flytoox

play small from both hands in the first round, then play from hand to the dummy's Q. This wins whenever spade breaks 5-1 and one of opp has singleton Ace. It also wins if LHO has singleton J or T. If spade breaks 4-2, you still win if LHO has Hx, H=A,J or T.

I am interested in it provided it is not too expensive. Perhaps a one-day event without staying overnight will be more attractive.

Now we all know to dbl your 7 level sacrifice. :D

Pd is just impossible to have 4 spades in the context. He rates to have minor suit tricks to cash.

Does it hurt to explore the slam possibility? What is the point of preempting pd with 4H? What if pd DOES have DAK and CAK? How do you plan to explain to pd? 4H bid sound more like a hand with X,KQJTxxx,xxx,Ax. If you bid 4H with so wide range pd will find it difficult what to do. Even if pd has sth like x, xxx,AKxxx,Kxxx, slam has very good chance. Pd could have a much better hand.

Certainly responder, not sure the overcaller.

remote? there are just too many hands pd could have for a slam.

Pass. I probablby would bid 3C in the 1st round. However after pd's 3C and his dbl, I have no choice but pass.

What does 4H show in your sys? I think 4H is a wrong call here, very wrong. If 4H is passable, then it means you are happy to play 4H and have no interest in slam. Consistency implies you should pass pd's dbl, whatever it means. However, pd has nothing in majors. Yet he opened 1D. He should have strength in minors. You can easily make 6H if pd has DAKQxx and Ck. The problem is you dont have anyway to explore. Perhaps you should take the cash and rethink 4H after this board is over.

We are looking forward your good news! inspiration for success is important too:)

I think 3C is actually a spare bid. In balanced seat, with a solid suit and if you want pd to bid 3N with a stopper, you can jump to 3 level in your suit, like, (1c)-p-p-3D. (1c)-p-p-2D should show a good suit but need help in the suit, intermediate strength. So perhaps jump cuebid should some kind of two suiters. Playing 4C as major two suiters is sensible.

I choose 1S, hoping it wont be passed out. If I get another chance, I will jump rebid 3H.

If you bid 2S, they wont have chance to bid 2H at all. And if spade is 1-5, you are likely doubled in the NT then 2S sequence but will not get dbled if you raise to 2S directly. Just one question: How high is the percentage that spades are 5-1? Sorry, but I wont worry to much about a case who occurs with 1 or 2 percent probability. With kind regards Marlowe It is not high, but 1N then 2S is much more revealing. Even if spade breaks 4-2, you are likely dbled. If I raise to 2S directly, then even if spade breaks 5-1 they may not dbl. The point is not about frequency but about how much information opps will get from your auction. Regards Hongjun

I cannot agree more.

I vote for dbl. I can accept 2C. Not pass.

Would it be better to lead a small sapde from dummy in the 2nd round? If Sk is off will he dare to duck his SK? If he takes SK I can make 6C. If he doesnt, there is strong reason to believe sk is on side.

6S if you want to gamble, but scientific bid is 5H I think.

Yes, I will not pulll. If you run to 2H, you will get dbled. That willnot necessarily be better than 1Nx. Do you pull with xxx,xxx,xxxx,xxx? You dont, do you? SO the reason you pull is that you take it as unbalanced hand. In my understanding, adopting the policy of not pulling partner's double without a clear direction has merit, but it has impact on the requirements for doubling. If with such hands you are not allowed to pull, and should leave it in, then it seems that doubler must be pretty sure to set the contract or in any case avoiding ovetricks, even if he hits a broke partner. However, I have seen in earlier posts of yours that you agreed with Juniy Zhu's suggestion to lower the requirements of double to 14 hcp. But, if you say that doubling with 14 is reasonable, then it is probably better to scramble with a yarborough hand, no? No, I think whether you pull has not much to do with whether pd's dbl should be 16+ or 14+. My point is that if pd dbl opener's 1N and I have a completely broke And balanced hand, then you will not get a good result by running. You will be hacked and you are not sure if you have a fit or not. Furthermore. It is not impossible pd could defeat 1N by himself. Pd could have sth like Axx,Kx,KQJTxx,Ax. I definitely think "Pull pd's dbl if I have a broke hand" is a very poor method. I am sure you have read Lawrence's book about it already :rolleyes:

Yes, I will not pulll. If you run to 2H, you will get dbled. That willnot necessarily be better than 1Nx. Do you pull with xxx,xxx,xxxx,xxx? You dont, do you? SO the reason you pull is that you take it as unbalanced hand.

2C. 1N distorted both strength and shape. 2H is an overbid.

Tell me first if you think this is a balanced or shape hand:) then you will know the answer.

Whether to pull or not doesnt depend on your point, but depend on your shape. No matter how much hcp pd's dbl shows, you should not pull unless you have shape AND a weak hand. A weak hand doesnot justify a pull.

you have to dbl. cannot afford to pass.

I certainly do not have as much experience as you do. But frankly, I donot think either your or mine personnal experience proves much. While you quote your criteria from Reese, I quote my criteria from Lawrence. Both are established bridge writers and I leave it to all to judge who is more influential in bidding theory. When you score a lot from playing wk NT, it could be due to many factors. The simple factor that there are many world class players playing strong NT and many playing weak NT shows that weak NT, even if (this is a big IF by the way)it has any advantage over strong NT, can only be slightly superior to strong NT.

How can you guarantee a decent lead with double in balancing seat? Playing against weak NT, balancing double should be more sound than dbl of RHO's nt opening. This is because responder to weak NT opener will usually run with a weak hand. Junyi's suggestion is certainly not bad as you suggest. Playing against weak NT, it is certainly ok to dbl with good 14.