Wisdom of the Crowds?

[gwnn]

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=skqt754h7dat4c984&w=sa3hj8432d985ca53&e=shakq9dkj7cqjt762&s=sj9862ht65dq632ck]399|300|Scoring: MP[/hv]

 

Looks like 3 tables out of 5 tried

2♠-X-4♠-X

all pass

 

1 South tried 3♥ over 2♠-3♣-?, eventually leading opps into the making 6♥ contract.

 

1 North tried 1♠ opener, eventually leading into the same suboptimal (from EW p.o.v.) 4♠X-1 contract.

 

What are your thoughts on this board? I think it's pretty interesting.

[Cascade]

Unless the double of 4♠ is a unilateral penalty double then East does not have anything like a pass of 4♠X.

[hrothgar]

I think it would have been better to post the West hand as a blind bidding poll following

 

(2♠) - X - (4♠)

 

The first three bids all look very normal. The most interesting question would seem to be the correct call by West after this start.

 

Its hard to think objectively about this hand when you get to see everything double dummy. I'll note in passing that if you swap the Ace of Clubs into Diamonds then 6♥ has not play (hell, 5 looks to go down)

 

Personally, I think that 4♠X is looking reasonable

[awm]

I was the lone 3♣ bidder here. I've found that on hands like this one, with a void in spades, a six card suit, and not all that many defensive tricks, doubling often doesn't work out well. Partner too often converts when the opponents have an eight-card fit, we too often miss good game/slam contracts in clubs, and so forth. If the 3♣ bid ends the auction, it could well be for the best (i.e. better than 2♠X making or playing a 4-3 diamond fit). If 3♣ doesn't end the auction, I'm often well placed to double a spade raise later on, or bid strongly over a red suit call by partner.

[cherdano]

I was West and thought the double of 4♠ is 100% clear on this auction. This is a responsive double not a penalty double. I agree with Wayne that East shouldn't pass this.

[Guest Jlall]

west has an easy X and east has an easy pull.

[ArtK78]

Funny, I don't think East's pull of 4♠x is so clear at all.

 

Most of the time, West will not have a heart fit with East for this double (and certainly not a 5 card heart fit). The 4♠ bid did not require such a huge fit, and West's spade holding could be a lot better than Ax. 4♠x could be going down 2 tricks for 500 against a nonvul game.

 

This is matchpoints. I wouldn't be so quick to pull the double to 5♣. North-South might have been too aggressive on the auction, and got caught.

 

As for slam, that is a little lucky. Even a 5-level contract is in jeopardy if the ♣K is offside.

[helene_t]

I passed p's double in the auction

1♠-dbl-2♠-3♥

pass-4♥-4♠-dbl

 

Obviously not the winning choice and I tend to think it was the wrong choice in prospects as well. My thought was that 500 would be ok at matchpoints but of course p also knows that and would therefore double with some hands that would have bid 5♥ or some such at other vulnerabilities.

[Fluffy]

At my table I think the guy who doubled 2♠ though the double of 4♠ was penalty, lack of agreements/trust on an indy is natural.

[Codo]

I would expect another hand then 2533 for a responsive double of 2 Spade.

Looks silly to me, so I had blamed north for not bidding 5 Heart. He can see from his hand that South bid on shape not on strength, so his hand should be good enough for this.