Style Question

[pclayton]

You are dealer in playing a long match at are white / red and look at:

 

[hv=d=s&v=e&s=sxxhxxdakqjxxcxxx]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

You play a basic 5 card majors system with weak 2's and a gambling 3N.

 

What is your opening call?

[gwnn]

Hard one.... 3D, but I'm far from sure... Our preempts are random etc so it's not necessary a good idea... Ooo...

[Cascade]

At these colours my pre-empts are rubbish so I have to open 1♦ or pass and I cannot bring my self to pass.

[Guest Jlall]

2D red/white 3D equal vul, 1D white/red.

[Winstonm]

At these colors at imps the advantage lies in screwing the opps out of game over bidding our own game. This hand has a lot of potential tricks if we were vulnerable, and 3N could be easily made; however, a NV 3N is not so important as keeping the opps from bidding and making a vul game.

 

At NV/NV I would open 2D.

Vul I would pass.

NV vs Vul I open 3D

[whereagles]

2♦, followed by 2NT if opps butt-in (3NT if necessary, but only if pard makes some noises).

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

the hand would be perfect for a 2D bid,

red vs. green.

At any other vulnerability I open 3D,

knowing, that I am a bit to trong for

in case the vul. is green vs. red.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[matmat]

so i suck. I'm the only pass out there... too good to preempt and p will take me for a much better hand if i open...

[pclayton]

so i suck. I'm the only pass out there... too good to preempt and p will take me for a much better hand if i open...

I don't think pass is bad at all. 3♦ rates to keep you out of 3N more often than not. 1♦ is OK, but the hand looks like a preempt. 2♦ is OK too, although its a heavy preempt at these colors.

 

This hand 'looks' like an overcall, if you don't want to open.

[pbleighton]

1D in the first and second seats, 3D in the third, 2D in the fourth.

 

Peter

[mike777]

I think my experts partners open 1d

 

 

 

I open pass. They have taught me to never preempt with this hand.

[ohioply]

i pass and overcall later -- too strong for 2!d don't like 3!d and too weak for 1!d

[the hog]

i pass and overcall later -- too strong for 2!d don't like 3!d and too weak for 1!d

With all due respects, this is a total contradiction. I open 1D.

[SteelWheel]

One point that I find to be interesting in this discussion, is that some hold this hand to be too strong for an opening preempt (either on the 2- or 3-level), yet too weak to be opened on the one-level. I find this rather hard to swallow. Maybe there are some good partnerships out there who can sort this kind of thing out, and figure out which hands are "pass"-ers and have them fit in between, in a spectrum which runs from preempts through "pass", and then onto values good enough for an opening one-bid.

 

For myself, I could never see playing this way. Depending upon one's opening bid style, this has to be either a one-bid or a preempt of some kind.

 

In my youth, I probably would have opened this hand 1♦. Nowadays, when I play seriously, my tendencies are probably somewhat close to what I believe are referred to as "Trent Two-bids". So this would be a clear 2♦ bid, playing that approach. Opening with a three-bid just seems a little too far out there, especially since I have no particular reason to think that my opponents have a good fit in the majors. If you gave me a stiff or a void in one of the majors, I might have more sympathy for that call.

[hotShot]

If I pass, opps will easily bid something like 1M ... 2M and I have to enter with 3♦.

If I pass and opps bid 1M .... 3M, than we are out of this game.

If I have 6♦ maybe someone has 6M's.

Would i like to hear 2M from opps or partner? Can i show my color over a 2M preempt?

 

So I bid 3♦, partner will find 3NT if he's strong and stops the side suits. If opps have 4/6M they will have a hard time getting their act together after 3♦.

[han]

A pro once had this exact hand against me. He opened 1D and became dummy in 3NT. When he tabled his hand his partner complained "Partner, you have only 10 points." The pro: "I have 6 tricks!?!". Client: "whatever". Pro: "What do you want me to do with this hand, you want me to pass with 6 tricks? Is that what you want?".

