Bridge Unleashed

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Bridge Unleashed

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BRIDGE UNLEASHED PRESENTS

5-5 Hands Workshop

Both Suits, One Bid: Michaels

and the Unusual 2NT

Some hands are not one suit with a side suit. They are genuinely two suits, five cards in each, and normal bidding makes you reveal them one at a time while the auction runs away from you.

Two conventions fix that. Hour one is the Michaels Cue Bid, including the two-range structure most club players have never been taught. Hour two is the Unusual 2NT, how to tell the two conventions apart at the table, and how to defend when the opponents use them on you.

You had both majors. You played a five-two fit.

Here is the hand that costs a board, and nobody talks about it afterward.

Your hand:

♠️ A K J 7 4

♥️ A Q 10 8 6

♦️ 3

♣️ K 2

Seventeen points and five cards in each major. It is about as pretty as an overcalling hand gets.

They open 1♦️. You overcall 1♠️ because that is what you were taught.

Partner’s hand:

♠️ 6 3

♥️ K J 5 3

♦️ A 9 7 4

♣️ 8 6 4

Eight points and two small spades. Nothing to say. Pass.

You are now declaring 1♠️ in a five-two fit, with a heart game sitting on the table.

The only thing that went wrong is that you told partner about one suit when you had two.

Partner is not allowed to guess. Partner made the right decision with the information you gave.

This is not a bad-luck hand.

It is a bidding system that has no way to say “both majors” until it is too late. And it happens every time a 5-5 hand shows up.

Two conventions let you show both majors in one bid, on the first round, before the auction gets crowded.

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What you will learn

What a 5-5 Hand Actually Is

Why five-five is a different animal from five-four, why shape beats points on these hands, and the honest test for whether your hand is a two-suiter or just a long suit with company.

The Michaels Cue Bid

Bid the opponent’s suit, and you are not bidding their suit. You are announcing two of yours.

A minor opening shows both majors. A major opening shows the other major plus a minor.

Two Ranges, Not One

The part your Day 9 email did not tell you.

We play Michaels as weak or strong, never the hand in the middle. You will leave knowing exactly which hands qualify and which ones you pass with.

Advancer’s Job and the 2NT Ask

Choosing between the two majors, when to jump, when to pass, and the 2NT ask that makes the cue bidder name the minor after a major opening.

The Unusual 2NT

Jump to 2NT over their opening, and you are showing the two lowest unbid suits.

Over 1♥️ or 1♠️, that is clubs and diamonds. Over 1♦️, it is clubs and hearts.

Which Convention and When

Michaels and the Unusual 2NT cover different hands on purpose.

We build the decision from the opening bid outward until it becomes automatic.

When Not to Bid at All

Vulnerable against not, the 5-4 hand pretending to be 5-5, and the misfit you are about to hand the opponents.

Knowing when to stay quiet is half of what makes these conventions profitable.

Defending Against Them

Cue bids, the meaning of a 2NT response, when to double, and how to punish a two-suiter that came in at the wrong vulnerability.

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Who is this for

If you have ever held five-five and not known what to do, this is for you

Two-suited hands are not rare, and they are not advanced.

They turn up constantly, yet most club partnerships have no agreement about them at all. That means every one of these hands is played by feel.

The tools themselves take ten minutes to learn. What takes two hours is learning when to use them, when not to use them, and what partner is supposed to do next.

Three Tiers

Never Used Either One

You will leave able to recognize a 5-5 hand, make the right bid over any opening, and explain both conventions to a partner who has never heard of them. No prior convention knowledge is assumed.

Using Them Already

Learn the two-range structure, the 2NT ask for the minor, and the discipline to pass instead.

Most players who use Michaels use it on too many hands. This is the workshop that fixes it.

Playing Tournaments

Master vulnerability discipline, misfit judgment, advancer’s competitive decisions at the three and four level, and the full defense to both conventions when opponents use them against you.

