How to handle TO doubles with opp's suit

[MattieShoe]

[hv=d=s&v=b&s=sk6hq7543da73cq76]133|100|Scoring: IMP

P (1♥) X (1♠)

?[/hv]

 

Another hand I feel like I screwed up repeatedly, confusing my opponents until I ended up with a top. I think this was my first screwup -- I impulsively passed when the intervening bid got me off the hook on the takeout double since my opps bid my long suit... I'm guessing that was terrible given the number of points I have. Should I have doubled again, or bid 1NT, or something else? What would double or 1NT indicate? How many cards would 2♣/♦ indicate?

 

 

The whole auction ended up like this:

P (1♥) X (1♠)

P (2♥) 3♣ (P)

4♣ (P) 5♣ (P)

P (X) P (P)

P

 

Partner had a 6 card club suit with KT9, AQx♠, a void in hearts, and Jxxx♦. Lost only the ace of trump and a diamond trick.

[Jlall]

I think I would have bid 1N but I like passing better the more I think about it. Our hand is going to do better on defense, and we do not have much potential for making a game.

 

A double would be penalty and usually contains 4 spades, though with a strong hand and 3 spades if you think you have them you can double with that.

[MattieShoe]

Hmm... That was kind of the way I was thinking, but it felt wrong to pass when partner and I have the majority of the points.

 

When partner bid 3♣ after his double, I assumed he had a hand too strong for an overcall and the double was to indicate points rather than shape/support. But then adding up points, I came up with more than there are in the deck. So I bid 4♣ to invite figuring if it was opponents lying, he'd take it to 5 and if he didn't really have a monster, he'd pass. I was shocked when I saw he had 10HCP after going to 5♣. More shocked when I realized it could make :-)

 

So maybe we were just absurdly lucky rather than terrible bidding confusing opponents...

[Jlall]

Yeah you should bid game at least over X and 3C, since it shows a hand too strong to overcall 2C. Really you are worth a slam try, but your approach was pretty sensible since you knew something was wrong adding up all the points.

 

There is a large faction that will tell you to always trust your partner in situations like this etc etc, but if you were trying to win rather than trying to educate your partner then safety playing when you "know" he might have messed up is reasonable. This is very standard in the defense, but some people feel the bidding is different for some reason.

[Hanoi5]

Well after Mr Lall supports the pass I believe it will be hard to find someone to bid something else. The other 2 options are 1NT or 2NT, the last of which I might have bid at the table had I been on a point-counting day. The problem with NT is that our long suit is very badly distributed and ugly: only one honour followed by the 7. I believe this (and the fact that partner's double may be based on distribution mostly) is the reason why pass is the winner for if partner continues bidding (by doubling again or bidding 3♣) we can surely have another go with more information.

[nigel_k]

1NT.

 

If you pass LHO may well bid 1NT and I'd rather play 1NT than defend it even both vul. It doesn't seem like the kind of hand where having the opening lead is going to be enough of an advantage to outweigh the benefit of being declarer.

[jdonn]

I would have bid 1NT and gotten my values in while I could. Clearly not good enough for 2NT, with the scattered honors and no spot cards at all.

[Cyberyeti]

Am I the only person here that thinks partner's shown a lot more than the 10 count he appears to have by doubling then bidding 3♣ opposite a passed partner ?

 

I'd have bid 3N rather than 4♣.

 

I'd also have bid 1N rather than pass because I wouldn't expect partner to bid again on some hands where I want to be in the auction even though he did in this case.

[neilkaz]

Am I the only person here that thinks partner's shown a lot more than the 10 count he appears to have by doubling then bidding 3♣ opposite a passed partner ?

 

I'd have bid 3N rather than 4♣.

 

I'd also have bid 1N rather than pass because I wouldn't expect partner to bid again on some hands where I want to be in the auction even though he did in this case.

Clearly someone is light on the auction and I also would have bid 1NT the first time and 3NT the 2nd turn rather than 4♣ as I expect 3NT to have good play for game after PD's X then 3♣

[MattieShoe]

Am I the only person here that thinks partner's shown a lot more than the 10 count he appears to have by doubling then bidding 3♣ opposite a passed partner ?

 

I'd have bid 3N rather than 4♣.

 

I'd also have bid 1N rather than pass because I wouldn't expect partner to bid again on some hands where I want to be in the auction even though he did in this case.

I agree that he showed more points than he had to double then name a suit. I think he should have just overcalled 2♣, not doubled.

 

I didn't bid 3NT because if he reall had 17+ with good clubs, we might have 6♣. Plus I wasn't thrilled with hearts -- LHO has a fistful and is sitting over me almost surely with A/K and higher spots.

 

I realize the advice offered is general, not specific to this exact hand, but since I already did it, I thought I'd share the results.

 

I ran the hand through a double-dummy solver -- They could make 2♥ or 2♠, we could make 1NT, 3♦, or 4♣. 5♣ makes on 12 of the 13 potential leads -- a small diamond could have sunk us.

 

3NT could make if West led a spade, but with 6 hearts AJT9, unlikely to happen :-)

 

I appreciate the help you guys have given me. In the future, I will seriously consider 1NT in situations like this so partner knows we have some points to back him up.