SlickRicky

Hi, What's the rush? Start with 1D and see what develops. Ricky

Hi, I would pass. We know they don't have a big spade fit, and we know that there are some hearts behind us. I would be happy if partner passed our double, but more likely we are going to turn a plus (on defense vs 2S) into a minus (in 3D), and possibly a big minus at that. Even if we aren't doubled then -300 is quite possible. Ricky

Hi, I would just bid 3 at this vulnerability, color me yellow! Ricky

Hi, I think in this auction "CoG or spade slam try" is a vastly superior treatment, but I would not assume it undiscussed as it is not standard. That being said, you will often be 2-6 in the majors and not want to unilaterally bid 4 of either major. You will lose some ground on slam try auctions (especially if partner picks spades), but you will gain by getting to the right game more often (even when you dont bid 4C, your 4H bid will be a stronger statement for example, and partner won't have to guess whether or not to pull it as often). Ricky

Hi Phil, I do not agree with this part of your post. Partner will bid a 4 card heart suit in preference to both NT with a stopper, and in preference to a 4 card club suit. Given the opponent's silence, partner will almost always have 3 spades, and often will have 4 spades. With 3433, 3423, 4423 4432 he will almost always bid 2H regardless of whether he has a spade stopper or not. Additionally, with 5 spades and 4 hearts and a hand that cannot pass the double he will also bid 2H most of the time. Also, the more spades partner has on average, the less likely he will be to have a 5 card heart suit. Basically I think that Xing and passing is very likely to get you to a 4-2 heart fit, and partner's failure to bid NT is not much of an inference about his heart length at all. I also think that when we have a hand that is both this strong and has this much spade length it is very unlikely that partner has a hand that can pass 1S X. Possible, sure, but unlikely. The frequency of this upside (a pass of 1S X) is too low in relation to the frequency that we get to a 4-2 heart fit to justify taking this plan IMO. Ricky

Hi, I think passing this hand is ridiculous. However, it would be more ridiculous to force to game after partner has made the minimum bid every chance he has had. Forcing to game now would be a gross violation of discipline; if you do that then you really need to open this hand. Ricky

Hi, I would bid 6D, I have a very nice hand for this auction so far. Ricky

Hi Han, Partner jumping to 4S seems really unusual over 1N-2H-2S-3H. Why wouldn't he just bid 3S to set spades and allow cuebidding? To be honest I think the auction should be impossible (or have some very tight definition that I don't know of). I would guess at the table partner is trying to do some kind of fast arrival with a terrible hand for the majors, so I would pass. Had partner instead bid 3S, I would have cuebid 4C, and over the expected 4D I would bid 4H. If partner signs off over this I will move again (I don't need much) with 5C, and after that I will give up (partner should know good trumps are huge in this auction). On hand 3 I would start with XX and plan to later bid spades. This should not put too much emphasis on my spades (I hope). Ricky

Hi, Playing double as support after 1D 1H X 2H is silly, it is just a takeout double and promises extra values (possibly in the form of distribution). I do like playing support doubles after 1D 1H 1S 2H to distinguish between a 3 and 4 card raise immediately; it can help partner determine whether to game try or not as well as help with competitive decisions. No idea if it is standard to play them in that situation or not though. Ricky

Hi all, I would like to go back to the previous round of bidding and double! Now I will also double, but I am less happy doing it now than last round. Ricky

Hi Frances, I would contend that most of the time when RHO has bid 2N natural with 5-5 in the majors, and LHO has raised to 3N thinking it was something else, RHO would at the very least look uncomfortable or make a face. This is especially true of an RHO who thought to pull 3N. Since they "gave it away" at the table by pulling, you cannot give them the benefit of having a perfect poker face. Add to that the fact that their 2N bid does not make sense with any possible hand (4-5 in the majors and just Kx of diamonds is not a 2N bid), the defender should get the benefit of figuring out what had happened which he was robbed of by the offending side. Ricky

Hi, South had an easy game bid on this auction, but north should have at least cooperated by bidding 3C with such a good spade holding. They both made serious errors IMO. Ricky

Hi Han, Hand 1 seems like an obvious Michaels bid at these colors. I hope to find a cheap sacrifice or to be able to compete in clubs. I play Michaels as weak or strong, and this qualifies as weak for me! Hand 2 obviously depends some on agreements, I will admit that my agreements do not allow me to show 5-6 immediately. I would have to start wtih 2H then 3H over 2S showing a 5-5+ GF. Not ideal, but it does not preclude 5-6 the way I play it. Hand 3 is strong enough in playing strength to start with a double, but I prefer to overcall 2C with a hand like this as I have a stiff heart. The auction can time out better this way. Hand 4 I would always lead the CK, sure they probably have a club control but everything else is speculative and maybe I can just sit back and get 2 tricks with bad splits for declarer. Ricky

Hi Phil, That is true, but on this hand RHO played the jack, and that was after LHO had played the ten. So if LHO had QTx they did not have a "free" falsecard. Ricky

Hi, Playing a spade would be very poor as the opponents have 5 tricks to cash if they can figure it out -- 4 spades and 1 diamond. They will have communication to do this since spades are 5-4. As far as which AK to cash, I am willing to make the inference that RHO is not 4-4-4-1 since he chose not to bid at least 3H p/c. I am also willing to make the inference that LHO would not preempt with 5-4 in the majors. This makes hearts 3-3 so we have a full count, RHO is 4342, LHO is 5323. This means the HQ will never drop. The percentage play now is AK of clubs (40 %), and falling back on the heart finesse (50 %) for a 70% chance of success. This beats the alternative line, playing LHO for the CQ, which is 60 %. What happens if I made faulty assumptions? Well if LHO can have 5422 for a multi then this line is still best. Ricky

Hi, I prefer passing this only because of the vulnerability and form of scoring. I think bidding risks getting too high and going -200 on a partscore hand. Ricky