Responder "The Spork" by Marti Ronemus

On this day in 1874, Samuel Frances applied for a patent for The Spork... you know, that crazy little gadget that is both spoon and fork? You've seen them at fast food places, and they are quite common in prisons (I'm just sayin').

Sporks have always seemed to me to be a marvel of simplicity, practicality... and identity confusion. Hopefully our bids today will have a clarity of purpose that the humble Spork lacks. We're going to keep it simple, looking at first responses.

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	Pass
?

A: 1♥: We like to bid four-card suits up the line, but we are going to by-pass the Diamonds to bid Hearts. Here's why: Let's say we DO bid 1♦, and West then bids 1♠. If Pard has four Hearts, it's very possible we can lose our Heart fit. If we had a more-than-minimum hand, we'd bid the Diamonds first. No-trump is not an option because we've got those four-card suits. Our bid is unlimited and forcing.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♣	Pass
?

A: 1♦: This time, we're going to bid slowly up the line. Remember, the better your hand, the slower we go until we find the perfect resting place. We need to show the prongs on our little spork. Again, unlimited and forcing.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
?

A: 1♥: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. The Hearts are terrible, but we bid UP THE LINE. A very hard concept for newer players to grasp is that we bid our SHAPE and TOTAL POINTS, rather than where our points are. I know, it doesn't initially entirely make sense, but then neither does a spork. Unlimited and forcing.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♠	Pass
?

A: 1 No-trump: Sadly, we can't bid our Hearts. Why not? We don't have the money to buy the two level. A response of 1 No-trump is the only No-trump bid that doesn't show a relatively balanced hand. We may well get a chance to show our Hearts later, now that we've limited our hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	Pass
?

A: 1♠: With two five-card suits, we bid DOWN the line. He're a little memory aid: "Five-five DOWN we dive. Four-four UP we soar." Again, we need to show our shape. We have a great hand, and surely Pard's got three of one or the other major. We'll find out.

And now, a hand to poke with our spork.

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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