Fun with the robots.

[kenberg]

I enjoy playing with robots. They tell me what their ids mean, or at least what they are supposed to mean, and they stay calm when things go wrong. What's ot to like.
Anyway, I invite anyone to post a robot hand that they found interesting. I will give you two to start with, one worked out well, the other didn't.
You deal, white against red, mps, and you hold:

S: JT6
H: KJ754
D: AK73
C: 8
Looks like an opening bid so I bid 1H

Lho bids 1S, partner passes, Rho bids 2H, I pass, Lho bids 2S, partner and Rho pass, now what?
3D seems reasonable. I suppose pard has clubs, but he might also have Ds and if not maybe we can survive in 3H. At any rate, I bid 3D, Lho passes, pard bids 4D! He did not here my pass over 2H?
Ok, I play 4D passed out. Down 1.
This is the good hand, scoring 92%

https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=st%7C%7Cmd%7C1SJT6HKJ754DAK73C8%2CSQ9874HA98D94CAT9%2CS52HTDJT52CKQ7532%2CSAK3HQ632DQ86CJ64%7Csv%7CE%7Cah%7CBoard%203%7Cmb%7C1H%7Can%7CMajor%20suit%20opening%20--%205%2B%20%21H%3B%2011-21%20HCP%3B%2012-22%20total%20points%7Cmb%7C1S%7Can%7COne-level%20overcall%20--%205%2B%20%21S%3B%208-17%20HCP%3B%209-19%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C2H%7Can%7CGood%20support%20in%20S%20--%203%2B%20%21S%3B%2010%2B%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C2S%7Can%7C5%2B%20%21S%3B%208%2B%20HCP%3B%209-13%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C3D%7Can%7C4%2B%20%21D%3B%205%2B%20%21H%3B%2011%2B%20HCP%3B%2012-17%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C3S%7Can%7C4%2B%20%21D%3B%208%2B%20HCP%3B%208-%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C4D%7Can%7C4%2B%20%21D%3B%205%2B%20%21H%3B%2011%2B%20HCP%3B%2012-17%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cpc%7CS7%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CS9%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CD9%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CSQ%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CHJ%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CDJ%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CHQ%7C


Ok, now for the bad.

Imps this time, red versus white, Lho deals, three passes to you. You hold:

S: AQT84
H: J863
D: AK73
C: void

I open 1S, Lho bids 2H, partner doubles, Rho passes. Now what?

I bid 3D, passed out, costing 10 imps since I can make game in either spades or diamonds.


https://tinyurl.com/yk46r5l9

At the other table the auction began the same but, after N reopened with the double of 2S, S bid 3H, and they reached 4S.

Ok, it's really useful that Rho has Jxx in spades, but still, maybe I should have bid more strongly.
As I say, the bots never complain about my choices.

In find playing with the bots to be both enjoyable and useful.  Of course it is also sometimes frustrating.

[wackojack]

I think you were a bit lucky on the first board Ken.  4  should go 2 off and if you defend against 3  you should get it 1 off.  This is exactly in line with LTT with 4-4 fits for both sides and therefore 16 tricks available.  Best auction would be:
1 - (1 ) - dbl - (2 )
3 all pass.l 

On the 2nd hand it is difficult to know that 4 would be a good contract. 
1 - (2 ) -dbl - (pass)
3 
I am racking my brains as to what the bid of 3 means.  I certainly does not indicate  s and a shortage in  s.  The only thing I think it can indicate is saying " I have the minors stopped and 3NT will make if you have a stop in    s"  And this is obviously not the case.

[kenberg]

Hand 1
I agree that I was lucky. I think that my slower bid of 3D is better than bidding right away over the 2H.  I think that a human would note that I passed the 2H call, so that when I later balance with  3D over 2S this would mean nothing more than "I am not letting the auction die in 2S". Or at least that is ow I would take it.

The hand was played 53 times and on 33 of those times the result was 2S making 3. And setting 3D is not exactly obvious.  One of the (many) issues with LOTT is that what the defense could do and what the defense actually does are two different things. Anyway, I think par is 3DX off 1. There is no way we are setting 2S.


Hand 2: This was in a bot challenge so the only other time i was played a bot was in my chair. He bid 3H instead of 3D. The bots explain their bids and the explanation here is that it is 15-21 highs and 16-22 total ponts. Ok, he is short 1 hcp but he makes up for it with total points.
N then bids 4S.
This isn't crazy. If 3H shows good values then N can bid 4S saying "Look, buddy, my negative double effectively denied holding three spades. But if you think 4S might be playable when I hold modes spade support then I am telling you that I have modest spade support. If that's not good enough then feel free to go on to 5m.
It's maybe a bit optimistic but it comes in. A bit lucky, but that's part of bridge.

I am sure that if I were N on hand 1 I would pass pard's 3D balance. On 2, providing I understood the 3H call, I think I might well bid 4S, choice of games.
I would not have understood the 3H in the way it was explained, but perhaps that is a reasonable meaning for it.


I hope others will put up some hands with the bots. "Interesting" and "frustrating" can be two sides of the same coin.

[kenberg]

More fun with the bots, here is a hand from yesterday. I will give you partner's hand:



S: J32
H: T5
D: J9
C: AKT863

Mps, nobody vul, your human partner deals and opens 1H, pass on your right, your call?

As the bots play, 3C is passable. Of course 1NT over 1H, followed by 2H over partner's 2D,  is very passable. 1NT over 1H,  followed by 3C over partner's 2D, would be weaker than this, maybe change the club K to a club J, and change one of the Hs to a D so bidding 1NT and then 2H is not an option.  The bot chose 3C, passed out.

Is it a good contract? Probably so.


                         S: J32
                         H: T5
                         D: J9
                         C: AKT863


S: KT98                                      Q76
H: A62                                        Q97
D: K8742                                     AT3
C: 2                                            J754



 
                      S: A54
                      H: KJ843
                      D: Q65
                      C: Q9

As always, who makes what depends on who does what but it is reasonable to think EW can make 8 tricks playnig in diamonds. They get four diamond rics and, if they run the T of spades, they get three spade triclks. Add in the heart A and that's eight tracks.

3C is apt to be, and was, off a trick. It's mps, and -50 beats -110.

The bots are often pretty reasonable.