Little Kid

1) 0 up to to anything less than direct 2♥ raise with 3+♥, or any hand too weak to invite giving false preference. 2) 2 3) ~8-9 and 5+♣, interested in game opposite extras. 4) Stronger ♣ raise than 3♣.

Seems obvious to bid 1♦ here, just unlucky to have an uncontested auction with 1N coming back to you. As for a reverse to 2♥, it has nowhere near enough strength to do this and on top of that you are bidding a known misfit vulnerable at matchpoints!

Previously I voted for double but didn't clarify why. Here it goes: It keeps options open. In addition to letting partner help decide the more profitable strain by judging his own hand, it will help you find out how the hands fit. It feels like a descriptive saying that you have some values but are not quite sure about where you want to play. - 3NT needs a lot to make without a second ♠ stopper because you can't hold up your stopper to keep LHO out (RHO has 3+♠ usually). After the raise partner often only has 2♠s, so the chance that he has a second stopper isn't that high. Considering that many of the hands you are hoping for (eg. with a full/partial ♠ stopper) could have bid 2NT initially, 3NT will need a nice hand from partner to make because you need 9 tricks off the top. In at least some of the cases where 3NT has decent chances (like Kx♠), he can still bid it after the double. Sure you may find partner with Qx♠ and wrongsided the contract, you can't have everything. - 3NT may make opposite a good hand, but if he is short in ♠ a suit contract rates to make too opposite extras. If partner has a singleton ♠ I would prefer to be in a suit contract. 4♦ is still a possibility after double. If partner bids 4♣ I will correct to 4♦ and maybe he will infer that I was considering ♥s as a strain which may lead us to 4♥. By correcting 4♣ to 4♦ you will also know you probably don't have a great fit so you won't bid too high. If he bids 4♦, he won't have wasted ♠ values so the nice fit and working points may help us find 5♦. - Penalty is the final option. If partner ends up having some 4333/4432 or RHO has raised on 2card support, 3♠x might very well be our best spot. Bidding 4♦ feels like giving up on the 3NT and 4♥ game contracts, which I don't want to do at IMPs.

Pass - (Pass) - 1NT - (Double)* Pass - (2♣) - 2♦ - (3♣) Double * Double = Opening Hand (1NT is 15/17) Nobody vul, you pass in first seat. Do you think your final double is for penalties or take out? If it makes a difference, you have no specific agreements as to what XX would have been over the initial double.

Ignore anything I said, I am making no sense :P

I like double.

If you overtake the ♦J instead of playing a small one to the K, I think you can improve your chances of getting 4♦ tricks if the ♠ don't break. Then you can get 4♦ tricks whenever they are 3-2 or RHO has 4.

6♥ for me.

To me 3N also shows 6 decent ♠s and usually a bal/semi-bal hand. However I would also bid it with maxed 17-counts and more, so we may miss slam if p has a decent hand without spade support. I can think of a lot of balanced hands or hands with a nice minor where slam is looking very good without being able to bid it. Missing slam will probably happen less if you also play invitational jumps over 1♠.

1♠ and after 1NT I bid 3NT. Might miss slam sometimes, maybe there is a cleverer way to bid it.

This looks like a perfect 3♣ minisplinter so I won't settle for less than a limit raise. I have an ace, shortage and Qxxx support.

[hv=d=n&v=e&s=saqjt543ha2dkq86c]133|100|Scoring: IMP Favourable, the auction goes: P-(1N)-?[/hv]

LOL! Same thing happened to me! I had to read it 4 times until I realised.

If their bidding is reasonable on this hand, I am guessing they will have a similar auction at the other table. Just because they are off AK♦ doesn't mean that their bidding was bad and we are getting a swing anyway. They could easily have a strong 11count opposite a 21-count. Our teamies might very well end in the unlucky 6NT too, doubled. If their bidding is too optimistic, we might even get them down 2 in 6NT on a good day and doubling is crucial. I really doubt the opps will be pulling this double to the 7-level as they have denied good suits. Even if they do, they still need to make 13 tricks on 2 balanced hands with 32 pts at most AND LHO declaring AND partner must lead the wrong suit. The much more likely scenario to me seems that your teamies are in 6NTx and passing means losing us 100 pts. The double in 6NT off a cashing AK might also affect your opponents' play on the next few boards in your favour. Fwiw, I wouldn't double this if we weren't trailing versus much weaker opponents.

Wouldn't be a junior if I didn't double this! If they run to a better contract and it ends bad I'll look like an idiot but it wouldn't be the first nor last time :P I don't expect them to run too often though, it seems like they have balanced hands with no clear place to run to. If we need to catch up with them I am not letting these contracts go through, lets put on the pressure!

Previous thread on this topic.

Two aces, a void and an 8card suit! So many controls, the first thing that comes to mind is SLAM!! Still think I would stilll go for 4♥ at the table. I can think of some layouts where slam makes but am not sure I would be able to bid it confidently after 1♥. There is likely to be quite some interference if I open 1♥ if partner has support and it may get tough to describe this hand without good agreements. With 4♥ we may even collect a nice penalty if they come in when they shouldn't. ♥s will be our best strain the most of the time so I'll just go with the preempt and try to make the opponents guess. Totally understand the people opening 1♥ though, maybe I'll change my mind when I am a bit more confident about my bidding =) Absolutely hate pass.

Double in 4th seat for me: short ♥s and I'm in balancing seat so partner won't be expecting too much and overbid.

Definitely 3♥ for me. Yes you have 5♥s but your hand is as flat as can be and you're loaded with queens and jacks, no offense whatsoever. You could go for a number in 4♥ already or cause partner to compete further. From my experience, the Law of Total Tricks is less accurate with balanced hands and a lot of trumps. I generally like to have a shortage to raise to 4♥ on this kind of auction. 2♥ just seems way too conservative for me even though the hand is not great besides the trump length. 3♥ seems the best bid in order to preempt as high as is safe.

At this vul I'm not overcalling 2♥ with that suit and no values to compensate, its just asking for problems. I don't like passing much either with a decent opening hand and Ax in ♠, so double it is.

[hv=d=e&v=b&s=skha9875dat843cj2]133|100|Scoring: IMP (P)-1♥-(1♠)-2♥ (2♠)-?[/hv] You open 1♥ in second seat. What do you bid next? Is it obvious?

Isn't 1♠ 0-7 and 2♠ 8-11 or so after the double?

I actually made this poll because it said in a book that it is a 50/50 guess to play the Q or duck from: Axxx Qxxx I thought that Queen was better because the only relevant distribution is 2 with LHO, 3 with RHO. Therefore RHO has a better chance of having the K. I didn't think of the fact that everything changes once you actually put in the spot cards and look what each opponent plays, which is probably far more relevant. It does kind of make the poll silly <_<

For the sake of argument then: your opponents are world class and know you have a 4-4 in that suit. Would this change your play? Or if RHO played the J then the 9? What would they have to play on the first two tricks to make you duck?

How will you play this combo for 3 tricks: A754 Q863 T1: 3-2-A-9 T2: 4-T-?