jdeegan

:wacko: I think there is a decent argument for 2♥, a bid that sounds like a novice's call. Partner is probably too weak and has too few clubs to make a penalty pass of a reopening double. I don't want to play a 4-2 spade fit, or even a 5-2 unless partner has good spots. If I bid 2♥, chances are good that we can get out at either 2♥, 3♦, 2NT or 2♠ on a 5-2 fit, all undoubled. On the actual hand, 2♥ looks like a good place to play since I can ruff a ♦. A pass looks like the winner on this hand, but I agree with most of the panel that my hand is too good to go quietly.

[hv=d=e&v=n&s=sq10873haq62da6cj10]133|100|Scoring: MP P-1♥-5♦-???[/hv] :blink: Matchpoints. Decent opponents. Your bid? :rolleyes:

B) All your opponents were doing was to add one additional meaning to the conventional redouble - the 0 to 4 point hand with support, a sort of controlled psyche. Sounds like a decent treatment because once the psyche is exposed, partner of the redoubler may find a good save. Of course, your side may be able to 'see' heart shortness in partner's hand as well. Action with your hand is certainly clear enough. Just bid one spade. Partner will know whether the redouble was weak or strong and can act accordingly.

;) I always feel weird when I show 'shortness' holding a void. It just seems like I have left something unsaid. This combined with the fact that splinters eat up a level of bidding, just doesn't seem right. My 'picture' is not on target because nine times out of ten (approx) it is a singleton. So, what to do with a void? Bid the hand out, the old fashioned way? Any thoughts? :) :wacko:

:lol: [hv=d=n&v=n&n=shqj873da1097cakj3&s=sak5hk96dk542cq76]133|200|Scoring: IMP 1♥-P-???[/hv] We bid these hands to a good 6♥ using 2/1, but was it sound bidding? How SHOULD one do this? After pard opened 1♥, I couldn't think of anything better than to temporize with 2♦. Partner raised to 3♦. Ooops, time to set trumps (I hoped) with 3♥. Pard now gets aggressive with 3♠. What do you bid now? I almost gave up and bid 4♥ considering the obvious duplication, but 15 HCP and three quick tricks is well over a minimum, so I bid 3NT. Was this correct? What did 3NT mean? Was it a "serious" 3NT acting essentially as a relay? Or, did is imply spade and club cards? Pard took it as the latter (I assume) and jumped to 6♥. What is the best 2/1 auction for these two hands?

:lol: Sure. Esp. if you don't play stayman as an approach bid to show a long minor suit hand - i.e. you use 2♠ for this purpose. Otherwise, it's just a matter of the relative frequency of each situation and how much it matters. Maybe, play 3 of minor weak at MP's and strong at IMPs? Also, playing 2NT as an omnibus invitational bid seems OK to me. Pard knows you should have four hearts and zero through two spades. Worse case you will be 4-3 or 3-4 or 5-2 or 2-5 in the minors. This is a fairly well defined hand.

:lol: West 100%. The first really egregious blunder should get all the blame imho. I love to open shapeless 10 counts third seat, esp. NV. But, never,never, never take a rebid with this hand in an uncontested auction. This would be a psyche. A bad psyche at that, since you are in a great spot. You may not win any given board, but over the long haul I have been well over 50% at MP's and plus IMPs on such auctions. By the way, East might have opened a weak two bid, but with four cards in the other major, most authorities discourage that. It's also a little weak for a one bid opener in most systems.

:) I'm getting the message that some people 'out there' might actually play a double in that position as representing a hand with spade shortness and some cards. What in heavens name is the theory behind this treatment? It looks like a simple case of bad bridge to me. Consider. The stayman call indicates one of four type of hands: 1. Garbage stayman, assuming you play that. Just pass 2. A minor suit bailout, assuming you play that. Bid the six or seven bagger. 3. An invitational hand. Bid 2NT. Partner didn't double 2♠ which pretty much denies four spades. They evidently have a nine card fit. Pard knows you have four hearts. 4. A game going hand. Bid 3♠. Pard will know as stated above. The double makes sense with an invitational hand with three or four spades - maybe with a doubleton honor. It's the only way you catch the opponents in a bad contract. Remember you are red vs white at IMPs. You should treat hands with zero through two spades as in the preceding paragraph.

