bravejason

My first instinct for each hand was pass because I kept thinking of the 1NT re-bid as weak. 1. 2C. I'm not sure that the hand will provide any more tricks at a suit than at no trump, but I suspect partner will be happier in clubs than in no trump - I know I would be. 2. At the table, I wonder if I might bid 2NT. Here, with a chance to think on it for a while, I bid 3NT. I'm expecting the clubs to be a source of tricks. 3. At the table, I probably pass. Here, having a chance to ponder it for a while, I bid 2D. 4. Pass. I don't see game, so don't give partner an opportunity to bid it.

I can't quantify the heart concern. Sure, partner shouldn't have more than two, but it is still 4 cards that won't build tricks. With a face card replaced by a spot card, I might bid 3 spades anyway. Law of total tricks, right? Hopefully wouldn't go down too much since it's potentially a 9 trick, 20 HCP contract.

When I looked at the hand, I didn't see game. Part of the issue is that I don't know what partner has. Partner could have three diamonds, or six of them. Maybe there are spades, maybe not. The ambiguity of the 1 diamond bid makes it hard to judge. Also, a substantial chunk of high card strength in an opposing suit. I understand your point about the scoring.

1. Pass. With a spade trick, two trump tricks, and a partner with an opening bid, I want to play defense. 2. 5 diamonds. The hand seems better suited for offense than defense. I can't articulate why except to say I like the spades and I don't want to defend while holding a single small trump. 3. 3 spades. The four small hearts are a concern, but I'm not sure that the hand would play better on defense and I know I have a 9 card trump fit in spades. I don't understand the spoiler question about bidding under pressure.

Thanks for the feedback. The comment about long trumps vs short trumps was especially instructive.

1. 1 no trump. Balanced and a standard strength opening hand. 2. 1 spade. Unbalanced and a standard strength hand, so show second suit at cheapest level. 3. 2 clubs. Same rationale as #2. 4. 3 clubs. With four quick tricks and just four losers, I want to gamble on game despite the singleton in partner's suit. 5. 2 no trump. With those diamonds, I probably would have opened with 2NT. 6. 2 no trump.

Playing SAYC or similar: Partner deals and opens one heart. Opponents pass throughout. You have a heart void, but 4 spades, so you respond with one spade. Partner raises to two spades. When you re-evaluate your hand now knowing that you have a spade fit, how do you account for the void knowing that your partner has length (5 cards) and possibly strength in that suit? Do you increase or decrease the value of your hand and by how much? Does it matter if your hand is weak, strong, or powerful? If you downgraded your hand immediately after hearing partner's opening bid, did you upgrade after finding the trump fit? Similar situation, but this time partner deals and opens with one of a minor. Opponents pass throughout. You have a void in partner's minor suit, and 4 or 5 of a major, so you respond with one major. Partner raises to two. When you re-evaluate your hand now knowing that you have a major suit fit, how do you account for the minor suit void knowing that your partner possibly has length or strength in that suit? Do you increase or decrease the value of your hand and by how much? Does it matter if your hand is weak, strong, or powerful? If you downgraded your hand immediately after hearing partner's opening bid, did you upgrade after finding the trump fit? Would it matter if your first response was a two level minor suit that was subsequently raised (e.g., 1 spade - 2 diamonds - 3 diamonds)? Fundamentally, I'm asking these questions to try to get a feel for how people evaluate their hands when they know that they have both a trump fit and a void in one of partner's suits. It seems wrong to take full credit for a void in a suit in which partner likely has high cards since you have wasted or duplicate values, but it also seems wrong to pretend the void didn't exist either since the ability to ruff a potential loser is still there. I'm looking for the middle ground here.

Was the bidding actual or contrived? If it was actual, why are you playing 5 diamonds instead of 3NT?

First impressions: Hand 1: Pass. 5-4-2-2, but the hand doesn't excite me and I don't want to risk partner bidding again. if I knew partner would pass, I'd consider 2 diamonds. Hand 2: Pass. It appears that we have the points for 2 NT, but don't know that we have the distribution. If I knew needed the higher the contract to win, then I'd go to 2 NT. Hand 3: 4 hearts. Anticipating that partner can cover my side suit losers and thus I only have to lose tricks to the high heart honors. 2nd thoughts: Hand 1: 2 diamonds. Why play no trump with 5422 distribution? Guard against a long suit holding by an opponent. If the diamonds break poorly, it probably won't matter if the contract is no trump or diamonds. Hand 2: 2 NT. Game could be there if partner has a maximum. Yes, the hand is full of queens and jacks, but that means partner has the missing aces and kings and in no trump those queens and jacks aren't so terrible. Hand 3: 4 hearts. I looked, but I couldn't see slam and with those cards I'm unwilling to play for less than game.