 

They went on like that for a while. I think that pass with this hand is crazy, and I echo Justin's bids.

[cherdano]

I think this hand is not so difficult, as long as you don't pass or make a off-strength preempt (2♦ at white vs red e.g...) you can come close to describing your hand.

 

What I find a lot more difficult are hands that have a bad 6-card suit and some random quacky 10 hcp. Too defensive to open a weak 2, not good enough for a one-level opening, but you will often fail to convince partner there is game after you pass. I have definitely gotten bad results from all 3 possible actions.

[Guest Jlall]

What I find a lot more difficult are hands that have a bad 6-card suit and some random quacky 10 hcp. Too defensive to open a weak 2, not good enough for a one-level opening, but you will often fail to convince partner there is game after you pass. I have definitely gotten bad results from all 3 possible actions.

and if you pass and partner has the audacity to bid, you can never bid your suit because every single bid ever made by a passed hand is fit showing obviously. B)

[Winstonm]

I have come up with a radical new idea - every bid made that is not a direct raise or a delayed raise is a fit-denying bid.

 

Surely too radical for this stuffy bunch. :)

[coyot]

I'll probably get a lot of laughs here, but I pass.

 

1) Too good for 1#2 preempt

2) No shape outside diamonds

3) If player opens, I can bid 3NT and he'll get the general idea <_<

4) If opponents open, odds are that they end up in a lousy notrump contract :). Half of the time I'll be in the position to go for +200 easily, other half of the time there's at least a possibility to double 3NT if that makes partner lead the right suit, plus if my LHO is the strong one, odds are that partner could get in just once with his 4-6HCP and by that time see what is the right suit to lead, +300

 

More for no. 3) - I don't want to play 3NT unless my partner has anything like a full opener. I need three sure and reasonably quick tricks from him - and it's unlikely that he would have them if he fails to find a bid.

[helene_t]

Why doesn't anybody open 3NT? This is a textbook hand. OK, I would like one more diamond. But I have to preempt at these colors in first seat.

[bid_em_up]

Why doesn't anybody open 3NT? This is a textbook hand. OK, I would like one more diamond. But I have to preempt at these colors in first seat.

My partner did open it 3N last nite. Ok, not quite the same hand but close enough (same suit, different hand pattern). I would too.

 

Opening 3♦ is incorrect, imo. Partner will never play you for a solid suit after a 2♦/3♦ openingi, and is unlikely to bid 3N, since he CANNOT have a filling diamond honor which might make him bid 3N himself. If you're going to preempt at favorable, you may as well put as much pressure on as possible, imo.

[MickyB]

I open 1♦, but I don't mind 3♦.

[MickyB]

What I find a lot more difficult are hands that have a bad 6-card suit and some random quacky 10 hcp. Too defensive to open a weak 2, not good enough for a one-level opening, but you will often fail to convince partner there is game after you pass. I have definitely gotten bad results from all 3 possible actions.

My style on these hands has changed recently. If I would open a preempt with a card fewer in my long suit but a more offensive honour structure, I make said preempt; If not, I'm happy to not show my suit unless I have a partial fit for partner.

 

Kxx Axxxxxx Tx Q

Vul at MPs, I opened this 2♥.

 

QJx JTxxxx xx Ax

2nd seat, both vul, IMPs, I passed this - partly because the alternative was a mini-multi (meaning that pard can't bid a natural 2♠), but I'd still have passed it if a weak two had been available. If pard opens 1♠ (4+cards, may be 4♠5m if minimum) I'd bid 2♥ (3♠5+♥ NF). Add a couple of points outside hearts and I'll do the same thing.

 

Obviously this isn't perfect, for example we might miss 3NT when we don't realise the value of ♦ AKxx opposite xxxxxx, but I think it works well.

[mr1303]

1D. Nothing else occurred to me in 1st or 2nd seat.