its the judgement stupid

[cherdano]

Two hands from a social bridge night today. Assume IMPs, noone vulnerable. In case it matters, partner is advanced and tends to be somewhat aggressive (but not unreasonable), RHO is intermediate, and LHO is me.

 

1. x AQ98x K109x Jxx, LHO dealer.

(1♣)-X-(P)-?

 

2. KQxx K10xx Q10xx 9, you deal

P-(P)-1♦-(1♥)

X-(4♥)-5♦-(P)

?

[helene_t]

1. With an aggresive p, 2♥ is enough. Probably also with a less agressive p.

 

2. Pass. The fact that partner opened in 3rd seat makes me consider 6♦ since p, with 7+ diamonds, a void in hearts and no 4-card spades, might have opened 5♦ with a non-slamish hand. So 5♦ is probably more to make than a save. But still .... I have zero keycards and a king opposite p's void.

[whereagles]

1. 4♥, wtp?

 

2. Pass. Lack of aces.

[hotShot]

1. 2♥ should be enough 4 now, if partner has vasted values in ♠ we won't make 4♥. So let's save us some bidding space.

 

2. 6♦

Partner has 3-♠, 1- ♥ and 9+ cards in the minors. I don't think he has more than 3♣. This leaves him with 6-7♦ and a hand to strong for a 3♦ opening.

ABx - AKxxxxx xxx or Bxx - AKxxxx Axx are good enough for 6♦.

[flytoox]

1. 4H. 2H would be too conservative.

2. Pass.

[pbleighton]

2H, probable wastage in spades makes me avoid 4.

 

Pass, no keycards, 5D may not make.

 

Peter

[keylime]

1. 4♥. The lead and position of the opener should give you an extra trick or 2.

 

2. Pass. No aces means no dice.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

#1 3H, but 4H is ok as well

#2 Pass, 6D may well be on, but no way to find out,

take your plus score

What would 4NT by partner have been?

2 places to play or strong one suiter?

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[mcphee]

I think for hand 1 this is powerful opposite short clubs, especially when there is 4 card trump support. If 2C sounds like a good hand I have one.

 

Aggressive action has put both pard and I under the gun and I have no doubts 6 may not make, but I got what pard needs and raise.

[dake50]

1. 2H ---want to GF cue, but spades will get in the way. Hope 2H finds raise since I have a ton in the tank still.

 

2. 6D: monster in support of long D, AND partner bid in front of me --he cannot need 2A for slam.

[inquiry]

1. 2♥-- this is almost a maximum for this bid

 

2. This one is tough.. ♥K will be a big disappointment, and i have no aces, but i do have great fit and controls in both black suits. Partner can hardly have less than 7 or 8 diamonds to the AK and at least one black ACE if he bid to to make, but he might be taking a save. Since you characterized parter as aggressive, i will pass.

[hrothgar]

I like 2♥ on the first hand.

 

Not that partner made a takeout double and RHO wasn't able to find a club raise. This suggests that partner may have made an offshape double. He could have a NT oriented hand that was too strong for a direct seat NT overcall. Alternatively, my own Spade shortness suggests that he could very well have a strong single suited hand with Spades. Blasting to 4♥ on a five card sut to the AQ could easily result in our playing in the wrong strain. Anyone who choses at 4♥ bid is going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do if partner tables 0-2 Hearts.

[hrothgar]

Hand 2:

 

Why did I chose a negative double with a stiff club and 4 card Heart support?

I think that a 1♠ bid is a lot better description.

 

I'm going to bid 6♦. Partner has a single suited hand with a lot of Diamonds.

There has to be some reason why he didn't make a third seat preempt. I suspect that he chose a 1♦ bid because his hand is too good.

 

I admit that I'm gambling here, but 6♦ smells right

[whereagles]

Anyone who choses at 4♥ bid is going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do if partner tables 0-2 Hearts.

huh? With 10 hcp myself I can hardly believe pard will have 18+ hcp for an off-shape double. 3 hearts are guaranteed if pard plays by the books.

[hrothgar]

Anyone who choses at 4♥ bid is going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do if partner tables 0-2 Hearts.

huh? With 10 hcp myself I can hardly believe pard will have 18+ hcp for an off-shape double. 3 hearts are guaranteed if pard plays by the books.

There's a lot of different books out there and standardards for doubles vary dramatically between countries.

 

Lets leave it at that.

[Blofeld]

4♥ and pass.

[pclayton]

1. I'm not bidding 2♥. This hand has a great suit opposite know support, and no club wastage. Stiff spade is a turnoff? A little, but pard's spades may be pitches for my diamonds or v.v.

 

I'm fine with either 2♣ (to let pard get the spade bids off his chest) or 4♥.

 

2. Dunno. This is one of those situations where pard is bidding to save: xx, void, AKJxxxx, Kxxx or to make (add a black ace). I can't tell which so I'll just pass.

[HeartA]

4♥ is an impossible bit, and 3♥ is a weak hand with 7+ hearts. That left me two choices: 2♥ and 2♣. With 5th H and 10 count, I would force to game. If pd supports my ♥, 4♥ should be no problem. And if pd doesn't have support for ♥, which means he has more than 17+ HCPs, I would bid game as well.

 

As for 2), that's tough. I think I would pass.

