quiddity

I didn't notice that the scoring was imps - the mention of the club made me think it was matchpoints. How should I go about estimating imp odds at the table for a problem like this? It looks like bidding can gain a lot when partner has 3 hearts and will tend to lose a smaller amount when partner has 1-2 hearts. I guess the other call to consider is double, which has a good chance of gaining 300 whenever partner holds either black singleton.

I'd pass. If partner has a black singleton we're beating 5H. Otherwise we'll get at most 1 heart ruff and 6D-X might go for 500. I won't play partner for 8 diamond tricks for a w/r preempt.

Voluntary acceptance of a transfer suggests 3 trumps. I don't think an explicit agreement is required to infer real spade support. Partner's 6D bid is interesting - surely he has a good hand, but he couldn't find a 5-level cuebid? Maybe he's 5152 or 6151 with solid diamonds.

lol. The spot cards were a subtle clue that I'm holding the hand record. It's board 9 from Thursday night. Advancer was 3=3=4=3.

No, I don't think so. Quite possibly I have hearts and clubs on this auction. Why would partner unilaterally sign us up for a 4-3 spade fit or a 3-level diamond contract? He already showed a diamond suit and values, and he trusts us to work out the spades and do something intelligent. I think it's far more likely for partner to hold 4 spades - he did not choose another bid, he chose to pass. LHO chose another bid (2H) instead of showing spades.

Probably parter - LHO showed clubs and hearts, RHO might have bid 1S instead of 1NT with 4 spades.

BTW, the pass by east in the OP was pretty sick (if that's actually what happened). I'm pretty sure I held that hand and raised diamonds immediately.

[hv=d=w&v=n&n=st653hakj97d7cat9&w=saq74ht64dak54c32&e=skjhq3dt983cqj765&s=s982h852dqj62ck84]399|300|Scoring: MP[/hv]

LHO ran from 1NT and bid 2H instead of reopening with a double. I would guess he's more likely 3406.

*shrug* - 2♣ for me. If we have a game I hope I'll get another bid. And it's certainly possible that a club partial is our best spot.

This is a fairly straightforward comparison. You have pulled two rounds of trump, RHO showing out on the second round, and you have to decide whether to pull a third round (line 1) or go after clubs (line 2). If clubs are 3-3, both lines make. If clubs are 4-2, line 1 goes for -50. Line 2 makes for +980. This will swing a full matchpoint against each pair who stopped in game. If clubs are 5-1, line 1 goes for -50. Line 2 goes for -100. This will not swing any points against pairs who stopped in game. Since case 2 is the most likely and it involves a larger matchpoint swing, you should choose line 2.

3H stopper ask certainly beats my braindead "double and bid clubs" approach, but 3NT seems pretty unlikely to succeed. Partner's usual range is 0-5 or something? If she can stop hearts, how likely is it that she can stop spades as well? And how likely is it that the opponents will lead anything other than a spade against 3NT on this bidding? Or are you trying for 3NT with the expectation that it might go down but might be a good sacrifice against the opponent's game? If the opps double 3N, are you running to 4C or are you sitting, hoping that it will increase the chance of a diamond lead?

[hv=d=w&v=e&s=s92ht5dakcakqj872]133|100|Scoring: MP 1♦ P 1♥ ?[/hv]

I don't see how this double could ever be penalty. The opps have a 9 card fit and partner says he has a no-trump stopper. It must be far more useful to have double show extra values - exactly the kind of hand South has. North can then decide to pass, bid 3N, or explore a minor suit contract based on his spade holding and the vulnerability. And yes, it seems pretty weird to open the South hand 1NT.

I guess I would double to show spades, and then bid 2H over RHO's 2D.

Yeah, sorry, I didn't read the full OP.

I don't understand the replies. Why does partner's single-raise of our 5+ card suit show 5+ card trump support?

What? 5 clubs to the ace? any hand with 5 hearts? any hand with any 6 card suit? 1444 with a red king and the club J?

Is it really so clear to pass the second time? Partner needs next to nothing to make 3H or 3C a decent spot.

Han also suggested the immediate raise of 3C to 4C in that auction - I don't like it. If opener takes the slow route I think she should bid 3H to get more information about responder's hand.

It's a bit comical that both partners preferred to bid NT rather than show HHTxxx.

I think that after the 2C bid, the AJ should be an indication to South to keep the bidding low. Showing a top honor in partner's 2/1 suit might be more important than showing general strength. And it is not clear that spades are a better spot than clubs. After 1♠-2♣; 2♠-3♣; 3♥-3♠ it seems to me that opener is better placed. She knows the club suit is real, and she knows the spade support is real. edit: to be honest, though, I'm not sure how the auction should continue from that point.

Lawrence's 2/1 CD suggests two possible styles for the jump rebid - a solid suit (AKQxxxx or AKQTxx), or a "semi-solid" suit (AKJTxx, AQJTxx, KQJTxx, AQJ9xxx). He thinks these suits are ok because rkc can keep you from getting too high. With AQJxxx you might expect 2 losers opposite a singleton, so I agree that it's pushing things to jump rebid with that suit.

It's easy as long as LHO plays low to the first diamond. But what if he plays the J or T?

Actually, never mind - you gave all the higher trump spots so I guess the x in dummy must be very small. Is there any way a trump lead could be required here? Even if South holds x KQT9xxx A xxxx, I don't think a trump lead helps because the defenders get squeezed.