Let's keep going and see what develops.
 

Part of Puppet Stayman is the use of transfers to 5+ card suits by responder (the potential Club bidder and the assumed weaker hand.) In our case, the assumed weaker hand is on the other side of the table, so transfers by the potential Club bidder make no sense. Instead, the potential Club bidder can directly bid Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades and mean he holds 5+ of them. In addition, we could specify that 2C's means a 5+ card Club suit. This is allowed by ACBL rules, while a transfer, even if it made sense, would be illegal.

If we make 1C indicate 15+, as indicated last week, then with no better information to go on, we should assume partner has a flat hand with one-third the remaining HCPs, or about 8. This would be especially true in first seat. In second seat, the odds favor such a hand even more, so there is less risk in making that assumption. In third seat, partner is limited to 11, if we open all 12 point hands, but so is the RHO, so I believe the odds are still favorable that partner has about 8 HCP. In fourth chair, its is virtually certain that nothing unfavorable is going on in the opponents' hands.

So far, then, we have 1C meaning 15+ and asking for a 5-card major and expecting partner to have 8 HCP; 1D, 1H, 1S, and 2C meaning we have a 5+ card suit and an opening hand. Lets add to that the weak NT, meaning (for now) 11-14 and a balanced or semi-balanced hand. Whether we allow opener to have a 5-card major will be discussed later.

But getting back to the Stayman part, when opener bids 1C asking for a 5-card major, then we need the responses. The need to "bail-out" with a bad hand must be combined with the answering of the question. But first, lets try the Montreal Club responses on for size. That would have 1D meaning no 5-card major but possibly a 4-card major, 1H meaning 5+ hearts, and 1S meaning 5+ spades. But lets incorporate a reversal of hearts and spades so that the big hand remains hidden in case of a fit. So we now have 1H meaning 5+ spades, and 1S meaning 5+ hearts. Since we have assumed the 1C is 100% forcing, these bids would promise no strength, but just length. Opener must remain aware that responder was forced to bid and may have nothing. This is especially true in first seat, where the opponents could each have opening or near opening hands. When one or both opponents have passed, the risk is reduced somewhat.

Responder could have other hands, of course. How would we handle them? A long major with a weak hand could be handled with a weak jump shift transferring to the major. So 2D could mean 6+ hearts and a weak hand, 2H could mean 6+ spades and a weak hand. In my view, long minors have as much value in NT as in the suit, so 1NT could mean 8+ HCP with a possible long minor. Some may wish to play 2C as a transfer to 2D with long diamonds and a weak hand, and 2S as a long club suit in a weak hand. But it seems to me we don't want to get too carried away describing the weak minor hand however, until we discover the strength and shape the opener has -- his hand is unlimited, with any shape, and is 100% forcing -- so I tend to think the 1D response is more advisable with a long minor in a weak hand. Any comments here? The ACBL places few restrictions on what responses can mean, so we could use 2C to mean two 4-card majors with 8+ points, which may have more value than as a transfer to 2D.

After hearing a non-committal response (1D, 1H, 1S), we need to define what rebids by opener are again forcing, and which can be passed. Over non-forcing bids, when the responder actually has a hand worth holding, he must continue in a "positive" way, but may pass with a suitable but bad hand. With an unsuitable bad hand, he must bid on. Forcing bids by opener indicate additional values, even in the face of a possibly bust responder. That's a lot to accomplish next week.

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