Stoppers

Stopper (plug), also known as a cork, a plug or a bung (Wikipedia)

The other night my partner and I were leading a game 320 points vs the opponents -480. My partner started the bidding by passing and the opp on my right called 6 spades. I didn't have the bird so called 6NT - what I call a "stopper" bid.

The opp on my left sensibly passed fearing a game-winning misere and so did the other opp. I didn't get my 6NT and the opp on my right said BL!

It seemed a strange comment as I had achieved my objective of stopping the opps calling the bird and easily winning a 7 or 8 call moving them safely away from the backdoor. I explained the rationale for my 6NT call to be told it was "BS" by my aggrieved opp. Ah well, 'twas water of this duck's back and the opps proved my point by backdooring themselves next hand - LOL.

"Stoppers" are a valuable bidding strategy worth adding to any player's bidding arsenal.