"Cow Chip Throwing Days" by Marti Ronemus

If it weren't for this column, you'd never know what's going on in the world outside of bridge. Did you know that Drew Russell, 28, of Edmond OK broke the previous record for Cow Chip Chucking. In 2015 he threw said cow patty a stunning 188' 6", topping the previous record by 5'. This was part of an annual Cow Chip Festival, an event with a 48-year history (I swear I'm not making this up) which include the chip chuck, a talent show (one tries not to picture this), a parade and a carnival.

Take a minute to recover from those images, and we'll get to work on our quiz and hand.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A 9 8 7 5
♥ K J 9
♦ J 10
♣ A 8 4

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	3♥	Pass
?

A: 4♥: When Pard preempts, we're not interested in how many points we have in our hand as how many TRICKS we have. Bridge is a game of tricks, not points. We figure Pard for 5 to 5-1/2 tricks. We've got two quick tricks, plus two honors in Pard's suit, and we've got a ten-card trump fit. That spells game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
1♥	1♠	2♥	3♠**
?

**Weak, with four-card trump support, following The Law of Total Tricks

A: 4♥: Eddie Kantar (kantarbridge.com) has good advice when you're in this situation. When your six-card suit is supported, Eddie recommends adding 3 points to your hand. That makes this game-going. Bidding is a lot more fun that chucking cow chips, don't you think?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South: How far can you throw this chip?

South	West	North	East
-	-	1 No-trump	Pass
2♣	Pass	2♥	Pass
?

A: 4♥: We love the singleton and since we're going to be dummy, we add 3 pts for it. This hand is worth a lot more than the sum of its points.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A 8 4
♥ 7 4
♦ K 9 6
♣ K 10 5 4 3

Q: 4 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♥: In a competitive auction, raising your Pard's suit is considered a sign of weakness and shows the number of trumps you're holding. Holding a fit with Pard, we show the fit plus a hand with 10 plus points by cuebidding the opponent's suit. It is oh-so-forcing for one round and is perfect.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

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

A: 4♥: Did you notice Pard chucked his chip pretty far? A jump overcall is not weak in the balancing seat. It shows a solid opening hand, nothing wimpy. With our ninth trump plus our short Clubs and nice "honorettes" we are going to take a chance even tho' we're not crazy about the honors in Their suit.

Now, let's try our hand.

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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