3NT, 4H, pass?

[dcohio]

Sitting East you pick up:

 

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=sa5hakj652da85ck7]133|100|Scoring: MP

(p)-3♣-(3♠)-?[/hv]

 

Partners 3♣ only promises 6+ cards, not necessarily sound at these colors

[gwnn]

3N, two ways it can make. If partner has a singleton heart, 4H will rarely make, meanwhile 3N could still be cold on clubs.

[billw55]

3N, trying to get some use out of partner's hand. There's no rule that says he doesn't have a side entry.

[jdonn]

I'm considering 6♣, but it depends since some people can be sickeningly light at this vul? At imps I'd definitely try 4♠ but I don't want to stop in 5♣ at mps so it's tough. I guess I'll settle for 4♥ since we were told partner is not sound. 3NT just seems like a huge risk to me.

[mikeh]

3N seems to me to be an all or nothing proposition: good if it makes and likely horrific if it fails. We won't have more than one spade stopper and the act of a red v white opp opposite a passed hand suggests that rho has most of the missing hcp.....if they include the club Ace, we aren't making 3N even when hearts come home for 6 tricks.

 

4♥ is hardly risk free but seems to me to be a better compromise in that it will make probably as frequently as 3N, and will usually fail by less when it goes down...of course, that won't be true if it goes double on my left....then I'll run to 5♣. If LHO does double 4♥, suggesting the heart Q and length, that seems to me to make 3N even worse in hindsight so I won't regret my decision (yet).

 

Also, given it's mps...if both games make, there is a reasonable chance that 4♥ will score a trick better..certainly enough often that I won't worry about being in the safer game compared to the better scoring game.

[TylerE]

This hand screams for suit play. 4♥ is pretty clear to me. Agree with Mike on bidding 5♣ if cracked.

[gwnn]

3N doesn't look so good anymore. hard to know if it's peer pressure or the arguments.

[dcohio]

[hv=d=s&v=n&w=st9ht4d963caj5432&e=sa5hakj652da85ck7]266|100|Scoring: MP

(p)-3♣-(3♠)-3NT-ap

 

6♠ lead from south[/hv]

[hanp]

I like 4H. The 3S bid increased the chance of partner having hearts. In my dreams they will bid 4S and partner doubles, suggesting going on to 5H. I will bid 6.

[jdonn]

I like 4H. The 3S bid increased the chance of partner having hearts. In my dreams they will bid 4S and partner doubles, suggesting going on to 5H. I will bid 6.

Do you play that? I would play it as penalty implying short hearts and/or good defense with something in spades, in my dreams QTx x xxx AQxxxx.

[wank]

i'd have any partner who opened ***** like that 2nd in shot. i realise that means i'd be signing more forum death warrants than hitler but such is life.

 

playing with someone with my attitude to pre-empts i'd be wheeling out keycard with an eye on 7♣

[mikeh]

[hv=d=s&v=n&w=st9ht4d963caj5432&e=sa5hakj652da85ck7]266|100|Scoring: MP

(p)-3♣-(3♠)-3NT-ap

 

6♠ lead from south[/hv]

How greedy are we?

 

And how tough/good are the opps? If we duck and RHO has 7 spades, and no obvious entry, he may shift to a diamond, but that really doesn't seem to change things....we can hardly be worse off in that scenario, if we have to lose a trick, compared to winning trick one.. Also, we may have 13 tricks!

 

But I won't worry about 13 tricks, since it is far from clear that those playing in 4♥ (me for one) will make more than 10-12 no matter how things lie.

 

So I duck. I hope to win the spade continuation and then:

 

Top heart. If the Q drops, I will defer congratulating myself for my brilliancy...crossing to heart 10, back in clubs, run hearts and later eschew the club finesse.....if, at the end, the club Q drops on my right, then I congratulate myself on my brilliance, while regretting my first trick duck.

 

If, as is probable, the top heart draws no paint, then club K, club A. If the Queen appears offside, revert to congratulatory mode and later decide whether to hook the heart...depends on how many spades I place LHO with, and I will probably know that by them. If the club Q appeared onside, no congratulations are in order, but at least we are making, and I will risk the contract later if comfortable about the spade situation.

 

If the top clubs leave the Q outstanding, run the heart 10 (unless, obviously, it is covered) Here is where the trick one duck may have helped. It definitely helped if spades were 7222.

 

If they switch to a diamond at trick 2, it will probably be an honour. I'll win...hoping for a blockage or that one of the above round suit combinations pay off: I see little point ducking this trick.

[dcohio]

It turns out that 4♥ makes 4 and 3NT makes 4 also. Q♣ is doubleton in North's hand.

 

I ducked the first spade, North continued with a spade to my A

 

AK of hearts, both opps followed at trick one, north discards a spade at trick 2. K♣ south plays small, N plays the 10. Club to the ace drops the doubleton Q.

 

6 clubs, 2 hearts, a diamond and a spade. +430 and top board.

[jdonn]

Well done, but if I knew the club queen would drop doubleton offside I could make 5 in hearts!

[MickyB]

I like 4H. The 3S bid increased the chance of partner having hearts. In my dreams they will bid 4S and partner doubles, suggesting going on to 5H. I will bid 6.

Do you play that? I would play it as penalty implying short hearts and/or good defense with something in spades, in my dreams QTx x xxx AQxxxx.

Yeah I don't think this is an auction where X means "please bid on" - there's nothing wrong with opener bidding 5H here, I am not going to have a massive spade stack for my 4H bid over 3S.

[Siegmund]

3NT may have chances, especially if partner has more respect for 2nd seat than for the vulnerability. I would have no quarrel with a partner who tried 3NT, but I would bid 5C anyway even at matchpoints-- while partner MIGHT have AQ6 and out or KJT6 with a working side card, I think there's considerable risk of a club loser and no entry to run the clubs.

[nigel_k]

It turns out that 4♥ makes 4 and 3NT makes 4 also. Q♣ is doubleton in North's hand.

 

I ducked the first spade, North continued with a spade to my A

 

AK of hearts, both opps followed at trick one, north discards a spade at trick 2. K♣ south plays small, N plays the 10. Club to the ace drops the doubleton Q.

 

6 clubs, 2 hearts, a diamond and a spade. +430 and top board.

Maybe you don't play against people who are mean enough to drop the 10 from 10x. I like mikeh's line better and it makes the same number.

[mikeh]

It turns out that 4♥ makes 4 and 3NT makes 4 also.  Q♣ is doubleton in North's hand.

 

I ducked the first spade, North continued with a spade to my A

 

AK of hearts, both opps followed at trick one, north discards a spade at trick 2.  K♣ south plays small, N plays the 10.  Club to the ace drops the doubleton Q.

 

6 clubs, 2 hearts, a diamond and a spade. +430 and top board.

Maybe you don't play against people who are mean enough to drop the 10 from 10x. I like mikeh's line better and it makes the same number.

Assuming that rho has 7 spades, my line makes 11 tricks if they continue spades...I'd need to be at the table but I suspect I could tell, by LHO's second spade, whether he began with 2 or 3...if with 2, I float the heart ten in the endgame, losing only a spade and a diamond.

[dcohio]

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=skqj873h8dkj72cqt&w=st9ht4d963caj5432&e=sa5hakj652da85ck7&s=s642hq973dqt4c986]399|300|Scoring: MP[/hv]