5) 2C: 9-14 HCP, 0-4 hearts, 0-4 spades, at least 5 clubs, unbalanced hand
    6) 2NT: 19-21 HCP, balanced
    7) 3C, 4C, 5C: normal pre-empts
    8) 3NT: 9-14 HCP, at least 7 cards in one suit headed by AKQ, no outside Ace.

Wednesday) Does it surprise you to learn that I went with an on system 2C bid? Well, I have tried psychs, off shape pre-empts and other lies in second seat and I have learned it is best never to lie in second seat. Of course, the hand is just getting warmed up. Take a look at the exciting auction below and see what you would do with my hand now.

1) 9-14 HCP, 0-4 hearts, 0-4 spades, at least 5 clubs, unbalanced hand

What happened) I said what the heck and went with 6C expecting that I was probably sacrificing. As it turned out, I got the A of heart lead and I was on the road to making 6. Do you think I would have been good enough to make it with the 9 of spade lead? Would you have doubled for penalty with the West hand?

1) 9-14 HCP, 0-4 hearts, 0-4 spades, at least 5 clubs

Wednesday Result) 6C* making 6 was worth +1090 but only 23 out of 24 matchpoints.

Thursday) It must have been a boring day because even I am not really interested in this hand. At the point it came up, we were nearly finished the first half of the second round of a knockout. At the end of the first half we will be up 50 IMPs so it does not really matter what you do here. Regardless, take a look at the North/South hands (North starts) and see what contract you would bid yourself to.

What happened) We got to 6H in the North through a typically unusual auction. As you can see the contract has no play.

1) 14+ HCP and unbalanced or 22+ HCP and balanced
2) 4-6 HCP, denies a 4 card major

    3) game forcing, artificial
        4) agrees hearts as trump, asks for description
    5) no splinter, but likes hand
        6) 1 keycard

Thursday Result) 6H - 1 for -50 ended up being a push. Pam and I played quite well against weak opponents on our way to two easy wins in the first and second rounds of the knockout. At the end of the day I said to Pam, "Now you have a taste of what it is like to be Meckstroth and Rodwell. I imagine that they have lots of days like this." I wonder if I will regret my words tomorrow?

Friday) We've made it to the final round of the knockout and we are finally playing against a good team. At the half we are up 16 and the first 6 boards of the second half appear to be pushes. There are 6 boards left when the opponents pick up this hand when they are vulnerable and we are not. Take at look at the South hand and see what you would do with it. Assume that North's 3C is a game forcing bid.

What happened) 4th suit forcing makes a lot of sense, 3NT is reasonable and 5C is certainly not a bid I would choose. Regardless, that was the opponent's choice and Pam lead her singleton club. Given my good 4 card club holding, I assumed that I could set the contract but North played the hand well and made the contract.

Thursday Result) Our partners were in 3NT as expected and went down 3 so we lost 14 IMPs on the hand. On the second last board, the match was decided when I put Pam into a 6D contract on a 9 card fit missing one Ace and the Queen of trumps. She went for the drop and ended up down 1 costing us 12 IMPs and making the final score 48 - 55. After the match, I spent a lot of time assessing my choice to put Pam in 6D and eventually made peace with it. Regardless, it was a well played match by the best two teams in the bracket.

Saturday) We decided to take the afternoon off and do four Buckys so we ended up in the second session of the open pairs with the attitude "lets play for fun." Regardless, it is competitive duplicate bridge and we are playing against former Canadian champion and current pro David Grainger (1) when this very unusual auction comes up. Put yourself in Pam's shoes and see if you can make the right choice.

1) 9-14 HCP, at least 4 hearts, unbalanced hand, could have a longer suit
2) 0-25 HCP, at least 4 hearts
3) When Pam asked, David thought it was a Michaels bid

What Happened) Did you find the Pass card? I think that double and 5H are also acceptable bids here. The "problem" on the hand is that your partner has psyched an opening bid.

   1) 9-14 HCP, at least 4 hearts, could have a longer suit
   2) 0-25 HCP, at least 4 hearts
   3) When Pam asked, David thought it was a Michaels bid

Saturday Result) Half the field was in 5C making 6 but the two pairs in 6C both went down. This was especially bad for me as I ended up going down in 5H for -800 and 0 out of 17 matchpoints. I didn't record the opening lead but if I got a club then I certainly had a chance to hold it down 1. Regardless, this is one of perils of the big time psych and I took responsibility for the zero.

In case you were wondering, Pam and I played 5 Ax pairs games and 4 of our scores ranged from 47% - 49% with one other (not today's actually) at 43%. Even I find it hard to believe we were that consistent.

Sunday) Today is the BCD Swiss and we are playing with the same team that lost in the final of the knockout. For some strange reason, this is our fourth 8 board match and we still don't have a win. Regardless, the losses have been small and it is still possible for us to place in the overalls if we finish strong.

Now, on the last hand it was pretty tough for you to make the right choice. On this hand your decision is equally difficult but this time I will promise you that your partner has not made a psych bid. Take a look at Pam's hand and make your choice.

1) 9-14 HCP, 0-3 hearts, 0-3 spades, at least 5 clubs, unbalanced hand
2) at least 10 HCP, at least 3 clubs, asks for description
3) probably pre-emptive, no more than 2 keycards, no interest in slam

What Happened) Pam went with 6C but that was not really the choice she had to make. If I had given it to you properly then you would have known what she did by the very fact that I was asking the question. Below you can see the real auction. Does that make Pam's 6C bid more impressive or less?

            1) 9-14 HCP, 0-3 hearts, 0-3 spades, at least 5 clubs
            2) at least 10 HCP, at least 3 clubs, asks for description
            3) probably pre-emptive, no more than 2 keycards

Sunday Result) 6C made 6 for +1370 and we won 12 IMPs when the other table stopped in 4H and made 5. We ended up winning the match by a score of 27-22 for our only win of the day. That's right we managed to finish second last in the BCD Swiss with a team that I thought had a decent shot at finishing first. From an expectations standpoint, this is one of my worst bridge results.

Why) At week long bridge tournaments, Pam and I have been playing this game I invented called Bridge Bingo. Essentially, I created a list of 90 different things (ranging from likely to very unlikely) that can happen during a week of bridge. Then I randomly take different sets of 30 things to create unique Bingo cards for me and Pam. Generally speaking, the items in the top line are the easiest to get while the items in the bottom row are the toughest. The first person to complete a line (or complete the majority of the line by the end of Sunday) wins the dollar amount designated for that line. It is just another way to make bridge a bit more exciting.

Below you can see my Bridge Bingo card from Toronto as well as the designated winner (a / denotes a tie) for each line. In 10 games so far neither one of us has got a blackout bingo.

You can probably tell that this is an unusual looking Bingo card. Well, I managed to lose mine during the week
and Pam was nice enough to let me recopy it out without having to pay her too much of a penalty fee.