nekthen

I see two possible hands for East. One 13 spades, two 12 spades (maybe even 11 to the AK) Double will not earn much and once in a blue moon will be costly 7N could also be really expensive Probability says East has not got hand 1. However, I am not betting the house that 7N makes. If I pass we are still in the rubber even if it makes. The object is to win the rubber not every hand

If East wakes up enough to redouble, hopefully, his partner can bid 6H over 6C I do like North's hand but I would still rebid 2C and follow up with 3C. At this stage I do not know what is going on in the majors. Give me a useful Spade or AK in D and I bid 3C One other query. Is it North's style to open 1C with 4432? If not I would prefer to raise clubs as South rather than bid 1D

East could redouble, he has two perfect cards and probably should have bid 6H Also, a pet peeve, why does north think it necessary to bid 3C? Surely this is only worth 2C?

True but does that make 3♣ forcing?

AWM exactly! but it is doubler who is due to bid so he is the one to be playing NT, so 2N should be "good" hand in context and 3♣ bad

I am interested to hear why 2N is the bad raise and 3C is good. That is how it would be with lebensol, but then the 2N bidder is the weaker hand. In this scenario the 2N bidder is the stronger hand, and I think fast arrival should mean that 3c is bad and 2N good.

While I might agree that HCP is a blunt instrument for evaluating a hand, I cannot believe that this is in anyway better than inverse raises or even old school raises

I may be wrong but I think Helene meant that the minimum value of 2♣ was 6 hcp (5 at a push) I think there is a fair amount of upside before partner can do something more constructive like 2♦ After all with a 4414 hand the doubler can have only 13hcp 2N to play looks like trying to land on a sixpence (or dime) (or cent)

I will have to ask my partners! lol Options at this point are 1 dbl Surely a penalty dbl we have advertised a heart suit 2 2♠ a good hand with a spade suit, too good for an initial 1♠ overcall 3 3♣ support for clubs nothing exciting That leaves 2N, 3♦, 3♥, 3♠ and 3N 3N looks like 19+ balanced, as my 1N overcall is 15 -18, with good red suit stoppers 3♦ looks like 19+ balanced, no ♦ stopper 3♥ looks like 19+ balanced, no ♥ stopper 3♠ GF I really like ♠ 2N could then be "partner are you better than minimum" if not bid 3♣. If I then bid on we are GF. If partner bids something else we are GF Effectively, this is reversing the suggestion that 2N is a competitive raise and 3C is forward going

I do not see that a heart lead is natural. N has shown the A♦ and S A♥ If West has S Kxx H Qxx D Qxxx C xxx He may well figure that he can get it down if he can set up a 2nd trick, but he has no reason to prefer hearts to diamonds If we are really lucky he may decide to hope that one of the qs will come in if he makes a passive black suit lead :unsure:

Yes I am happy to open 1N with a weak NT and 5 card major, with a 15 count i would rebid 2N 3D can get us into looking for 3N and 4C is descriptive of my club suit but not my spades. I think 4♦ says "I am interested in slam in spades and I have the A♦"

My take in acol style 1S 2c 2S 4d 4H 4N 5S 6S opps have a choice of red suit leads or maybe even a trump. Notes 2S is a 6 card suit (if my response had been 2d this is not so clear) If West is sitting there with KQH and KS, well bridge can be cruel

The spade play does set alarm bells ringing. Why not lead the J and then small? Maybe he is looking to sneak through 2♠ tricks to go with his 2♥ tricks and 5♣ tricks S Jx H Ax D Kxxxx C AQxx Personally, I would rebid 1N but many would bid 2C (as a weak NT player I open 1N but I assume we are playing strong NT here) East has expressed some doubts about 3N. Although we can see 4♠ is cold and East should probably elect to bid 4♠ instead of 3N Alternatively, he has just misplayed spades and, if we hold up, he cannot enjoy his spades because his clubs are AQJT and he has only one entry left to dummy and he needs two I am going to take A♠ and play Q♦ EDIT. If West ducks, we can only take 3♦ tricks to go with A♠ So assuming partner has been honest, West could also be S Jx H Qx D AKxxx C AQxx Now we need to win A♠ and lead a ♥ back. This seems to be the only layout where 3N goes down, so at IMPs I guess we play for it. East's bidding was misguided and perhaps this is the only way to punish it

