zheddh Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Since every other partner of mine insists on playing this convention, I am trying to wonder what all this hype about Drury is. I have never liked the idea of giving up the option of showing a minor suit at the 2 level. But since, so many insist, I would like to know if Drury should be a mandatory weapon in your bidding arsenal when playing 2/1? Kindly give reasons. As an aside, I heard some famous player said "Drury was the most useless convention invented". Is that true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 If your question is "did some player say that?" then I'd say "maybe, I don't know." If you're asking if Drury is useless, the answer is no. 1M making one or two gets you 80 or 110. 2m making two gets you 90. On balance, I think 1M is usually the better spot. Drury lets you bail out at the 2 level (instead of the 3 level) when you have a limit raise but partner opened light. If you're happy to play at the 3 level with a seven card fit and 20 or 21 HCP, then you don't need Drury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zasanya Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Drury allows you to open light in 3rd and 4th position and avoid getting higher than 2 level even when Partner has limit raise values.I do not which famous player said that Drury is useless but I do know that many good players use it.My suggestion is use it and judge for yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtvesuvius Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 If your partner is a junior, then Drury is a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_h Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 I'm all in for it, though I wouldn't put it as far as a "mandatory weapon". It's useful to be able to show a constructive raise after partner has opened in 3rd/4th seat and stop at a low level. One (not major) argument you can use is that being able to show natural clubs with 2♣ doesn't come up that often, frequency wise, when sometimes a) you'd respond 1NT or B) you'd have opened it 1 or 3♣. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helene_t Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Playing 2/1, a natural 2m response by a passed hand is impossible, so you can use 2m for something else. Drury is one of my favorite conventions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeh Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Playing 2/1, a natural 2m response by a passed hand is impossible, so you can use 2m for something else. Drury is one of my favorite conventions.2/1 is off by a passed hand, so 2m over 1M is certainly useful when one has the right hand. If you play a weak 2♦, then the need for a 2♦ response is lessened. In addition, if you play a semi-forcing 1N by a passed hand, you are quite safe in responding 1N with say 10 hcp and a long minor since opener will only pass 1N with a hand that won't make game... and that will have at least a partial fit so you will probably be fine. But there is no doubt that drury carries a cost. The question is whether the gains offset the cost, and, for me, the answer is a resounding 'yes'... as it is for virtually every expert. Many like it so much that we play both 2♣ and 2♦ as drury.... differentiating between 3 and 4 card support. Some very good players don't like 2-way...Fred wrote some posts on a thread earlier this year in which he explained his views. The issue is the extent to which you will lower the strength requirements of an opening bid in 3rd and 4th seat. I don't know anyone who doesn't... which means that there is far too much danger of getting to the 3-level on 10 opposite 10, as an example..... and thus too many minus scores... which defeats the purpose of opening light. There are some sophisticated methods that fit with drury.... including fit-jumps, assigning meanings to 2N by a passed hand, and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlall Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 I would call drury mandatory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P_Marlowe Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Hi, the main question is, how often you open light in 3rd and 4th seat,and if you do reduce the req. for a 1 level opening, how much. If your openings in 3rd and 4th seat dont differ a lot from youropenings in 1st and 2nd seat, than you dont need Drury, if theydo quite often, you need it. With kind regardsMarlowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlall Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 I would say if you don't open light in third seat drury is still a winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cascade Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 As an aside, I heard some famous player said "Drury was the most useless convention invented". Is that true? No but its close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbodell Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 the main question is, how often you open light in 3rd and 4th seat,and if you do reduce the req. for a 1 level opening, how much.If your openings in 3rd and 4th seat dont differ a lot from youropenings in 1st and 2nd seat, than you dont need Drury, if theydo quite often, you need it. Well, I think it is more how light your openings are. Some of us need drury over our 1st and 2nd seat openings too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P_Marlowe Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Hi, Just an add. remark: If you play constructive raises, the need to play Drury is alsoa bit lessened, since the direct raises will basically take care of the bad 10 count with spade support. In the end, as always it comes down, how the rest of your system looks like, and what your personal style is. With kind regardsMarlowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helene_t Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Hey Uwe, nobody plays constructive raises by a passed hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguahombre Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Hey Uwe, nobody plays constructive raises by a passed hand!You make two posts which seem to be contradictory, pls explain if you would. First you say that 2D/1S by a passed hand is impossible if natural. then you say nobody plays constructive raises by a passed hand. This all centers around whether a 1NT response by a passed hand is forcing, or just semi forcing. If it is forcing, then both 2/1 natural and constructive raises are possible. If it is not forcing, then constructive raises are out, but a natural 2/1 seems necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helene_t Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 1NT by a passed hand is not forcing of course. Nobody plays that. I suppose you could play 1NT as 6-9 w/o fit or 5-7 with fit, so 2M became 8-11. But that would be a most unusual agreement. At least when vulnerable, it is scary to bid 1NT nonforcing with a fit. You can easily go for 200 against nothing. So constructive raises go with a forcing 1NT response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguahombre Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 1NT by a passed hand is not forcing of course. Nobody plays that. Sorry I asked. Ill-advised as you might consider it, and as much of a nobody I might well be, I play NT forcing by a passed hand for one round, 2/1 by a passed hand as natural and promising one more bid. I know a whole bunch of nobodies who also play it that way, and have had as much success with it as us nobodies could have. Drury is nice for those who like drury. Other methods are played. I honestly wanted to know how people who play drury and nfnt handle hands with long minors which could not be opened appropriately the first time. I thought that knowledge would be helpful to know, when playing against "everybody". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerE Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Bid 1NT and hope for the best? I'd almost always rather be in 1NT anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hog Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 1NT by a passed hand is not forcing of course. Nobody plays that. Apart from the many people I know, (including their country's internationals), Balicki and Zmudsinski do for starters. I am sure that I can come up with otherworld ranked players if I try. snipped Are you sure about that Helene? You are not correct in this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachy Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 I almost don't want to play if I don't have Drury. Well, that was an exaggeration but you get my point. It is a very useful tool to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P_Marlowe Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Hey Uwe, nobody plays constructive raises by a passed hand! We do, and we also play a 1NT response by a passed hand as forcing, works ok. The major reason, and also one reason, why we dont play Drury: We dont want to play a different system in 3rd seat than in 1st or 2nd,may not be theoretical superior, but it is also not vastly inferior. With kind regardsMarlowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 1NT by a passed hand is not forcing of course. Nobody plays that. A well deserved LOL Imo Drury is a must when opening light or when it can be a 4 card suit. When not, it's not worth playing imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cascade Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 1NT by a passed hand is not forcing of course. Nobody plays that. A well deserved LOL Imo Drury is a must when opening light or when it can be a 4 card suit. When not, it's not worth playing imo. What is light? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtK78 Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 As an aside, I heard some famous player said "Drury was the most useless convention invented". Is that true? I don't know if that is a direct quote, but I know that Matt Granovetter dislikes Drury with a passion. He wrote about it in his now departed magazine, Bridge Today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtK78 Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Hey Uwe, nobody plays constructive raises by a passed hand! I did. Before I started playing Drury. I also played 1NT forcing by a passed hand, as we would bid 1NT forcing with support but less than a constructive raise. It is a very playable method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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