wank

i expect i'll be changing my system.

frequency * size of gain when it comes up i redouble frequently enough anyway

800 > 550 1000 > 650 those are good reasons for redoubling imo.

you can do a lot better than the first 2 replies. no need to hope for nice layout of diamonds.

normally in these situations there's some truth and a lot of culpability on both sides.

double is takeout. why didn't east take it out? 2♥ is where you want to be.

should be something like 55 majors and a 0 count.

4c splinter. bit early to be shitting yourself about what the opps might make when p has made a 2/1. plus, showing your shape makes it easier to sacrifice if the predictions of doom and gloom turn out to be justified.

if partner's got the ace of spades there's no rush to play a diamond. you can win the ks next and switch. partner should be able to signal on 2nd heart if anything productive is happening there.

yes cash ak and lead towards jack. you drop anything that's droppable and still make when queen is onside. you only lose to qtxx+ offside which can't be picked up either way.

i regularly play immediately from dummy. i play at a fast tempo. 3rd hand can take whatever time he feels appropriate, just as at any other moment in the hand. anyway, to answer the OP, your actions were commendable and your opps were morons.

west has done too much twice.

qjx qjxx axx xxx would be ideal without the need for any useful doubletons and without assuming partner passes 11s (i open quite soundly). it's pretty unlikely p will have enough to move again - he can't have points unless he's passed an openable hand so he'd need a ruffing value. in all likelihood we'll play 2s.

2d a la drury. you're too good to just sign off but too bad to bid game and you'd rather not risk the 3 level if you just end up playing part-score. for this reason i play 2C as a good raise irrespective of which suit they opened. 2 of their suit replaces a natural 2C. like 3rd in hand openers, overcalls have a very wide range, hence the need to narrow it with drury.

i should let someone else have a go

your partner was absurd. your bidding was entirely correct.

it's 100% normal to open this hand. if you decided to not open 12s, you would have the same feeling of dubiousness whenever you held 13 on this auction. and yes, you just bid 3NT over 3C. partner's forced you to make this decision. he should perforce have a good hand. you have no idea what spades partner has and you have no idea what tricks you can run if partner has nothing in spades and your stop is knocked out immediately, so to just guess 3NT can't make is excessive and as you found out, it's not like any other option is sensible. of course your partner was crazy to pass 3D though.

i play 2nt as inv+ with 4+ or a bal GF with 3+. over that 3C is any intermediate hand, i.e. something akin in playing strength to a strong NT (3D asks for shortage; 3H/S/NT show responder's corresponding shortage) 3D is no shortage, equivalent in playing strength to 18-19 or a hand that would reject a 4 card invite (then 3M is to play; 3oM is GF no shortage and waiting; 3NT/4C/4D are slam tries opposite a hand which would reject the invite with responder's corresponding shortage) 3H/S/3nt are hands above a strong NT in playing strength with the corresponding shortage if responder ever shows a shortage that promises a 4th trump. if responder doesn't have a shortage then a 4th trumps isn't as important and our structure is more about opener describing anyway. obviusly we lose some precision on the slam hands, but we gain a lot in disclosing virtually nothing on the way to 4M and we've not had to waste a bid on an invitational 4 card raise, which means we can play 1M-3m as natural invitational. as we've taken the balanced 3 card raises out of 2m, we're in a better position when we do bid 2m then support - now opener knows to value cards in that suit more highly.

1nt. You could upgrade it but that would be marginal at best. What isn't marginal about this hand is the positionality - it's gagging to be declarer.

how about akxxx x kqx axxx? or akxxx x kx axxxx or pretty much anything with a heart void or just because you hate the stiff king so much, akxxx x xx aqjxx. losing trick count really is pretty useless.

yes he should

if we bid we'll often be -200. -180 or -380 isn't a crisis in comparison and can easily work. i detest bidding 3 card suits, particularly majors. when partner raises and you get doubled, you might start to hate it too.

presumably he's sandbagging. anyway, it doesn't matter; if partner's not doubled, we should keep bidding - our club length is effectively negative defensive tricks. hopefully we won't be given the same decision at the 6 level.

i don't think 3nt is ever going to be right. 5d might make when partner is short in spades. 4s might make when p has 3. non-vul i'd just pass, not least because partner's diamond suit will often be too bad to make 5d even with a singleton spade. passing marginal hands is good strategy because if lho protects you're delighted.

responding in a new suit then jumping to game is called a delayed game raise (DGR) 1) it should be obvious that playing a DGR as 12+ is unworkable - opener would never know when to advance if you can have 12 or 18. it should be a minimum game force, i.e. 12-bad 15. 2) DGRs eat up lots of space meaning it becomes difficult and dangerous (have to bid to 5 level) to check you have all the suits controlled (cuebid) if you decide you want to investigate slam 3) opener/opps doesn't always make it easy. for example, let's say you bid 1H-1S planning to make a DGR, but opener jumps to 3D. now the problem is you've never shown your strength or long trump and as 4H now is just a sign-off, it will become awkward to get these across, particularly the 4th trump. you should still get to slam ok, just based on points, but you'll find it difficult to successfully bid grand slams.