How do you handle the 6-6

[Hanoi5]

♠Q

♥AK9xxx

♦KTxxxx

♣Void

 

1♥ - 2♥

???

[jillybean]

SPLINTER!

[JLOL]

Bid game

[awm]

I'd just bid game.

 

It is true that you can construct hands where slam makes. Against this:

 

(1) Sometimes trying for slam gets you too high; give partner ♠KJx ♥Qxxx ♦Qxx ♣xxx and it will be hard to stop in 4♥ after a 4♣ splinter. Things get even worse if some of partner's points are the club ace.

 

(2) It is strange that opponents are not bidding, given that they seem to have half the high card points. This greatly increases the odds that partner has length/values in the black suits (else why did the opponents not bid spades) and makes the slam hands even less likely.

 

(3) Splintering can help the opponents find a black-suit sacrifice (which they almost surely have) or find a better lead (say partner has the awful ♠JTxx ♥xxx ♦xxx ♣AKx and 4♥ might even fail, but your chances are a lot better on a club lead which is a lot more likely if you don't splinter in clubs).

[mikeh]

Bid game.. read adam's post about the opps' silence.. how likely is it that partner has only a single raise, and that we can make slam, and that neither opp has a bid?

 

Partner's high cards are in the blacks... he may well be short in diamonds, but he probably has only 3 trumps, so you probably can't bring the suit in anyway.

 

BTW, I really, really don't like the idea that a jump is a splinter. My preference is that it should be natural... promising 10+ cards in the 2-suits, good quality suits, and slam interest.

 

Ax AKJxx AKJxx x... ideal for 1♥ 2♥ 4♦. A splinter won't tell partner that Qx(x) in diamonds is wonderful.

[kenrexford]

Yep, be practical when the opponents seem to have boss trumps but do not know that yet. When 6♥ makes, you probably have one heart trick and one diamond trick on defense. Heck, if 6♥ makes, 6♠ might make.

[Echognome]

BTW, I really, really don't like the idea that a jump is a splinter. My preference is that it should be natural... promising 10+ cards in the 2-suits, good quality suits, and slam interest.

 

Ax AKJxx AKJxx x... ideal for 1♥ 2♥ 4♦. A splinter won't tell partner that Qx(x) in diamonds is wonderful.

Well most pairs will have a repertoire of long suit/short suit/help suit game tries and you can obviously define 3♦ and then 4♦ as having some meaning. I like have the direct jump shift here also meaning natural.

 

However, it's a bit unfair saying that 1♥ - 2♥; 4♦ won't tell him that Qxx in diamonds is wonderful, as the sequence 1♥ - 2♥; 4♣ (splinter) will tell him that xxx in clubs is wonderful. So with Kxxx Qxxx Qx xxx, he should still value his hand accordingly, as long as both meanings show the same general strength. Alternatively, if you held Axx AKJxx AKJx x, you could no longer bid 4♦, so would have to choose another route. Presumably the splinter bid would cover both. That means the splinter is both more frequent and less precise.

[keylime]

Bid the most quiet game known to man. I will pay pard for 4-3-1-5 shape and therefore punishing any shape-based slam try I have. 4♥, and hope someone is not sandbagging.

[mtvesuvius]

Game, which will be the final contract. If my opponent backs in with 4♠, now I bid 5♦.