[gwnn]

What's the stupidest psyche you've ever seen at the bridge table?

Please no names, not even if it's a fellow poster.

[Phil]

This week I saw a 1♥ overcall on a 2245 after pard had passed and RHO had opened 1♦. Pard couldn't take the joke and pressed on to 4♥ with a defensive 3532 or something. The opponents were cold for 2♠. 4♥ was -800 on mildly bad breaks.

There's a hand in 'Spotlight on Card Play' (I think) where someone psyched in spades holding a bunch of hearts. The final correction by partner was at the 7 level, and the contract was redoubled.

[pooltuna]

a recent example

Scoring: IMP

Clown North East South
-   -   P   P
1♥ X 2♥ P
2♠ P 4♠ P
5♥ all pass

---

5♥ -1[gifted by opps]=minus 5 IMPS

[Free]

pass - pass - 1NT with a 4333 and 1HCP. Needless to say, partner (= me) had a balanced 10HCP, opps had a normal 3NT+2, but instead we played 3NTx-6 (my partner played better then other tables defended w00t)

[bluecalm]

I just want to say that psyching 1NT in 3rd seat non vul is the most effective thing ever almost regardless of your hand if you play if field where people don't play penalty doubles (like in Poland).
If they do play penalty doubles one need some strengths (like 6-9 maybe) and good suit to run to

[ggwhiz]

Not sure about stupid but funniest?

A junior playing with an 80 something pard in a 13 table club game I directed picked up

♠void ♥Jx, ♦x ♣J10 tenth red vs. white Matchpoints opposite pards

♠Kxxx ♥AKQx, ♦AKx ♣AK

7 Clubs is cold and everyone in notrump made em all when the leader had ♦QJT9 and no reason to lead anything else.

Our hero psyched 2nt intending to pass stayman, his pard added 20-21 to about half his collection and bid em all putting the ♠Ace on lead.

[hanp]

I'm not sure about the stupidest psyche but it's gotta be one of rogerclee's. Oops, no names!

[mgoetze]

pooltuna, on Aug 29 2010, 07:46 PM, said:

a recent example

Scoring: IMP

Clown North East South
-   -   P   P
1♥ X 2♥ P
2♠ P 4♠ P
5♥ all pass

---

5♥ -1[gifted by opps]=minus 5 IMPS

Still, East might as well have bid 3♠, non?

[pooltuna]

mgoetze, on Aug 29 2010, 02:38 PM, said:

pooltuna, on Aug 29 2010, 07:46 PM, said:

a recent example

Scoring: IMP

Clown North East South
-   -   P   P
1♥ X 2♥ P
2♠ P 4♠ P
5♥ all pass

---

5♥ -1[gifted by opps]=minus 5 IMPS

Still, East might as well have bid 3♠, non?

West was probably shooting for too small a target as anything higher than 3♥ should go down

[Apollo81]

Michaels on 3334 an 1 hcp after pass-(1♣) at none vul, mps. Result: -2000 in 4♠x

[nigel_k]

mgoetze, on Aug 30 2010, 08:38 AM, said:

pooltuna, on Aug 29 2010, 07:46 PM, said:

a recent example

Scoring: IMP

Clown North East South
-   -   P   P
1♥ X 2♥ P
2♠ P 4♠ P
5♥ all pass

---

5♥ -1[gifted by opps]=minus 5 IMPS

Still, East might as well have bid 3♠, non?

I agree East should have bid 3♠ only, partner could be 3-6.

Actually, psyching a game try when you intend to bid game anyway is almost too easy. Nothing can really go wrong and opponents are quite often on a guess as to what to lead and your game try will/should influence them a lot. In a regular partnership obviously you would tell them it could a psyche but in a casual partnership it is one of the best times to psyche. West doesn't deserve to be in a list of the stupidest psyches.

[peachy]

This is not the stupidest but a true story nevertheless, though I was not any of the parties in this hand. Partner opens 1NT (16-18 was the norm in that decade), you hold 24 HCP and Pass. TD is called for responder fielding a psych or some such reason. Responder says "I have played bridge for 35 years and never saw all 40 HCP on one side. And I still haven't seen it!" 1NT made while the rest of the room where in 2NT-1 after a normal 2C-2D-2NT-P.

