MickyB

Given that your meaning for Sequence B was "natural and non-forcing", I ask you to consider my last post as applying to Sequence D only. You are basically suggesting 2H as a natural game-try agreeing spades; As it is your only game-try below 2S, should it be an ART try? Opener can still bid 3H if accepting.

"In sequence "d", and arguably in sequence "b", this is your only game-try below 2S; therefore it should be an ART game-try, not a natural bid. This is similar to P:1H, 2C:2D playing Drury and 1H-(P)-2H-(3C); 3D when playing double as penalties." Agree or disagree? Thanks for the replies so far.

What is the standard meaning for these sequences, playing support doubles? What is your preferred meaning? a) 1D-P-1S-2H; X-P-3C b) 1H-P-1S-2C; X-P-2D c) 1C-P-1H-2D; X-P-2S d) 1C-P-1S-2D; X-P-2H Thanks

When it gets passed round to opener, he should redouble with a five-card suit, not bid directly. This gives partner the chance to pass 1NT XX.

I agree with most of JLOGIC's thought processes, but not all of his conclusions. Bidding 2C for the majors is great, and being able to show a natural 2C overcall is fairly useless, you'll often just push oppo into their 4-4 major fit. Likewise showing C+M when you don't have spade length. However, I strongly dislike not being able to get in on 4S5+m. My methods let me get in on these hands, as well as bringing all three suits into the game on 34(15) and 35(14), which I think is a huge plus - our fit will often be higher-ranking than theirs. I play good multi/bad 2M bids vs a strong NT but not a weak NT. This is not because I think the distinction is more useful versus a strong NT, but because giving up my penalty double allows me to do this without compromising the hands I mentioned above - indeed, I have further gains, as I have lost a 2D overcall but gained a double.

What do you open with 5M332 15+? It affects my answer. I assume it is normally 1M, which makes things slightly more complex.

Alerting regulations differ by location. Also, there is a difference between occasionally deciding to overcall 1NT with a "flaw", and your 1NT overcall being made without regard to your honour distribution. I strongly feel that this should be alertable, as it is very unusual and will greatly affect oppo's actions, and most oppo will never think to ask. Indeed, most of its successes will come from not having told oppo that you might hold this hand.

I believe that, in most jurisdictions, you have to alert some natural bids - e.g. 1N-P-2C if natural, or 1C-P-1S if natural NF.

You don't say how many miltons these 1000 hands had - I assume they were all 15-counts?

As I said before, there are advantages to bidding 3NT even on hands where partner would accept the invitation. It also reduces the chance of getting doubled when spades are lying badly for us.

There is one non-obvious factor to take into consideration - for most, bidding 3NT will end the auction opposite a 3(433), but bidding 2NT will lead to 3S or 4S.

Surely it's better to use 1C-P-2C to show both ranges. This gets you all that and stopping in 2C. You can bid either 1NT or 3C with hands that might otherwise bid 2C without much issue. I play this by an unpassed hand too, we use 1NT as a forcing club raise but if that's not an option then using 2D for that is fine. You get some incredible slam auctions too - eg 1C:2C, 2D:3C = 5S5H club shortage and maximum and you are off to the races.

It would be opener's decision whether to play 2♣ or 2♠ opposite 5♠4♥, so I would play 2♣ at IMPs but might well play 2♠ at MP. Of course, oppo might well protect with 2♦ if we tried to stop in 2♣, in which case I would expect responder to bid again to show his fifth heart and opener to give preference to 2♠.

Agreed, I am fairly sure it has never made a difference for me, and I'm not generally regarded as someone to underthink such matters. I am sure you can make a reasonable theoretical case for a small difference (tending to avoid opening a multi on marginal weak 2S hands but not marginal weak 2Hs), but really, it's never going to matter.

This doesn't feel like an auction where declarer should particularly expect a heart lead as opposed to a club. It is somewhat dependent on style, but most likely they have no more than four cards opposite three in either of these suits - opener can have four hearts but won't usually have four clubs, while the opposite is true for responder. Admittedly, responder is more likely to have four clubs than opener is to have four hearts. I would lead a club because QTxx is an attractive holding to lead from, while KTxx is an unattractive holding to lead from. Think about possible layouts of the suits - if you find partner with anything there, the lead from QTxx is likely to work fairly well.

