[jerdonald]

BBO forum,

Playing in an open game this week when the opponents got the bid
and the dummy came down the declarer would always say "WOW THANKS
PARTNER" in a very enthusiastic voice. It didn't matter what
the dummy had and this was obviously intended to intimidate the
defenders. I've read books that suggested this tactic but I
would like to know if there's a rule against this kind of thing
or it's just accepted behavior.

Jerry D.

[pran]

jerdonald, on 2015-December-05, 13:29, said:

BBO forum,

Playing in an open game this week when the opponents got the bid
and the dummy came down the declarer would always say "WOW THANKS
PARTNER" in a very enthusiastic voice. It didn't matter what
the dummy had and this was obviously intended to intimidate the
defenders. I've read books that suggested this tactic but I
would like to know if there's a rule against this kind of thing
or it's just accepted behavior.

Jerry D.

If Dummy's cards apparently appear as a pleasant surprise to Declarer (considering Dummy's bids during the auction) then I see little reason to react against Declarer.

However, when there seems little reason for such joy I would consider

Law 74 A 2 said:

A player should carefully avoid any remark or action that might cause annoyance or embarrassment to another player or might interfere with the enjoyment of the game.

and possibly

Law 74 B 2 said:

making gratuitous comments during the auction and play.

[barmar]

Saying "Thank you partner", or something similar, when dummy comes down is a very common practice, and most consider it an innocuous, meaningless pleasantry. I don't see how anyone could consider it intimidating.

[pran]

barmar, on 2015-December-07, 00:12, said:

Saying "Thank you partner", or something similar, when dummy comes down is a very common practice, and most consider it an innocuous, meaningless pleasantry. I don't see how anyone could consider it intimidating.

And such remarks are obviously not encompassed in OP description and certainly do not violate any Law.

[WellSpyder]

I once had an opponent call the TD and complain that my partner said "thank you, partner" in an apparently sincere way. She claimed he had done the same on a previous hand and she had mis-defended by assuming that dummy was a pleasant rather than an unpleasant surprise......

[helene_t]

I suppose it can be intimidating if dummy has a yarb and opps failed to double our sacrifice.

Maybe a more serious concern is that if dummy is disapointing you can mislead opps by preteniding to be happy. For example if dummy bid a slam without a control in the opening lead suit and you don't have a control in that suit either, pretending to be happy can be a way of giving opps the impression that you control the suit yourself.

[barmar]

If a player responds to dummy in the same manner every time, no matter what it holds, then how can it be misleading? The comment is clearly meaningless.

It would be like claiming that someone who always asks about alerts could be transmitting UI or misleading the opponents about interest in certain calls. If you're consistent about how you act regardless of your actual holding, no information can be passed by the action, and the law specifically says that you should attempt to maintain consistent manner. If the opponents make assumptions, perhaps because they don't know how consistent you are, that seems to be their problem (the law specifically says that you make inferences from opponents' manner at your own risk).