LHO deals and opens one diamond. Partner overcalls one spade. RHO passes. What is the proper bid with: Q7 97632 KQJ5 AT I'm thinking that the best bid is two no trump on the grounds that two diamonds would be a spade limit raise; a spade raise would show trump support; the clubs are too short; and the hearts are likely weaker than partner's spades and partner probably has just 2 of them. What would you bid? Is passing an option?

Opener: KT43 - J934 AKT43 Responder: A8 KQ876 AQ2 762 Playing Standard American, my first thought was: 1C 1H 1S 2D (Fourth Suit Forcing) 3C 5C Then I considered that 1C 2N or 1C 2H might be better or do those bids overstate responder's hand? I'm lost as to how to proceed. How would a partnership likely go about bidding these hands?

Thanks for the replies. 1H seems like the prudent response, though 2C tempts me to no end. I don't take any risks in real life, but when I go to bid a bridge hand I throw caution into the wind and stretch a hand to its breaking point!

After writing this post, I think I figured out the answers to all of my questions, but decided to go ahead and post it anyway. Opener: A3 AKQ984 86 AJT If I'm counting the losers correctly, there are five of them (3, 86, and JT). If the hearts run, then you have 8 winners. So it seems like the hand has one too many losers and one too few winners to open 2C, however, I think I'd be ticked if I had these cards, opened 1H and it passed out. So I'm very much, if not irresistibly, tempted to make a strong bid. Opening 2 NT doesn't seem entirely unreasonable since opener has three suits stopped and is as flat as is possible for holding a 6 card suit. If partner has points for game, then I expect them to be in diamonds. Maybe I'm overthinking this - you have a 6 card suit, in a major no less, Bid It! Any guidance on how to pick between 1H, 2NT, and 2C for the hand above and hands similar to it? I chose 2NT, for the reasons above and because the bid limits openers hand, though maybe I'm undervaluing (or is that overvaluing?) opener's hand. Actually, I'm at a loss for evaluating opener's hand. I know it's good, but I can't figure out exactly how good. Opinions? After dealing the cards above, I dealt responder's hand: KQT64 763 97 K43 So, a no trump contract goes down in flames since responder somehow managed to avoid having any strength in the one suit where I would have expected it. If the 4 of spades is a diamond or club, then 3NT would be the final contract after a 2NT opening since responder could hardly expect opener to have nothing in diamonds if responder's strength is in the black suits. With the cards as they are, Jacoby transfer to spades would result in a 5-2 trump fit, but with these cards it's not a big deal. After a 2C opening, I'm guessing a heart contract would be the result. However, after 2C-2S, 3H-4H they're in trouble if they go looking for a slam due to the diamond weakness in both hands. Perhaps responder should bid 2D first since he's not opposed to a heart contract?

Thanks for the detailed reply. Certainly, a few things for me to chew on there.

Holding a 7 card suit and contemplating a 3 level preemptive bid, does it make sense to ignore point count and focus on the location of the high cards? I'm asking because if you count both long suit points and short suit points, then a 7-3-2-1 shape is worth 5 points on distribution alone. Thus a holding like KQJTxxx Qxx xx x ought to be opened with 1 of a suit instead of 3. It's a 7 card suit and an 8 HCP hand, but it's a 13 pointer with distribution. Recognizing that point has some limitations, I'm wondering if it really should not be applied to 7 card suit hands. Maybe the above hand is a bad example? Fundamentally, the question is where do you draw the line, however fuzzy it may be, between opening 1 of a suit and 3 of a suit? I presume the same concepts apply to 2 level preempt decision as well, but do chime if that is not the case. I imagine some hands should passed. Such as xxxxxxx Ax Ax xx. Does it ever make sense to pass a hand while holding a 7 card suit? I remember as a kid watching my grandmother play a hand with some friends and she remarked when the dummy came down with a 7 card suit "Never table a 7 card suit!".

