[blml] An EBU L&E decision.

[Gampas at aol.com]

In a message dated 03/11/2007 03:25:50 GMT Standard Time,  
ereppert at rochester.rr.com writes:

>When I was in college, I played a lot of "cutthroat" bridge  (that's  
>what we called it). Four handed game, but... If you had 13  HCP you  
>were *required* (in theory) to open. Once an opening bid  had been  
>made, every subsequent bid had to be (a) sufficient  according to the  
>laws and (b) at least game. Once there were three  passes, putative  
>declarer (pd) (last person, rather than first, to  bid the  
>denomination) got to choose his dummy, who would move to  sit across  
>from pd if he wasn't already there, exchanging seats  with the person  
>who *was* there. Then there was "accept" or  "reject" - putative dummy  
>gets to say whether he really wants to  be dummy, and if not he shares  
>in the score the *defense* obtains,  rather than the declarer. Lots of  
>psyching going on, and some  pretty strange bidding sequences. But it  
>was fun. :-)
 
Those rules sound fun too. As it is the silly season, and as a light  
diversion from discussion of the new laws, here are  our 24 boards for our Social:
 
RULES AFFECTING THE BIDDING
 
1 SPEAK UP!: The dealer is not allowed to pass on his or her first  turn.
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3 PASSOVER: The auction will end after FOUR consecutive  passes.
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5 BOX CLEVERLY: Insufficient bids are allowed, provided you still have  that 
bid in the bidding  box.
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7 FULL STOP: After any stop bid, the next player must pass. The  auction 
still ends after three consecutive  passes.
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9 SHORTS ONLY: No player is allowed to bid his or her longest suit at  any 
stage in the  auction.
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11 MIXED NEWS: The order of bidding is North-South-West-East. Dealer  starts 
as normal. Three consecutive passes still end the  auction!
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13 FOUR-TIMER: Any double MUST be followed by a redouble. The auction  then 
continues normally, until there are three consecutive  passes.
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15 UPSIDE_DOWN: The order of the suits when bidding is reversed, so  that 1NT 
is the lowest bid and 7C is the highest bid. Scoring is  normal.
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17 ACES LOW: The rank of the cards is reversed, so that ace is low and  deuce 
is high, but otherwise play is the  same.
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19 QUIET PLEASE: All bids must be mimed (hint: No-trump = not  rump)
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21 DOUBLE TROUBLE: The final contract will be  doubled.
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23 NATURISTS ONLY: No conventions are allowed, not even  Stayman.
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RULES AFFECTING THE PLAY
 
2 DUMMY REVERSAL: Dummy, which is still placed face-up, will play its  own  
cards
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4 NEW CONTRACT: The final contract is changed to  3NT.
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6 LADIES FIRST: The queens of each suit are now the top card, then  aces, 
kings, jacks  etc.
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8 DON’T DRAW: A trump can not be led to any trick by any player,  unless 
there is no alternative. No-trump contracts are  normal.
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10 DEUCES WILD: The four deuces are wild and can be played as any  nominated 
card. They beat that card if it is played to the same trick.  
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12 WRONG WAY ROUND: Play is anti-clockwise, with the player to the  left of 
declarer making the opening  lead.
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14 HIGH JINKS: The highest card of the suit led must be played by all  
players, including  dummy.
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16  NO CHOICE: Declarer tells the opening leader which suit to  lead.
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18  MISERE: Declarer tries not to make the contract, and the  defenders try 
to make him or her make it. Scores are entered in reverse, so 3NT  – 2 is 3NT + 
 2.
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20  NEW PARTNERS: Dummy is the partner of the opening leader, so that  tricks 
won by them are defenders’ but declarer still plays dummy’s  cards.
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22  WRONG HAND: Declarer can lead from either hand, regardless of who  won 
the last  trick.
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24  NO MORE, NO LESS: Declarer has to make his or her contract  exactly; any 
overtricks are scored as undertricks, so the contract fails.
 
Odd boards affect the bidding; even boards the play, so the slip is opened  
at the appropriate time.