[inquiry]

This one is from yesterday....

Scoring: IMP


This was in a BBO ghoulash event. South, in 2nd seat opened 2♠ and when bidding got back to EAST he bid 4♣ and for some odd reason, West let him play in 4♣ (even i would have been able to figure out 2♠ as a psyche with WEST hand.

This was a 15 imp swing for NS

For the curious, I am 100% certain NS where not cheating, and that this was just a flyer (last hand, and they were getting killed, including a -17 imp on the hand before. In a short 6 board event WITH this +15, they were still nearly -20 imps net.

---

[jdonn]

ggwhiz, on Aug 29 2010, 02:11 PM, said:

Not sure about stupid but funniest?

A junior playing with an 80 something pard in a 13 table club game I directed picked up

♠void ♥Jx, ♦x ♣J10 tenth red vs. white Matchpoints opposite pards

♠Kxxx ♥AKQx, ♦AKx ♣AK

7 Clubs is cold and everyone in notrump made em all when the leader had ♦QJT9 and no reason to lead anything else.

Our hero psyched 2nt intending to pass stayman, his pard added 20-21 to about half his collection and bid em all putting the ♠Ace on lead.

Haha that was a good psych kind of, his partner should have 100% known to bid 6NT. It's just unlucky the missing ace is in the suit of the void.

[JLOGIC]

Any pysche in first seat vul seems quite stupid to me.

[ggwhiz]

Quote

Any pysche in first seat vul seems quite stupid to me.

Depends.

This one was actually 2nd seat after a pass. The juniors pard is closer to 90 than 80 and a real character.

He gives drivng directions as "this way is 14 seconds faster" and won't stand for anyone to waste a single moment of his remaining time and that is why his 7nt bid was at the speed of light. Winning the club game is way down on his bucket list compared to entertainment value.

[Cyberyeti]

Not sure if this is stupid or brilliant but it certainly worked.

Partner opened a gambling 3N off xx, KQxxxxx, xx, xx, played there, and the man on lead did what you're supposed to do, led an ace, and seeing nothing in dummy played another heart. 3N NV -1 or 2 against a game.

[manudude03]

The stupidest psyche I think I've done (and seen IRL) was when I had something like Q9xx xx xx J9xxx. w/r partner passed, 1C on the right, I decided to overcall 1N. Naturally it gets doubled and got funny looks when I pulled it to 2C. We landed in 2S X, which would have been a good score until partner makes a play which is a candidate for the Worst plays thread and ended -4.

Outside of what I've seen IRL, I think this tops it.

http://www.rpbridge.net/7e05.htm

[kenberg]

I have a clear candidate. This was in the early 1960s. I had read Goren's Contract Bridge For Beginner's. That was, at most, what I knew. I was a math grad student. A couple of grad school friends(?) from physics, Greg and Jack (actually his parents named him Jacque, not even Jacques) suggested we play in a lunchtime game. I could play with Jay, who was described as a really good player who even sometimes played duplicate, whatever that was. I believe we were playing for mild stakes, but mild in the world of a graduate student doesn't really exist as a concept.

So on the fourth hand or so Jay opened 1♥. I kept bidding, and when 4♥ got doubled I redoubled. After the smoke cleared, Jay asked me, with incredulity in his voice, if I had never heard of a psych. Well, no.


I do not recall the hand. It doesn't matter. Psyching with me as a partner is generally a bad idea, but at that stage of my development it was idiotic.

[ArtK78]

Cyberyeti, on Aug 29 2010, 05:36 PM, said:

Not sure if this is stupid or brilliant but it certainly worked.

Partner opened a gambling 3N off xx, KQxxxxx, xx, xx, played there, and the man on lead did what you're supposed to do, led an ace, and seeing nothing in dummy played another heart. 3N NV -1 or 2 against a game.

As I was reading this thread, the thought occurred to me that the line between stupid and brilliant is very slim when discussing psyches.