Not saying its the greatest, but for me 3♥ is michaels. 4N is STRONG weaker hands i will start with 3♦

Partner now knows you are 5 - 6 in the minors. Before he knew you were 4-5. If you had bid 4♣, presumably he could now rkcb for ♣ Back to the actual bidding. It seems likely that partner wanted to bid RKCB for clubs because he is missing the KQ. It seems like Easts bid has made it impossible to set the suit as clubs and force. Unless you have an agreement that an immediate 4♥ is rkcb in ♣ I see no solution except the random 3♥ force. I expect partner has Axxxx, KQxx(x),(x) , Axx and it seems like I want to be in 7♣, partner may even convert to 7N with the right hand

I too prefer Muiderberg. I find weak hands with 2 majors can be passed and can compete or raise p quite comfortably. It is rare to use pass and correct as even 2 card support is generally better played in the major. Including the possibility that hearts can be the 2nd suit just makes constructive follow ups too hard to manage. After 2N you can also use the structure 3m for a 4 card minor and 3M to show a 55 hand

Perfect example hand for S.O.S. redouble

No. I would prefer to bid [hv=d=n&v=0&b=1&a=2c2sdp3cp4cp4np5dp5n6d7cppp]133|100[/hv] If p does have xx, AKxxx, xxxxx, x Then[hv=d=n&v=0&b=1&a=2c2s3hp3np4dp4nppp]133|100[/hv] 3N is now OK because partner can bid a second suit if he has one, but he cannot have 3 suits Of course p may have xx Axxxx Kxxxx x in which case I hope he bids 5♦ over 4N and I can bid 6

Double is double negative? Change the methods. I think North is being very timid bidding 4N. We are told 3♥ is positive with an Ace and a King, if 4N is not forcing then bid 6N, presumably either the A or AK is in heart suit. As 3♥ is positive, then 3N seems a bit negative maybe 4♣ makes things easier. Part of the problem is that 2♣ openers has been downgraded in recent years and 4N looks like a warning that there is no source of extra tricks In short, 1) blame the methods, I would like to use double for a 3 suited positive. Partner can then go slamming or take the money 2) Blame North for bidding NT in preference to mentioning clubs

2N is a relay it cannot be passed, but to show a strong minor most play that you must bid at the 4 level to show the strong club option. We do not need to preempt opps when opening in 4th seat so 2♥ seems logical.

OK I have analysed the hands with a proper tool 4♥ is not making but neither is 3N making for East even with Kings swapped around I may have overstated it by saying no chance of game but it seems slim to me Maybe someone with a hand generator can work out how often EW have game compared to NS

[hv=pc=n&s=st853ht96dkt3c954&w=sqj64hqj2dj4ckjt3&n=sak97hak754d752c8&e=s2h83daq986caq762]399|300[/hv] This is a possible deal. There is no game for East West. If East passes South will pass and so I guess will West. For plus 110 to 170, depending on play in spades, to NS. If East bids 2N N S may well compete to 4H and East West can choose to defend and go for a probable 420 or 300 in 5Cx I agree that on this hand NS are unlikely to go all the way to 4H, but I think East will be shooting himself in the foot more often than not

IMHO This is a definite pass. We have no chance of a game our way. There is every chance they have game in hearts. Bidding will achieve one or both of two things. It will push opps to bid a making game that they otherwise would not bid and they will be able to place all the cards when declaring. I will keep quiet and hope to give them some bad news in the play.

This is a great hand to discuss with partner. If you agree East is correct to double, it follows that West does not have enough to bid 6. If East does not have enough to double then 6H from West may well be correct after East doubles with a better hand. Maybe the problem is that we are assuming West has no alternative to bidding the final contract immediately. How about a lebensohl style 4N? East bids 5♣ and West can pass or correct to play and with the given hand bid 5♥ immediately to show a good hand where 6 may be possible. Clearly this loses 4N to play but I can live with that. Another question for partner is how many defensive tricks do you guarantee when you double at the 4 level. For me the answer is 3.

I'm guessing the key is to duck the opening lead Now I've read the answer LOL I guess either West is the danger hand or there is no danger hand so the immediate heart finesse is the first try, if this loses you can still hope for a 33 split