Biggest hands you've ever seen

[James Dow Allen]

Yesterday in the BBO Casual Game my partner held
A K Q J 9
A K Q J 7 2
A 10
(void)
"Only" 24 hcp -- (I had 26 hcp the week before) -- but still the strongest hand
perhaps that I've ever seen from a legitimately shuffled deck.

Which begs the question: Are BBO deals random? Or do they spice things
up with exciting non-random hands?

Partner opened Six Hearts (non vs vul) with that hand and I passed
with xxx - T9xx - K - AJ9xx. Should I have raised to Seven?
Or should partner start with Two Clubs, so that I don't worry 6H
is an advance sacrifice with x - QJTxxxxxxxx - x - (void) ?

Cheers,
James

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Post by James Dow Allen
Yesterday in the BBO Casual Game my partner held
A K Q J 9
A K Q J 7 2
A 10
(void)
"Only" 24 hcp -- (I had 26 hcp the week before) -- but still the strongest hand
perhaps that I've ever seen from a legitimately shuffled deck.
Which begs the question: Are BBO deals random? Or do they spice things
up with exciting non-random hands?
Partner opened Six Hearts (non vs vul) with that hand and I passed
with xxx - T9xx - K - AJ9xx. Should I have raised to Seven?

Absolutely. Partner expects you to have next to no points and at most
two trumps. You have two strong cards, 4 trumps and 8 points.

[John Hall]

Post by James Dow Allen
Yesterday in the BBO Casual Game my partner held
A K Q J 9
A K Q J 7 2
A 10
(void)
"Only" 24 hcp -- (I had 26 hcp the week before) -- but still the strongest hand
perhaps that I've ever seen from a legitimately shuffled deck.
Which begs the question: Are BBO deals random? Or do they spice things
up with exciting non-random hands?
Partner opened Six Hearts (non vs vul) with that hand and I passed
with xxx - T9xx - K - AJ9xx. Should I have raised to Seven?
Or should partner start with Two Clubs, so that I don't worry 6H
is an advance sacrifice with x - QJTxxxxxxxx - x - (void) ?

I think partner should start with 2C. Otherwise - even if you discount
the advance sacrifice possibility - there will be many hands where
partner is guessing whether to raise 6 to 7. In this case I think I'd
gamble and raise 6 to 7, but you shouldn't be put in the position where
you have to gamble. If the auction starts 2C-2D-2H (game forcing)-3H
(showing a better hand than 4H would do), then you ought to reach the
optimum 7NT. (After you raise hearts it's a fair bet that, even if you
lack the K of diamonds or 10 of spades, there will be an entry in
hearts.)

[Kenny McCormack]

Post by James Dow Allen
Yesterday in the BBO Casual Game my partner held
A K Q J 9
A K Q J 7 2
A 10
(void)
"Only" 24 hcp -- (I had 26 hcp the week before) -- but still the strongest hand
perhaps that I've ever seen from a legitimately shuffled deck.
Which begs the question: Are BBO deals random? Or do they spice things
up with exciting non-random hands?

I think they do - and that they are right to do so.

Some people get real uppity about this and say that they've done extensive
analyses of BBO (and OKB before that) hands and found them to be
"mathematically accurate". I think those people of FOS, but then it
becomes a "conspiracy theory" - and thus not provable one way or the other.

But there is an underlying assumption that it would be wrong and that thus
I am impugning the providers by saying the hands are juiced. But I don't
think it is bad and in fact, it makes the game more fun and interesting if
the hands are more wild than in a normal, boring, face-to-face game.

Think of it this way - they are in the entertainment business and if you
are in the entertainment biz, your job is to entertain. Just as with TV
and movies, things happen onscreen that would never happen in real life,
and people expect and understand this.

Post by James Dow Allen
Partner opened Six Hearts (non vs vul) with that hand and I passed
with xxx - T9xx - K - AJ9xx. Should I have raised to Seven?
Or should partner start with Two Clubs, so that I don't worry 6H
is an advance sacrifice with x - QJTxxxxxxxx - x - (void) ?

I think that when pd opens 6H, he is throwing science to the winds on this
hand. I would not do anything other than pass.

But I think it was dumb to open this 6H. When you do that, it will almost
certainly go pass-pass-pass (as it did here) and the point is that you're
not going to get any kind of good score for bidding and making 6H on this
hand at any form of duplicate (either pairs or IMPs). It might be a
practical bid at rubber-for-money; take your $14 and go on to the next
hand. But at duplicate, it's going to be a (widely shared) bottom (or IMP
loss). The point is that you need to be doubled for it to be worthwhile.
So, for that reason as well the possibility of getting to a better spot
(i.e., 7N - or even a spade contract), you should walk the dog on this
hand. Open 2C and go from there. Or just open 1H and go from there (if
you really want to live it up!).

