[inquiry]

Gosh, I hate proving myself wrong. Here is the result for 100,000 opening bids using Bridgebrowser. The one 7NT opening was doubled and redoubled and down 13 btw, so we can assume that was probably not a good bid.

1C 16235
1D 15400
1H 12659
1S 12958
1NT 9442
2C 1801
2D 773
2H 1201
2S 1235
2NT 1949
3C 410
3D 362
3H 336
3S 358
3NT 102
4C 35
4D 20
4H 261
4S 273
4NT 14
5C 20
5D 28
5H 0
5S 0
5NT 0
6C 1
6D 2
6H 5
6S 4
6NT 1
7C 0
7D 0
7H 0
7S 0
7NT 1

[Phil]

Thanks Ben (as usual).

Sad that two of my favorites - 4 of a minor - are about 12:1 less likely than 3 of a minor, but fairly close to 5m.

[inquiry]

The first 100,000 hands was from main room. so i thoujht maybe the partnerships were pick up and not playing good systems (like precison, where 1D would be the most common opening), so I looked at 100,000 from tournaments on BBO. Sadly, the results were essentially the same... i don't guess my guess will ever be right

1C 21799
1D 19570
1H 14466
1S 15669
1NT 11460
2C 2486
2D 1685
2H 2031
2S 2467
2NT 2059
3C 851
3D 951
3H 659
3S 721
3NT 114
4C 75
4D 119
4H 707
4S 641
4NT 36
5C 57
5D 128
5H 4
5S 2
5NT 2
6C 15
6D 10
6H 16
6S 9
6NT 0
7C 1
7D 0
7H 1
7S 0
7NT 1

[Free]

1♣ is pretty obvious in most cases, because it contains most possible hand types. However in a club where everyone plays precision, the most frequent opening is probably 1♦ or 1NT. If everyone plays MAFIA style ACOL then 1M or 1NT might be most frequent.

[shintaro]

only one person so far has put the most common opener

PASS

[Free]

shintaro, on Aug 20 2010, 08:42 AM, said:

only one person so far has put the most common opener

PASS

Pass is not a bid, it's a call. So it doesn't qualify as an opening bid either...

[Wackojack]

In Acol and by a long way. 1♥.
Hmmm maybe by not such a long way as now there is an increasing tendency to open 1NT with a 12-14 major 5332.

All systems combined Ben has the answer

[helene_t]

MickyB, on Aug 20 2010, 01:29 AM, said:

If you open 1C with 3-3 and 1D with 4-4, is 1C actually more frequent?

4333/3433 is more common than 3244/2344, but you also open 1♦ with 5-5 minors and with (41)44, and some would open 1♦ with 4-5 minors. So for standard bidders, 1♦ probably wins by a small margin.

Same in most Acol styles, and in precision styles with a more or less nebolous diamond. OTOH in Polish Club, 1♣ wins by a huge margin, and in Dutch/Scandinavian/Italian styles 1♣ would win with a smaller margin.

I cannot really figure it out theoretically but my feeling from playing at bbo is that 1♣ is most common.

Ben's stats show that 2NT openings are very common. Probably more common than they should be. Especially in the main room. This may be the biggest difference between main room and tournaments. Funny that 2♠ is much more common than 2♥ in tournaments.

2♦ not so common, maybe because it is undiscussed in many pick-up partnerships. And Wilcox/Benji/Precision//Flannery 2♦ openings are infrequent.

[mgoetze]

But Ben, don't the precisionists always opening 1♦ and the canape clubbers always opening 1♥/1♠ cancel each other out? Or do the moscitoists with their 1♦/1♥ preference tip the scales?

Seriously, I think "look at all the precision players" is a very US-centric view of things. In other parts of the world, serious partnerships have more choices than just 2/1 or precision.

[Cyberyeti]

jdonn, on Aug 19 2010, 05:38 PM, said:

Cyberyeti, on Aug 19 2010, 05:36 PM, said:

jdonn, on Aug 19 2010, 05:35 PM, said:

I think clearly 1♣.

If you play strong NT I guess 1♣, weak NT may well be 1N.

What is this "if"? This question is being asked of all bridge players who play all systems combined.

The instruction was to open the bidding please, looked like what is YOUR most common opening bid.

In the UK I would wager 1N by a large margin.

In the US 1♣.

Where strong club is prevalent 1♦.

Across the world, probably depends what they play most commonly in china

[billw55]

I wonder if the large increase in openings of six of a suit in tournaments vs main room is significant in any way. Over four times as many openings! Of course it could be an irregularity due to small sample size .. but all four suits are inflated this way, so I tend to think there is something real going on.

[helene_t]

billw55, on Aug 20 2010, 01:19 PM, said:

I wonder if the large increase in openings of six of a suit in tournaments vs main room is significant in any way. Over four times as many openings! Of course it could be an irregularity due to small sample size .. but all four suits are inflated this way, so I tend to think there is something real going on.

It's not statistically significant. Recall that each hand is played 16 times so if there is a single hand on which a 6-opening is obvious it would already count for 16.

Same with the disparity between the four queens as opening lead in the other thread.

[billw55]

helene_t, on Aug 20 2010, 07:23 AM, said:

billw55, on Aug 20 2010, 01:19 PM, said:

I wonder if the large increase in openings of six of a suit in tournaments vs main room is significant in any way.  Over four times as many openings!  Of course it could be an irregularity due to small sample size .. but all four suits are inflated this way, so I tend to think there is something real going on.

It's not statistically significant. Recall that each hand is played 16 times so if there is a single hand on which a 6-opening is obvious it would already count for 16.

Same with the disparity between the four queens as opening lead in the other thread.

aha yes I forgot that bit. Was thinking of 100,000 different hands.

[hanp]

I thought the answer was 1C, but then I saw Ben's post and figured he had used bridgebrowser at some point to know it was 1D. Turns out he fooled me.

[barryallen]

Free, on Aug 20 2010, 02:47 AM, said:

shintaro, on Aug 20 2010, 08:42 AM, said:

only one person so far has put the most common opener

PASS

Pass is not a bid, it's a call. So it doesn't qualify as an opening bid either...

Does not qualify as an opening bid, but it certainly qualifies as an opening?

[Free]

barryallen, on Aug 20 2010, 01:38 PM, said:

Free, on Aug 20 2010, 02:47 AM, said:

shintaro, on Aug 20 2010, 08:42 AM, said:

only one person so far has put the most common opener

PASS

Pass is not a bid, it's a call. So it doesn't qualify as an opening bid either...

Does not qualify as an opening bid, but it certainly qualifies as an opening?

Sure, but that's not what the OP asked

[hrothgar]

billw55, on Aug 20 2010, 03:19 PM, said:

I wonder if the large increase in openings of six of a suit in tournaments vs main room is significant in any way. Over four times as many openings! Of course it could be an irregularity due to small sample size .. but all four suits are inflated this way, so I tend to think there is something real going on.

Ghoulash

[Free]

mgoetze, on Aug 20 2010, 10:45 AM, said:

Or do the moscitoists with their 1♦/1♥ preference tip the scales?

In MOSCITO the most frequent opening bid is probably 1NT>>>1♥>1♦.

[hrothgar]

I'll need to double check the precise frequencies, but the most common openings when I was playing MOSCITO were

2♦
1N
1♣
2♥

[Free]

hrothgar, on Aug 20 2010, 01:53 PM, said:

I'll need to double check the precise frequencies, but the most common openings when I was playing MOSCITO were

2♦
1N
1♣
2♥

of which 2♦ and 2♥ aren't really part of MOSCITO, but a preempt structure