[pescetom]

mike777, on 2025-August-03, 13:15, said:

Perhaps my faVORITE TIME is when players explain their puppet auctions as if I should know what the bids mean. As I am studying the thing myself, I know there are many different versions, many.

To be fair to the regulators, "Stayman" is one of the most difficult zones of bidding to regulate. Nevertheless I have never seen a relevamt regulation that to me made any sense at all. Including our own, alas (for example, "playing Puppet, announce 2♣ as Puppet", with not even a definition of Puppet). My proposal that 1NT-2♣ should be alerted if it does not show clubs (in line with WBF philosophy and common sense) and never announced fell on deaf ears. I could live with the contrary (obviously more "practical", even if a vulnus in a WBF system) but see little value and many perils in any alternative.

[blackshoe]

Whatever rules you make, some will ignore them, some will break them, some will be certain they know better than the rule-makers what the rule should be. And a small proportion of players will attempt to follow them, with varying degrees of success.