brianshark Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Add a king to the heart suit and it becomes a minimum weak 2 (playing normal weak 2 / pre-empt style). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeh Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Doesn't some SO's require 3 HCP for an opening? Not mine.(What a silly rule)Marty Bergen used to wreak havoc when playing pro in the 1980s (I think.. it may have been earlier) by opening weak two bids on hands that make one shudder. He was often playing on teams with a weak sponsor, so I guess he felt the need to shake things up. Jxxxx was not uncommon and I think I saw one hand in the BW where he did it on Jxxx. This disturbed the powers that be.. presumably they felt that he was making a mockery of the game. And it wasn't easy to penalize these flights of fancy, because often times BOTH opponents had length and strength in his suit, so neither could double for takeout, and have it converted. This gave rise to the Marty Bergen Rule: the ACBL stipulated that it was illegal to open a weak two bid without at least 5 hcp and at least 5 cards in the suit. I have always been impressed by this: one player, all by himself, got a major rule change designed to prevent him playing his game the way he wanted to. BTW, he was not hiding anything... all players at the table knew his methods, and he did this at the highest levels, so he wasn't out rabbit-hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo81 Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 On paper it's too weak, but there are certainly situations where I'd do it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pclayton Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Doesn't some SO's require 3 HCP for an opening? Crap, I have to pass J-T-10th and out. Otherwise Memphis will send me to that gulag in Lima..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P_Marlowe Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Hi, No. Make it green vs. red and we may start talking,although it is still to weak, make it 3rd seat and I may be willing to reconsider as well. With kind regardsMarlowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awm Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 It may be worth mentioning that while everything Mikeh said about Marty Bergen and the "5 and 5" rule was true at the time, this rule has not been in effect in ACBL for a number of years. There are still some restrictions against four-card weak two bids and weak two bids with a very wide range (generally the follow-up methods are restricted, not the openings) but a weak two with a range of 4-10 or 3-9 is totally legal by today's rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerry Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 wouldnt hesitate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
han Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 I would pass. I would happily open if our agreement was to open very weak weak 2's though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y66 Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Playing wide-ranging preempts, I would not feel compelled to open this 2H. Would prolly do it most times tho. Give me 2QT9832325432 and I would be compelled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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