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What do you open?


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1.

 

Treat the hand as a 13 count (maybe even a 12 count).

 

One of the reasons for opening most 15, 16 and 17 counts 1NT is that they are difficult to bid if you open them one of a suit. This hand has no such problem. After opening 1 you have an easy 1 rebid. With all of the quackiness in the red suits, no one would accuse you of underbidding the hand.

 

Now, if you had this hand:

 

QJxx AK Ax QTxxx

 

1NT would make a lot more sense.

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To think my partner will hold the cards to improve both my Qx and my QJ is wishful thinking - although for him to hold Kx(x) in one of the two suits is reasonable. Therefore, my hand is worth around 13-14 unless I get really lucky or really unlucky. AK, A is good but 4522 pretty much sucks as does not holding the Qs and Js in with my longer suits.

 

1C is automatic to me. I think 1N an overbid even if playing 14-16.

 

Your opinion and mileage may vary. :(

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1N for me too - if I were to ever play 2/1!

 

There was a time when people were taught to have stoppers for 1N openers - I thought that got dropped about the time the ark hit dry land. It is true that we could end in 3N with an embarassing lack of control in one of the red suits - but the same might happen in a suit contract - and the same might happen to slightly more normal 1N openers too. If we waited for guarantees people would require 8 playing tricks for a preempt!

 

Nick

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Some years ago, I played in a few events with a partner who was new to me but someone I knew had heard of him. One of the first things he told me was that I must ALWAYS count 0 HCP for a doubleton Queen. If I had a doubleton Queen, I must count it as 0 HCP. I questioned him about it, giving him some balanced hands with doubleton Queens, and he dismissed them all.

 

In discussing this with others, I referred to this as "NAME's Rule." I am not going to name him, but you get the idea.

 

This person is not yet 90 years old. I do not know for sure if he has ever won a bridge tournament, but I see his name in the list of entries quite frequently. He and I finished out of the overalls in one event we played. We also finished out of the overalls in another event.

 

 

Oh, the hand? 1NT of course. Also LOL at the idea of treating it as a balanced 12 or 13.

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I am surprised that someone counted the losers of a 1NT opening but I am not surprised that it is Winston.

There's a little cult of LTC fanatics that think a 1N opening is supposed to have 6 losers.

 

I have no idea what the source of this thinking is.

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I am surprised that someone counted the losers of a 1NT opening but I am not surprised that it is Winston.

There's a little cult of LTC fanatics that think a 1N opening is supposed to have 6 losers.

 

I have no idea what the source of this thinking is.

So what do they do with hands like Axxx Axx Axx Axx? That's 8 losers from what I've been told, 1 more than the hand in question.

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I am surprised that someone counted the losers of a 1NT opening but I am not surprised that it is Winston.

There's a little cult of LTC fanatics that think a 1N opening is supposed to have 6 losers.

 

I have no idea what the source of this thinking is.

So what do they do with hands like Axxx Axx Axx Axx? That's 8 losers from what I've been told, 1 more than the hand in question.

With that, they downgrade for having 4 aces, and then for being 4333 so open 1C then rebid 1N :P .

 

ps I also open the OP 1N, won't be comfortable with some auctions after 1C.

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I am surprised that someone counted the losers of a 1NT opening but I am not surprised that it is Winston.

There's a little cult of LTC fanatics that think a 1N opening is supposed to have 6 losers.

 

I have no idea what the source of this thinking is.

So what do they do with hands like Axxx Axx Axx Axx? That's 8 losers from what I've been told, 1 more than the hand in question.

No, an ace subtracts one and a half loser unless it's sec so that's 6 losers.

 

Anyway, of course the rule is not a good criterion for opening, but maybe it makes some sense for responder to assume appr. 6 losers when deciding whether to bid game after having found a fit.

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LTC is quite a reasonable tool once you've found a fit. But to use it to decide about NT openers is using a screwdriver to tighten a nut.

 

Counting doubleton queens as 0hcp, at least when opening, is taking pessimism too far.

 

Nick

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