Odd. At many English clubs, I would expect the entire field to be playing this as natural and non-forcing. I strongly suspect the partner of the OP was from the UK [the term 'Grandmaster' is consistent with this].

What can I say, poker has been going well recently, and it took that much to persuade anyone else to play it :(

I am close to being able to announce my system's appearance in the forthcoming Bermuda Bowl in a multi-dollar deal. One member of the partnership was heard to say, "While most opponents carry a water pistol, and some carry AK 47s, I will now have MickyB's Death Star".

See poll. Thanks

I assume by "when the 1NT response isn't forcing" you mean that it shows 5-10 or similar. I am used to playing it as semi/non-forcing but upto 11 or 12 so I still have to take another bid on 4522 15-counts, hence my original response. Apologies, it was obvious what you meant. A counter-argument is - if you are playing Flannery, you bid 1H-P-1NT much more frequently, I believe. This is more attractive if 1NT is non-forcing.

Removed - The post I replied to has been edited.

I've seen "Mexican 2D" used to refer to both a NF bid showing a balanced hand, usually 18-19, and a forcing bid showing one of a number of strong hands, but the former is definitely the more common usage. Including weak twos in the 2D opening would leave you much worse placed on the balanced hands, both in contested and uncontested auctions. I like playing 2D as a "bad weak two" in either major and 2M as a "good weak two". The requirements vary by conditions - 1st NV, this means 2D shows 2-7 points and a 5+card suit, while 2M shows 8-11 and a six-card suit. Vulnerable, 2M should be more like 9-12 or 10-13. This allows you to preempt frequently and means auctions like 1S:1N, 2S show some extras. 2D showing 18-19 balanced is good in a natural system with a 15-17 1NT opening. Now you don't have to worry about showing this handtype in competition, so if opener acts again he has an unbalanced hand. Also, 1m:1M, 2NT is free to show something else, e.g. 6m3M decent hand. Weak two diamonds is fine too. I really don't like 2D weak with both majors [2H is better for this as it gives oppo fewer options] and I don't think the benefits of Flannery are as great as the alternatives.

Swedish and Polish Clubs are basically the same system - they certainly have more in common than two different versions of Precision might have. Swedish is simpler than Polish but the 2C opening is too wide-ranging and the strong option starting at 17 is a bit uncomfortable at times. WJ05 is obviously the most popular version of this, but it is a poorly designed system with lots of unique treatments that aren't of any use in the real world, including a bizarre version of Blackwood meant as a "stepping-stone" to playing RKCB. The advantage of Polish/Swedish compared with Precision is that you have one opening bid to "show" a weak NT and another to show an unbalanced hand with diamonds, whereas Precision mixes these two hands together. The big advantage of Precision compared with Polish/Swedish is that your 1M openings are more limited and that your 1C opening promises a good hand. While you will tend to get less severe preemption vs a two-way club than a strong club, you are much better placed on a given auction if your 1C opening has already shown your hand [or something close to it]. The aggressive preemption vs Precision gives you some guesses but also yields some penalties and some double-dummy hands to declare. Blue Club is one of the few systems I've never played, I liked the idea of strong club and four-card majors but I read a fair bit about it and I wasn't convinced, Meckwell Precision [14-16 NT] is certainly the popular strong club system right now. Fantunes opening bids between 1NT and 2S are all fairly weak, not that well-defined with regards to shape and very frequent. I wouldn't describe this as "ultra-conservative" :P Weak+5 is a perfectly playable system [unlike weak+4]. If you are opening some balanced hands 1D then you can't respond 1NT on both a 9-count and a 6-count, as you need to tell partner what to do when he holds a 15-16 NT-type hand, which usually means playing 1D:2C as 9+points, Acol-style. Opposite the 1M openings, you can either play Acol-style or you can play 2/1 GF with a (semi-)forcing NT. If you take the latter route, you should play the following. 1H:1N, 2C is either natural or a 15-17 NT. Now 2D = bad preference to 2H or various invites; 2H = 9-10 points, wishes to be in game opposite the 15-17 NT type. Something similar over 1S:1N, 2C - obviously you've got more room to work with here.

Given your aims and your location [England], I'd have thought weak+5 or strong+4 would be better bets.

I don't think you need to fear the misfit at such a low level. If they had overcalled 2S, I would have sympathy with pass [but I would still double]. Besides, if you pass over 1S and pard bids 2♦ you'll just be guessing what to do.