:P Pass, 1♦ or even 2♦ depending on my feel of the table, the state of our game and partner's personality. Even good opponents sometimes display tells, esp. in a boring, routine matchpoint duplicate game or perhaps when they are tired and not doing well even in the finals of a National event. LHO looks alert and is still counting points while RHO is slumped and looks bored: at least 1♦, maybe even 2♦. Etc., etc., etc. ......... 2♦ is bold and risky - shake hands with -800. 1♦ is sneaky, less intrusive, but safer - have to pass 1♠ by pard Pass is safe and conservative. At least it won't upset partner or put any pressure on him/her, or the opponents either In short, no right answer absent from being at table

[hv=d=n&v=b&s=sj107h9dj1032cj10874]133|100|Scoring: IMP 1♠-2♥-????[/hv] :P Opposite competent partner playing standard SAYC. Your bid? Do you have enough to raise?

[hv=d=n&v=n&s=sjhaj97da9873ck95]133|100|Scoring: IMP 1NT-P-2♣-2♠ P-P-Dbl???[/hv] :P My partner doubled with the hand shown. Certainly, a 3♠ would have been correct since we do want to bid game with a min of 15 opposite 13 in HCP. My question is what in the world was she thinking? Is there something going on out there that I don't know about that may have misled the poor dear? My impression has been that the 'modern' treatment is that a double in that position shows 'cards' with three pieces or better in spades, all based on the LOTT. Is this actually the case? Does anybody who can play play that double as reopening showing short spades? (Note the rare use of "play play" in the last sentence.)

:) ditto

:) This is a good example hand. The equivalent for this case might be: Q9xxx KQxxx x xx Note that slam in either major is a lay down opposite the actual south hand. This says to me that doubler should properly rebid 5♦ with the intention of driving to slam unless something drastic intervenes.

:) Alas! Murphy's first law is: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's second law: Murphy was an optimist. In real life I played the king and later got a message from partner that the 'king meant nothing' and that I should have played the three. Fortunately, I have learned to be choosy about who I take instruction from. After a little thought, I decided that playing the queen might have been better. This thread was great. Particularly, the Pavlicek reference and the arguments for playing the queen.

[hv=d=s&v=n&e=sq7ha1095dk843c642&s=sj9hdj1072ckq109753]266|200|Scoring: IMP 3♣-3♠-P-4♠ P-P-P[/hv] :unsure: Playing in a BBO indy. Partner is a BBO starred player. He leads the club ace. I want my heart ruff. Which club do I play? Does it matter that partner and I are strangers? What would you play sitting opposite your regular partner?

:lol: The panel has this hand right. 4♠ might have ended the auction. But, this isn't your day, the bidding continues: [hv=d=w&v=e&s=s109762h98652d32c10]133|100|Scoring: MP P-1♠-2♣-4♠ 5♣-DBL-P-???[/hv] How many tricks in this hand? How are they split? If I do pass, what do I lead?

[hv=d=w&v=e&s=s109762h98652d32c10]133|100|Scoring: MP P-1♠-2♣-???[/hv] :wacko: Matchpoints against run-of-the-mill club opponents. Playing the usual North American moderne 2/1 stuff, 2♠ is a normal raise, 3♣ is limit raise or better with cards, 3♠ is a weak to moderate raise with shape and four or more spades, 4♣ or 4♦ are splinters, 4♠ is weak with five trumps and some shape. Partner will assume your weak bids contain a few high cards.

:P buy'em books and buy'em books and all they do is eat the covers. Try a few experiments with RP's odds generator, assuming you can understand it, and see what happens.

:) The reasoning behind these 'folk sayings' is pretty simple. When you have 12 or 13 cards in two suits, the opponents are almost a sure bet to own one of the other two. This means they can play a forcing game right from the start, so you need plenty of trump length to counter this. For example, with any 7-5 hand, you are usually better off in the 7-0 fit than the 5-3 fit since the odds are about 50-50 for a 4-1 (or worse) trump split in the 5-3 suit (this is because of the conditional probabilities associated with the condition that you have 12 or 13 cards in two other suits - you can use Pavliceks (sic) probability generator to check this) and you figure to get tapped right away. (a 5-4 fit is OK, though). :( It takes a few years of experience to get the picture because these hands only come up a few times a year, and that's if you play a lot. Even my few encounters with 7-6 hands have convinced me to treat them like 7-5's.

:) Playing 2/1. Partner opens 1♠ first seat. With no interference you respond 2♣ (game forcing) and partner rebids 3♥. What should this 'unneeded' jump show?

:D

:D The winning play is not the percentage play, even assuming west CANNOT EVER have the heart queen.

:) gotta raise

:) small spade Why did I double?

:) WE STILL LOVE YOU BRIAN