[neilkaz]

1) Very close between 2♥ and 2♣ which I play as GF. I will go with 2♥ so as not to hang PD for competing aggressively. My Jxx in ♣ aren't pretty and I don't know what PD has wasted in ♠ or what ♥ honors sit over me. Opposite a cautious PD I force game.

 

That being said, I can see why many just blast to 4♥, but if you want to force game, how much is really lost by catering to the chance PD felt his possible ♠ overcall was a bit too good to overcall ?

 

As for a 3♥ jump most play that as preemptive in nature rather than extremely invitational (which is what I hold)

 

2) Again very tough. PD is 99% likely to be void in ♥. The first opp failed to open. Even opposite an aggressive PD I think 6♦ is a slight favorite so I bid it and will whack 6♥ into the next galaxy.

[the hog]

2C on the first hand, followed by a Hs at the appropriate forcing level. I am bidding game here.

 

Pass on the second hand.

[bid_em_up]

#1. 4♥

 

#2. 6♦

[pclayton]

Just curious. For those that cue and bid ♥'s, or just bid 2♥, what kind of hand do you think shows a 4♥ call?

[hrothgar]

Just curious. For those that cue and bid ♥'s, or just bid 2♥, what kind of hand do you think shows a 4♥ call?

This is one of those questions where a Bridge Browser study would be useful. I'd be interested to see a set of representative hands where the auction started

 

(1m) - X - (P) - 4M

 

Personally, I think that there are two reasonable ways to treat a 4M bid. (I don't think that you can combine the two hand types)

 

1. Advancer holds a single suited hand and scattered values.

 

♠ Qx

♥ KJT963

♦ Kxx

♣ xx

 

This hand will play well in 4♥ opposite either a takeout double or a Strong NT oriented hand. Hearts is still probably going to be the best place to play if partner produces a stiff honor. (Type 1 is is my preferred interpretation)

 

2. Advancer holds a good hand with 4-5 hearts and has good reason to believe that the doubler has a takeout oriented hand

 

♠ Kx

♥ KQT73

♦ Kx

♣ Qxxx

 

For me, the difference between this hand and the one in the original hand is the Spade length. I think that its much more likely that partner has a strong single suited hand with Spades with the original hand than opposite this type of holding.

 

Here I'd prefer to start with a 2♣ cue bid.

[awm]

I'd bid only 2♥ on the first hand and pass on the second.

 

For the first hand, I'm not convinced that this makes game opposite a minimum takeout double. For example:

 

KQxx Kxx Axxx xx

 

We might make 4♥, but we need the spade ace onside and a heart break. This is a normal minimum takeout double.

 

AKxx Kxx Qxxx xx

 

Here we need diamonds 3-2 with the ace falling doubleton (and we guess right which hand has ace) as well as a heart break.

 

KQxx KJxx Jxxx x

 

Here it will be hard to avoid losing two diamonds and one in each black suit.

 

Maybe my standards for takeout doubles are lower than most peoples? But I see a lot of people making off-shape doubles and weaker doubles than these hands.

 

On the second hand we could easily be making 6♦, but 5♦ could be bid as a save. Keeping in mind that the ♥K will be worthless for us and that partner has a right to expect some values for my takeout double, I don't think my hand is all that much better than average. Surely I could have another club or two and fewer diamonds (KQxx xxxx Qx xxx or something) but it's not clear how much of an asset my club singleton will necessarily be.

 

-----------

 

As for a 4♥ bid over a takeout double, I prefer this to be an intermediate sort of hand with six hearts (okay at least jumping to the four-level over a one-level takeout double). The main issues:

 

(1) If partner has extras and I have a values 4♥ bid, we could easily have slam. But jumping so high takes up all the space and makes it hard to investigate.

 

(2) I can't really imagine what else I would bid with six-plus hearts and an intermediate hand, since I really don't want to miss game, but if I bid 4♥ on both hands it's even harder for partner to figure out when to bid on.

 

(3) There is always a chance that partner has some off-shape double. It's annoying to try to investigate strain at the four-level. So my 4♥ bid should guarantee that hearts are a reasonable place to play if partner has some big hand without a lot of hearts.

[HeartA]

Just curious. For those that cue and bid ♥'s, or just bid 2♥, what kind of hand do you think shows a 4♥ call?

For me, 4♥ is not an option at all circumtances.

 

(1) If partner has extras and I have a values 4♥ bid, we could easily have slam. But jumping so high takes up all the space and makes it hard to investigate.

 

(2) I can't really imagine what else I would bid with six-plus hearts and an intermediate hand, since I really don't want to miss game, but if I bid 4♥ on both hands it's even harder for partner to figure out when to bid on.

 

(3) There is always a chance that partner has some off-shape double. It's annoying to try to investigate strain at the four-level. So my 4♥ bid should guarantee that hearts are a reasonable place to play if partner has some big hand without a lot of hearts.

(1) Agree.

(2) You seem to contradict your first point. With 6 hearts and intermediate hand, it is equivalent to a "values 4♥" hand. I would start with 2♣ and listen to what pd has. Then I could emphasize my heart twice if necessary to show good hand and long hearts.

(3) If pd has a big hand without a lot of hearts, I will get the information by starting with 2C bid easily without wasting so much space.