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Play of the Hand

TThen We Sit Down and Bid Them

Monday afternoon we take the deals straight out of Wednesday's lesson and play them at a live table on BridgeChamp. Every deal is built around a two-suited decision: some where the convention finds a fit nobody else at the club will find, some where it hands the opponents a road map and the win is passing, and some where advancer has to choose between two suits with nothing but the auction to go on.

Tracey watches the play and talks through the decisions in real time. Not a lecture. A table, with a champion looking over your shoulder.

This session is included in your ticket. You will need a free BridgeChamp account, and we send you the setup steps well before Monday so nobody is creating a login while the first board is being dealt.

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What's included

What Your $25 Covers

The Live Lesson

Wednesday, August 12, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM Pacific. Two full hours with a break, live on Zoom.

Play of the Hand

Monday, August 17, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM Pacific. Bid and play live deals on BridgeChamp with real-time feedback and commentary on Zoom.

Live Q&A at Both Sessions

No question is too basic. That rule is not decoration. It is how the room runs.

Both Replays

Emailed within 24 hours and yours to keep.

The Student Workbook

Every hand we bid, with space to work, plus a one-page two-suited agreements checklist for you and your partner to complete afterward.

What's Included

Every Workshop Is Now Two Live Sessions

Learn it on Lesson Day. Lock it in on Play Day.

♠ 2-Hour Live Lesson

A full, unhurried lesson that goes from the absolute basics all the way to expert-level application. Not a highlight reel. A complete teaching session.

♥ Taught by Tracey Bauer

Two-time World Bridge Federation Women's Spring Festival Champion, 2020 and 2022. Lifetime Platinum Member with over 200 platinum points.

Tracey learned bridge in her 30s, which is exactly why she teaches it the way she does: no jargon walls, no club politics, no assumption that you already know the thing nobody ever explained.

She bids these auctions at the international level. She teaches them like a friend who wants you to win on Tuesday night.

♣ Full Replays Within 24 Hours

Cannot make it live? No problem. Both sessions are recorded and emailed within 24 hours. Watch on your schedule, as many times as you need.

FAQs:

Q: I read the Day 9 email and it said 8 to 14 points. Which is right?

A: The workshop version. Day 9 gave you the single wide range because it is the simplest way to meet the convention in five minutes. In a real partnership the wide range asks partner to guess, and the two-range structure removes the guess. We spend real time on this in hour one.

Q: I have never used a convention that bids the opponent's suit. Is that legal?

A: Completely. Bidding a suit the opponents have bid, when your partnership has agreed it means something else, is a cue bid, and it is one of the oldest tools in the game. We cover how to alert it properly.

Q: Do I need to play 2/1 or a particular system?

A: No. Both conventions sit on top of whatever system you play.

Q: Do I need a partner to attend?

A: No. Come alone. Everything you learn is written as an agreement you can hand to any partner afterward.

Q: What do I need for Monday's Play of the Hand?

A: A free BridgeChamp account and Zoom. We send you the BridgeChamp setup steps after Wednesday's lesson, with days to spare. If you have never used it, that is fine, the steps take about five minutes.

Q: What if I cannot make one of the sessions live?

A: Both are recorded, and both replays land in your inbox within 24 hours. You keep them.

Q: Why is Play of the Hand five days later?

A: Because two-suited auctions reward a little practice before you sit down. You get the lesson Wednesday, the replay and the workbook for the weekend, and then we play Monday with all of it fresh.

Q: I already play Michaels. Is the second hour worth it on its own?

A: The Unusual 2NT hour is a separate convention covering the hands Michaels cannot reach, plus the defense to both. If you play one and not the other, you have half the map.

REGISTER NOW

Choose Your Access

One ticket. Both sessions. Both options include the Live lesson and the Play of the Hand.

Say both suits in one bid.

Two hours Wednesday, one table Monday, and six tools that turn the best part of bridge into something you can actually count. Both sessions, both replays, twenty five dollars.

Single Workshop

VIP Membership