Slam or no Slam ?

[cRi cRi]

Hi all.

 

This hand comes for the european junior championship. Some people think that a pass is routine here, other think it is really close. What do you think ?

 

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=sqxxhxdaqxxxckq9x]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

West deals and open 2♠ showing 10-13.

Your partner, North, bid 4♥

East bids 4♠

You Dbl

West pass

Partner bids 5♥

East pass

What call do you make ?

[Hanoi5]

Yeah, I bid 6♥. There are 4 important things in partner's hand here:

 

- A spade void (or Ace).

- REALLY good hearts.

- ♦K.

- ♣A.

 

I think the jump to 4♥ and taking out my penalty double should show at least 3 of this (I hope).

[P_Marlowe]

Pass, and it is certainly not close.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[Codo]

It depends on the style you play, but I would expect a junior to bid 4 Heart on x,AKQJxxxx,xx,xx, so pass oppsite a junior is clear cut.

 

Opposite a senior I already misbid my hand and will try to catch up with a delayed slam raise.

[Fluffy]

Depends a bit on partner but we might be already winning the board by playing 5♥.

[Hanoi5]

I see I really overlooked the fact they were juniors.

 

And the commentator called 6♥ 'hardly unreasonable'.

[Phil]

edited

[Fluffy]

Side question.

 

If instead of double you bid 5♦, is this a fit bid looking for slam or 5♦ might be passed out in your opinion?

[655321]

I would pass 5♥.

 

Bidding could easily work, 12 tricks might be cold, or slam might not have any play.

[cRi cRi]

To Codo :

 

I agree, But I don't think the junior would bid 5♥ with this hand, he would just pass 4♠ doubled.

[pooltuna]

I would pass 5♥.

 

Bidding could easily work, 12 tricks might be cold, or slam might not have any play.

These are my sentiments and gets my vote

[WesleyC]

This problem is all about partnership style.

 

Opposite my partner's strong single suiter with spade shortness, I think 6H is odds on.

[cRi cRi]

Partner had : x AKJTxxxx x Axx

 

Slam was not that bad, but Qxx offside killed it .

 

One reason I might have been thinking about fo not bidding 6♥ is that if the opp did not bid 4♠ you would have played 4♥, is this a good reason or should you let the opps help you ?

[Cascade]

Partner's jump to 4♥ showed a great hand at this vulnerability and then he showed some more offense with 5♥. I think under these circumstances 6♥ is reasonable.

 

I see on the actual hand partner was sort of minimum in high-cards for his actions - he wouldn't have done anything differently with the ♥Q instead of the ♥J - but slam still have some play. You get that when partner gives you a minimum.

[cRi cRi]

Partner's jump to 4♥ showed a great hand at this vulnerability and then he showed some more offense with 5♥. I think under these circumstances 6♥ is reasonable.

 

I see on the actual hand partner was sort of minimum in high-cards for his actions - he wouldn't have done anything differently with the ♥Q instead of the ♥J - but slam still have some play. You get that when partner gives you a minimum.

Yes ... But could not partner have :

 

x KQJxxxxxx Kx x ? Or even x KQJxxxxxx Kx A.

[WesleyC]

Yes ... But could not partner have :

 

x  KQJxxxxxx Kx x ? Or even x KQJxxxxxx Kx A.

 

Not the first hand (looks like 3H the first time). The second is possible. So is the hand from the actual deal (although it's minimum).

 

I guess we can't make slam after all! B)

[Cascade]

Partner's jump to 4♥ showed a great hand at this vulnerability and then he showed some more offense with 5♥.  I think under these circumstances 6♥ is reasonable.

 

I see on the actual hand partner was sort of minimum in high-cards for his actions - he wouldn't have done anything differently with the ♥Q instead of the ♥J - but slam still have some play.  You get that when partner gives you a minimum.

Yes ... But could not partner have :

 

x KQJxxxxxx Kx x ? Or even x KQJxxxxxx Kx A.

No

 

Yes - you get that too when you are pre-empted.

 

It is not completely clear on what sort of hands partner will pull. While 4♥ promised considerable offense it did not necessarily promise defense. Given that we jumped to show a strong one-suiter the double of 4♠ is pretty strongly penalty. Therefore it is not clear that partner should be pulling to 5♥ without some realistic chance of making eleven tricks.

 

Maybe in some partnerships the double is less of an insistence on penalty and then we would expect partner to pull more often.

 

The actual hand ♠ Qxx is not great for penalty but the ♥ x is not great for a raise. The minor suit cards are both offensive and defensive. We have too much to sit around and do nothing but not the ideal hand for a double (or raise or other bid). After the double I would not expect partner to pull just because he thinks his 4♥ was margnial but rather because he expects to be making 5♥ reasonably often opposite a defensive hand.