Balancing problem

[Poky]

IMP. All vul.

 

♠98x

♥KJ8xx

♦AJx

♣Kx

 

1♠ pass pass ???

[whereagles]

2♥. I consider this a no-brainer ;)

[MickyB]

Ditto.

[jdonn]

2♥ is actually quite dangerous. I still go for it, but aware that going for a number wouldn't be THAT surprising.

[mikeh]

2♥: should be close to unanimous, dangerous tho it is, especially with that ♠ holding.

 

You cannot live in fear, and there are a host of hands on which you can reach and make game, another host on which playing a ♥ partscore is better than defending 1♠, and others on which your balance pushes a distributional opener into a contract too high to make, and so on.

 

As against that, you could be turning a small minus into a bigger one... but, you could get hit by a truck (lorry, to my British friends) crossing the street...

[whereagles]

I don't think 2♥ can get axed because no one is in position to double.

 

If LHO doubles it's take-out, in which case RHO's might not want to pass 'cos I'm over his honors.

 

If RHO doubles LHO can convert, but that requires RHO to act having seen pard passing to 2♥.

 

And besides, pard might be short in spades, increasing the chance he has some hearts.

[Joe de Balliol]

I initially thought 2H wtp then re-thought after Jdonn's post and I now think 2H, but not without the p.

 

J

[moysian]

I chose 2h, but can envision passing if late in the match and I need to catch up.

 

1. LHO could have opened with a monster and/or RHO could have made an unduly conservative pass. I'm on the verge of scoring a big plus, unless I open my mouth.

 

2. Oppo's at the other table are the excitable type who will shoot for every "red" game they can see - especially if overcaller's partner has 2 or 3 spade stoppers. We score by beating 1s a trick or two, while our partners collect on an unmakeable 3n.

 

3. Then of course, there is the scenario where RHO is weak, with a heart stack, and is praying for his partner's "takeout" double. Again, our partners will have just gotten rich, all we need do is not give it back.

[Double !]

My vote is to bid 2 hearts

 

There are too many hands that partner can have where it's our hand but partner was unable to act directly over 1 spade. Yeah, I guess there's a risk. Might go for penalty on a bad day, but also might win part score battle and might even have a game. Passing just seems to unilateral and passive to me: yes I see those 3 small spades. (I wonder if risking a 1NT balance could be a winning action. It could mislead partner in terms of my shape and where an important card or two might be located.) Show me partner's hand first and I'll then tell you what I think is the right bid. lolol

Oy.

 

DHL