[blml] adjudication

[Eric Landau]

On Jun 25, 2007, at 4:55 PM, Jerry Fusselman wrote:

> On 6/25/07, Eric Landau <ehaa at starpower.net> wrote:
>>
>> The 8 HCP limit is legal now.  It wasn't when they first imposed it,
>> but rather than create a loophole under the "convention" powers of
>> L40D, as was necessitated in order to outlaw the 9-HCP 1NT opening,
>> they were able instead to convince the WBFLC to extend L40D (in 1987,
>> IIRC) to permit zones to "regulate partnership understandings (even
>> if not conventional) that permit the partnership's initial actions at
>> the one-level to be made with a hand of a king or more below average
>> strength".  That wording was designed to be explicit permission to
>> ban outright one-level openings on fewer than 8 HCP without setting
>> the (potentially terribly destructive) precedent of actually writing
>> "high-card points" into the law.
>
> However, my understanding is that the following hand is an
> ACBL-allowed exception:
>
> AKxxxx
> xxxxx
> x
> x
>
> You can open this hand 1S as dealer every time you get it.  I am not
> sure whether you can *agree* to open this hand 1S every time you get
> it, but you and your partner *can* in practice open it 1S every single
> time.  You may have to call it a violation of your agreement every
> time, but you can do it every time.  At least that is my
> understanding, based on conversations with ACBL officials.

Those officials' advice would appear to be in direct contradiction to  
clear ACBL policy, by which, if you "call it a violation of your  
agreement" more than once or twice, you are deemed to have thereby  
established a new "implicit agreement".


Eric Landau
1107 Dale Drive
Silver Spring MD 20910
ehaa at starpower.net