They fell from favor, I believe, Jack, because they are just plain bad.


Say that Partner passes, showing 0 tricks, and I have an Ace and the Qxx of trumps. OMG, what a tell! How about having an Ace and the J10xx of trumps, I double and they retreat to 6NT with 12 top tricks! Is the King of a side suit onside or offside?


Need I say more :)

Apparently, West was comatose when taught that partner must have a 5+ card minor for this call.


South apparently knew his customers!

This work is virtually thankless (save for self satisfaction) and complete drudgery. Adam, Linda Trent, and others have contributed tirelessly to this body of work and deserve nothing but the heartiest of kudos!

Pure comedy!



There is no lesson to be learned here other than how to guffaw, laugh, or chuckle, depending on one's disposition :)

And here, I thought that using the rules to one's advantage was what any game is all about. That was certainly Edgar Kaplan's mantra, although he was quick to point out what he and others considered lawful inequities, such as dumping matches in a round-robin to obtain a more favorable KO draw.



(There were also what some considered obvious “inequity opportunities” when countrypersons played their compatriots in the final rounds of pair games, when one was leading or nearly leading, and the other pair was out of contention, and suddenly, three consecutive 95+% boards ended up on the scoresheet. This was eventually solved with movements which did not pit pairs of the same country against each other near the end of the Final of a pair game).



There will never be any set of rules that both pleases all, and accomplishes complete (and debatable) equity. In sports, look at all the fouls in basketball in the last seconds of a tight game, or the “intentional walk” in baseball, to name but a few of very many.

If I have AKQJ10 of a suit, is that concentration, and if not, a lack of concentration :)

Indeed, the reason that inferior methods “work” initially is the unfamiliarity.


When proper defenses are well established, the “advantage” of inferior methods vanishes like a wisp of vapor in the night, and they are indeed proven to be theoretically inferior when the dawn lights :)

(This is why all the top, highly successful players, do not play “exotica”, because it's been tried in various forms, and eventually discarded).

Methinks that not everyone in ACBL-land has “introduced themselves properly and was helpful in attitude” when playing exotic systems . . . which may be the core of the issue . . .

The word “immediate” is operative, and conclusive, here.

Thanks, Ray, I enjoyed reading Henry Bethe's passionate, and diligently reasoned, defense of the status quo :)


Otherwise, I see little lasting value in bringing up topics without detailed reasoning behind them . . .

Fairness sometimes depends on context, and the goal of the players.



A BBO practice match is one end of the spectrum, the Spinderbilt final quite another.

I recommend taking the withdrawal a few days after the 3rd of each month, Linda, when Social Security is paid to a number of recipients.

Hi Steve - methinks that a universal monthly deduction would encourage many more starter/new members, who would only have to pay $3-4 for the first month, and may not opt out soon, or ever!


A system of individual choice (and changing choice at will) might prove the administrative nightmare that concerns you.

North did have the option of X'ing the 4NT call to convey absolutely that he was the captain from that point on.

Indeed, Michael, another principle that evaded North was that opting for a possible, or even likely, one-trick set will be a big time loser over the course of many such hands (the one trick set has to be 6 to 1 to come out essentially even over time).


Other than a miracle holding, North has no such prospects.

South has a powerhouse . . . on offense.


South is to blame, in a close call, for the reopening X (a basic principle is that having one trump to lead through avoids many trump endplays that otherwise occur).


“When I lead a suit, I know what I'm doing” is another basic partnership principle of which South was blissfully unaware!

I couldn't agree more with this, Brian, and every point you make in its favor. I feel blessed that my regular monthly payments for utilities, insurance, NPR radio and so forth are taken directly from my checking account.

I support this Motion, which was floated initially, I believe, by Brian Trent. Many entities are subscribing to licensing and/or monthly payments, notably public radio, and even Microsoft Office software.


We simply must move from the 19th Century and smack into the 21st :)


People don't deal with cash to much extent, and desire ease of payment. Bingo, this solves both, and includes the carryover bonus whereby all memberships are “opt-out” instead of “opt-in”. (I'm sure our membership recalls the days of stacks of paper bills, check books, and many first class stamps, not to mention regular trips to the mailbox, none of which this soul misses).

OMG Peter! Thanks for catching my apparently Freudian slip :)


At my age, any functioning piece is all good!