[jillybean]

the ♥2 was hidden underneath J853, dummy now has 13 cards

[andy_h]

Stephen Tu, on 2012-June-14, 13:15, said:

Don't really see why people are wanting to use specific ace ask/king ask or the rush to set spades as trump. I personally would like to maneuver to see if I can get partner to raise *clubs*, if he can't support spades, which could reasonably often lead to 7c as the only making grand when partner doesn't have HA/DK, and can help the 7s/7nt decision if he has the HA and club length. If you set spades as trumps, partner won't ever be able to show 4+ club length, while it's possible he could after 2c-2d-2s-2nt-3c or other such auctions.

Though I suppose this could increase chances of trump lead on the actual board when I end up in 6s with everyone else.

+1. Who cares about keycards when you just want to first find out if partner has 4+clubs

[lalldonn]

Against jlogic I open 7♣, hopefully partner is 4-4 in the black suits.

[bd71]

CSGibson, on 2012-June-14, 09:32, said:

Responder should bid 3N without a 1st round control (not sure if that's standard), and cue the 1st round control otherwise.

This question came up recently with a partner...if our standard cue-bidding approach is 1st/2nd round controls, should cues after 2C-2D-3M show the ace or king? Or is there some good reason to shift to an ace-only approach here?

[billw55]

bd71, on 2012-June-15, 02:58, said:

This question came up recently with a partner...if our standard cue-bidding approach is 1st/2nd round controls, should cues after 2C-2D-3M show the ace or king? Or is there some good reason to shift to an ace-only approach here?

Hm interesting question. I usually treat cuebids below keycard as a first or second round control. Are there specific auctions where this does not or should not apply? Perhaps, I don't know.

[CSGibson]

bd71, on 2012-June-15, 02:58, said:

This question came up recently with a partner...if our standard cue-bidding approach is 1st/2nd round controls, should cues after 2C-2D-3M show the ace or king? Or is there some good reason to shift to an ace-only approach here?

I believe that in the auction I proposed, there is an extreme likelihood that opener has specific shortness, and that responder only has one or two cue-biddable values at best. If responder has two cue-biddable values, then the 5 level should be safe, so it should also be safe to distinguish between them. It is also apparent that 3N should be forcing, since a jump to 3M in this auction should show a solid suit & demand cue-bidding.

All of this points to a model where it is more important to show specific controls in order of 1st/2nd round so that opener may judge their usefulness. For example, a heart cue here is less useful when you have the same hand, except with the club J instead of the club A, unless you can determine that it's a 1st round control. Same thing with a shortness cue - if I cue clubs, don't you want to know whether I have a stiff or the ace?