Bupkis Bids

My partners are great card holders. I am not. They always seem to think I ought to have a few cards, and I disappoint them altogether too often. As a result, some of my partnerships have developed a pattern of conventions. In competitive auctions, if partner has shown a very good hand and we are in a forcing auction, we have a call to show utter rubbish. Some examples:
  1. PartnerRHO You LHO
    2C:bid Dbl

    2C: is strong and artificial. Doubling them shows no high cards outside of their suit. Pass is, of course, forcing.

  2. LHO PartnerRHO You
    1x Dbl any any
    any 2x Pass2x+1

    Here, the next step shows real trash unless you showed strength on the first round.

  3. RHO You LHO Partner
    1x 1y any 2x
    Pass2x+1

    Uh, sorry, partner, just kidding.

  4. Barry Rigal suggests that
    RHO You LHO Partner
    1x Dbl Pass any
    2x Dbl
    should show the values for a cue bid, in which case the next step, again, shows rubbish.
Reverse Drury is similar, as are Herbert Negatives.

If responder/advancer does not use a double negative, we are in a forcing auction. No bids other than further cues or jumps are forcing after a double negative.

Jeff Goldsmith, jeff@tintin.jpl.nasa.gov, Aug. 8, 1997