jdeegan

:rolleyes: I think the current vote - about half for 1♣ and most of the rest split between 4♣ and 5♣ - is about right. This is one case where the state of the match, the caliber of the opponents and pure table feel make a difference imo.

:) Ditto

:) Pass, too much in spades.

:) 3♣. After that, I am pulling in my horns.

:P South 100%. If you need the opinion of an old fashioned bidder, I am you man. Playing SAYC circa 1976, the negative double shows spades (less than five or a biddable 4 card suit), some cards plus either diamonds or a place to play. On that basis, 3♦ would be competitive, not a dead minimum, but not the relative powerhouse South actually held. When you see game, you gotta make sure you get there, or at least make a clearcut try.

:) Hand three for me. My bidding gets wild when I have 14 cards.

:angry: 4♠ unless I needed a board, because if 3NT does go down when partner has a weak side suit, it will demoralize him/her.

:angry: 3NT Lotsa high cards, but it's a MISFIT without enough power for six. No bidding room left. Time to bail out into the most likely contract.

[hv=d=w&v=b&s=sahj109874dq3c8543]133|100|Scoring: IMP P-1♦-1♠-???[/hv] :angry: An SAYC problem. You are NOT playing negative free bids. What is your call?

:rolleyes: 6♣ To me this is a LOTT calculation. They have 11 spades. We have 9 clubs. I am looking at a void. We have a secondary 8 card diamond fit. All this adds up to 22 tricks. Of course, the LOTT doesn't always pan out, and bidding 6♣ will not always win, but any other bid violates the LOTT, and 6♣ should be the winning percentage bid.

:) 3♦ I really don't understand any other bid. 3♦ alerts partner to game possibilities plus provides a suitable stopping place for a part score if he is weak. I would rather make an overbid of 3♣ hoping pard has extras or (God forbid) some sort of fit, than 2♣. Are we interested in a club game?

:) dbl 5-4-2-2 shape, the extra high cards and the spade queen control. If pard is bidding on nothing with heart length, he may (or may not - disaster!) pull. At least, I'm ahead of the game, plus I am a good partner offering an informed opinion.

;) A blood feud that has gone on longer than I have been alive - and that's a pretty long time. Keep at it boys! The rest of the world needs the comic relief.

;) I use it so that I can admire my beautiful prose one more time before I cast my pearls before the swine.

:) 3♠ if I am playing weak two bids as my accustomed 4-10 HCP. I can always bid 4♠ later if they bid 4♥. We may have a secure ten tricks in spades, but this implies a diamond fit and one or more winning finesses.

Yes, of course 2S is a better spot than 3C - no one suggested it wasn't. :P I didn't mean to dispute anyone. My point was that balancing with (ugh, imho) a double will get you to 3♣ on the quite reasonable looking 6-2 fit when 2♠ is much better even with the 5-1 fit - because you have the suit with a 100 honors. There are so many possible issues raised with this hand. What if you were vul? Would I have opened 1NT w/o the solid spade suit? What is the proper bid with the same HCP and distribution but a weaker spade suit? How weak do I have to be to pass with the awful 5-2-4-2 distribution and wasted soft values in hearts?

Only if the clubs were 5-0 or blocked. Otherwise, they could cash two hearts, then play three rounds of clubs. :P Let's face it. 3♣ is always down one at best - 2♣, 2♥ and one ♦. Imho, 2♠ is a better spot, and it is harder to double for penalties. Their chances of making 2♥ (or more) are close to 100%. As usual, I really have to go with jlall on this one - double sucks. This hand addresses a bidding issue about which there has been very little written, and I am delighted to see it put up for discussion.

There is the "remote" possibility that you do not need 3 CLub forcing with this hand. You may think about a 3 NT bid instead. B) But maybe x,QJxxx,xx,QJxxx is a good example for a forcing 3 Club bid? Besides all hands, which try to play slam? :P Slam. Pleeeze. A 2♥ minimum call opposite a limit (although a big hand)2NT. Choice of games? Pleeze. 5♣ after partner has said he wants to play NT. Do I have to spell out EVERYTHING!

:P Reopening double is imho a very bad percentage bid holding ♥Qx and 5-2-4-2 shape with 16 HCP. If pard has a penalty pass, AND if they don't run; you will get a telephone number. But, the odds of this are very, very slim. If a penalty pass is (very nearly) out of the picture, then imo 2♠ with the 100 honor suit is considerably better than a pass, and much better than (ugh) an eccentric 3♦ or 2NT. Partner did not make a negative double, so game looks remote. It looks like declarer might scramble home with eight tricks in spades - five spades and three diamonds with the singleton spade in dummy holding off the heart tap long enough to knock out the ace of diamonds. At worst you will go down one or two. Maybe, the opponents will take the push to 3♥. Any disaster here is, imho, self-inflicted.

:) 3♣ nonforcing is a useful bid. 3♣ forcing is not a useful bid. Therefore, 3♣ cannot be forcing.

:D It's a pretty cheesy 2♥ call, but he did have a club fit, and he was a passed hand. It's a seven point HCP hand with a stiff - worth about 10 dummy points in clubs or if there is a heart fit. The hearts are five long with good texture. I guess the negative double is better. If partner raises hearts, we should have a game. Otherwise, 3♣ is OK. At matchpoints we can't play 2 or 3♥ on the 5-3 for the better score, but this wasn't matchpoints. Getting to good games or going plus are what's important at IMPs.

:) Thanks for the comments. On the actual hand, pass or double would have worked out better, although I'm not sure how much that means since pard held an unlikely card - the stiff queen of spades. [hv=d=n&v=n&n=sqhq10842d652ckq103&w=sa7653ha6d874cj98&e=s10982hk95daj93c76&s=skj4hj73dkq10ca542]399|300|Scoring: IMP P-P-1♣-1♠ 2♥-3♠!-???[/hv] The hand was played only four times, twice at 4♥ (down one), once at 2NT (down one), and once at 3♠ (down 2). I lost -1.33 IMP by bidding 4♥ - hey, it's a bidder's game. E-W were very aggressive both with the 1♠ overcall (I would make this every time) and the 3♠ raise (not to my taste with 4-3-4-2 shape and no spade honor). At one table, N-S bid to 4♥ with no interference. At another, South bid 2NT after East raised to 2♠ only (kinda weird). At the fourth table, East took the push to 3♠ after West passed over 1♣, then came in with 2♠ after N-S bid 1♣ - 1♥ -1NT, and then North competed with 3♣. The bidding at indies can be a barrel of laughs.

:) Dbl. Doesn't everybody play equal conversion nowdays? So, if I bid 2♦ over partner's 2♣ bid, it does not promise much (if anything) in the way of extra values.

[hv=d=n&v=n&s=skj4hj73dkq10ca542]133|100|Scoring: IMP P-P-1♣-1♠ 2♥-3♠-????[/hv] You are playing in a BBO indie. Your partner is a starred player from a small country in eastern Europe. The opponents regard themselves as experts. This is the first board. I considered this a difficult choice of bids. Do you agree? What would your bid have been?

;) Pass seems obvious. Dbl cannot possibly be negative - the situation is like the cooperative competitive double where a double shows tolerance for defense - two cards in this case. The hand looks a lot like a misfit. We may not have the balance of strength. If partner doubles 2♥ indicating strength and some good hearts, I can pull to 2♠. If partner bids something else, I should know what to do.