Given a hand with 3 bare aces, would you open it? I do. If my partner has values to respond, then those values have to be a mix of K, Q, and J. In other words, while my hand is Aces and Spaces, the two hands put together are not because partner has to have to the intermediates. Perhaps having one hand as Aces and Spaces is a bad thing regardless? If you have something like A6543 A43 64 A23 and partner has something like KJT7 QJ96 KQ8 T95, then the worst that happens is you play a 4S contract that goes down 2. If partner has a better hand or a better fit, then your chances of making the contract go up and if partner has a worse hand, then you will be in a lower level contract or the opponents will overcall and you defend. Thoughts? Am I off base with my thinking?

I found a gap in my bidding knowledge that I'd like to be filled: Partner deals and opens one of a major. Opponent passes. You have enough values that you could have opened the bidding yourself (~14 pts). You have a balanced shape with 3 card trump support, 2-3 cards in the other major, and the rest of your cards are in the minor suits. What do you bid and what is your rebid?

I like the Baron bidding. It seems to go straight to the point. Don't understand the bidding by Jack unless it thinks North is worth 21+, which it might be if it counts the singleton K and doubleton QT at full value. I evaluated North to be 19 points. I wonder if 5H makes (I'm guessing the auction ended there due to missing A and trump Q).

By priority, I meant if one evaluation says you have values for bidding no trump and one says you do not (too many or too few) which evaluation are you going to base your decision? For example, If suit methodology says the hand is a touch strong for NT but NT methodology says the hand is a NT strength, would you bid the NT? On the flip side, if NT evaluation says the hand is a touch weak for NT but suit evaluation says it is NT strength hand, would you bid NT? It would be possible to have a multiple point difference between the methodologies, depending on the factors you consider. The question is most relevant for hands that could play well in either contract type. Consider too not just opening bids, but responses to partners bids. If partner opens 1NT and you have 4432, you might prefer NT over exploring for a suit fit in some instances. So a multiple evaluation difference could determine if you invite game, bid game, or play a part score depending on if you choose to pursue a suit contract or stay in NT.

When evaluating your hand for assessing if an opening bid of one no trump is appropriate, do you use the same methodology that you use for assessing if an opening bid of one of a suit is appropriate? If you use different methodologies, which one takes priority and what are the key differences between the two? For one no trump opening bid hand evaluation, does your evaluation methodology include an adjustment for doubleton honors such as KQ or QJ? Do you make an adjustment if you have all four aces or have an aceless hand? Do you make any other adjustments (e.g., long suits, quality suits, presence of intermediates, etc)? Does your no trump hand evaluation methodology change if you are contemplating opening with no trump versus responding in no trump versus rebidding in no trump? I've been using the same methodology for both suit bids and no trump bids, but was thinking that the methodologies should be different since the play of the hand is different.

I didn't consider the jump to also show a 6-5 shape, but it makes sense now that you mention it.

With a good suit, bid the major (potentially risking a 4-3 major suit fit); otherwise cuebid diamonds to show club support (potentially missing a 4-4 major suit fit). I'd expect Partner to have a legitimate club suit. In this situation your method does seem like the better approach.

I interpret the 3H bid to be a reverse (showing a strong hand and a 4+ card suit). Since 3H is also a jump, it should show a very strong hand. Is that the correct interpretation of that bid in this auction? To be clear, I think east should have opened with a strong 2 bid. I think he had too much strength for a reverse, but since east opened with a one level bid, what other option did east have to show the strength of his hand?

Wouldn't a negative double by west show both majors since both minors had already been bid? If so, then west didn't have the shape to bid a negative double. Is it common to agree that a negative double may show just one major after the opening sequence of 1C (1D)? The 3H rebid by east seems reasonable to me. West already knows east does not have 5 or else east would have opened with a heart. Why doesn't east open with a strong 2 bid? Opening 2C by east seems much more to the point. Why doesn't west overcall 2D with 3C right away? In support of clubs I think west's hand is worth about 13 points.

I see 3 heart losers, a club loser, and a spade loser for the declarer. I don't see how to avoid the three heart losers. So, for me it comes down to finessing clubs and spades. I would take the opening lead with the diamond King. Lead the spade Jack. Overtake with the Ace if east covers, else let the Jack ride. Pull the remaining trumps, ending up in my hand. Lead the club Queen to the Ace. Overtake with the Ace if west covers, else let the Queen ride. If the club Queen wins, repeat with the club Jack. Cash the remaining diamonds and clubs and lead a heart. After the opponents win their three hearts, the rest are mine. That's how I would play the hand. My guess is that I would go down with the only question being by how many. I doubt it would occur to me to play the spade Ace hoping to catch the King as a singleton. I don't know which one offers better odds - play for the singleton king or the finesse?