"Bacon Day" by Marti Ronemus

There are many people who for various health and religious reasons don't have bacon in their lives, and I'm sure their lives are full and productive. BUT! The thought of a bacon-less kitchen scares me. I've discovered that almost any meal disaster can be rescued if I add some bacon. There's just no substitute for its deliciousness.

And in our bridge lives? There's no substitute for accurate visualization. Today we focus on interpreting what our Pard has said, helping us know what is the right thing to do. Get out your frying pan and let's go.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ Q J 8 4
♥ 9 7
♦ A 6 5 4
♣ 10 3 2

Q: 1 - We start out easy. As South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	1♥	Pass
?

A: Pass: We hate to do it. If you bid a new suit, it will promise five, but more importantly, it would force Pard to bid again. We've only got 7 pts, and Pard at most has 17. We aren't going far, are we? We have a seven-card fit. Let's be thankful and let it go.

Your result so far:

Open Question

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Question 2

Your Hand
♠ K Q J 4 3
♥ 2
♦ 9 5 2
♣ K 8 5 4

Q: 2 - We're South and Pard has thrown some bacon in the pan. What should we do?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
1♠	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

A: 2♠: Pard's bid was forcing and our overcall is pretty lean. (Get it? Bacon? Lean?) Don't even think of bidding those Clubs. We don't want to rebid the 5-card suit, but what's left?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 8 4
♥ Q J 4 3
♦ 8 4
♣ J 10 8 5 2

Q: 3 - South again:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Dbl
?

A: 3♥: In a competitive auction, raising your Pard's suit is the weakest response you can make regardless of level. A raise of Hearts to the three-level shows a very minimum hand and guarantees four Hearts. You are raising to the level of trumps in your combined hands. This is a competitive bid rather than constructive. With a NICE hand, you'd probably redouble, but with this mess, we're throwing on a lot of crispy bacon.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K J 9 7 5
♥ 2
♦ Q 8 5 4 3
♣ 8 3

Q: 4 - South again.

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Dbl
?

A: 1♠: Even though a new suit by us is forcing, if we don't show these Spades now, we might not get to do so later. Pard should recognize that we've got five of them.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A 9 5 4 3
♥ 10 5
♦ 8 6
♣ Q 10 6 4

Q: 5 - South again. Let's see what happens here:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♦	Pass

A: 2♥: Pard has shown two suits and asked us to take a preference. With our very minimum hand (albeit with great shape) we are taking him back to Hearts. He will know we only have two of them-- otherwise we would have supported immediately. We cannot pass, as that would leave it in Diamonds, and 2 No-trump would be a very forward-going hand. Let's bail out cheaply.

And now, yup, you guessed it. We're going to play this hand and see what happens. Will we bring home the bacon? To be announced...

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

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