[Paul N]

Post by James Dow Allen
Yesterday in the BBO Casual Game my partner held
A K Q J 9
A K Q J 7 2
A 10
(void)
"Only" 24 hcp -- (I had 26 hcp the week before) -- but still the strongest hand
perhaps that I've ever seen from a legitimately shuffled deck.
Which begs the question: Are BBO deals random? Or do they spice things
up with exciting non-random hands?
Partner opened Six Hearts (non vs vul) with that hand and I passed
with xxx - T9xx - K - AJ9xx. Should I have raised to Seven?
Or should partner start with Two Clubs, so that I don't worry 6H
is an advance sacrifice with x - QJTxxxxxxxx - x - (void) ?

I think your partner was a bit hasty here - he can see that (barring a horrendous split) he can make 6H but he should also be able to see that if you have AC or KD he can make seven. By jumping so high he has rather lost the chance to investigate this. I don't know if it is possible to find out about KD but opening 4NT (Blackwood) would cover the other opportunity.

Given the position you were in, I can understand your hesitancy. AC will probably give him an extra trick he's not expecting, but this is not guaranteed. For instance, if his diamonds were AK and he was missing AH then he can't make seven. I think you're entitled to assume (wrongly in this case) that he'll make the same regardless of your hand, otherwise he would have asked.

[Mister Johnson]

Post by Paul N

Post by James Dow Allen
Yesterday in the BBO Casual Game my partner held
A K Q J 9
A K Q J 7 2
A 10
(void)
"Only" 24 hcp -- (I had 26 hcp the week before) -- but still the strongest hand
perhaps that I've ever seen from a legitimately shuffled deck.
Which begs the question: Are BBO deals random? Or do they spice things
up with exciting non-random hands?
Partner opened Six Hearts (non vs vul) with that hand and I passed
with xxx - T9xx - K - AJ9xx. Should I have raised to Seven?
Or should partner start with Two Clubs, so that I don't worry 6H
is an advance sacrifice with x - QJTxxxxxxxx - x - (void) ?

I think your partner was a bit hasty here - he can see that (barring a horrendous split) he can make 6H but he should also be able to see that if you have AC or KD he can make seven. By jumping so high he has rather lost the chance to investigate this. I don't know if it is possible to find out about KD but opening 4NT (Blackwood) would cover the other opportunity.
Given the position you were in, I can understand your hesitancy. AC will probably give him an extra trick he's not expecting, but this is not guaranteed. For instance, if his diamonds were AK and he was missing AH then he can't make seven. I think you're entitled to assume (wrongly in this case) that he'll make the same regardless of your hand, otherwise he would have asked.

A great hand for opening Kabel 3NT!

3NT Ace ask
5C Ace of clubs
5NT King ask
6D King of diamonds
7H/7NT

[John Hall]

On Sunday, September 24, 2023 at 5:27:480 >> Yesterday in the BBO Casual Game my partner held

Post by James Dow Allen
A K Q J 9
A K Q J 7 2
A 10
(void)
"Only" 24 hcp -- (I had 26 hcp the week before) -- but still the strongest hand
perhaps that I've ever seen from a legitimately shuffled deck.
Which begs the question: Are BBO deals random? Or do they spice things
up with exciting non-random hands?
Partner opened Six Hearts (non vs vul) with that hand and I passed
with xxx - T9xx - K - AJ9xx. Should I have raised to Seven?
Or should partner start with Two Clubs, so that I don't worry 6H
is an advance sacrifice with x - QJTxxxxxxxx - x - (void) ?

I think your partner was a bit hasty here - he can see that (barring a
horrendous split) he can make 6H but he should also be able to see that
if you have AC or KD he can make seven. By jumping so high he has
rather lost the chance to investigate this. I don't know if it is
possible to find out about KD but opening 4NT (Blackwood) would cover
the other opportunity.

A snag is that even if he has the club Ace, he's still going to need an
entry for it - one of the major suit Tens or any four hearts would do,
or even any three on a lucky day. Whether the chances of one of those
holdings is high enough to justify bidding the Grand if missing the KD I
don't know. With his actual hand, of course, they are no fewer than four
entries.

Given the position you were in, I can understand your hesitancy. AC
will probably give him an extra trick he's not expecting, but this is
not guaranteed. For instance, if his diamonds were AK and he was
missing AH then he can't make seven. I think you're entitled to assume
(wrongly in this case) that he'll make the same regardless of your
hand, otherwise he would have asked.

With a decent partner you should be able to find out if they have the KD
or AC through a cue-bidding sequence. After 2C-2D, I think a jump to 3H
should set the suit and ask partner to bid any control. So:

2C 2D
3H 4C
4S 5D
7H (if you could be sure that partner's club control is the Ace rather
than King, you could even bid 7NT)

The trouble is, of course, that in a casual game you probably don't know
if partner is decent.