simple(?) rebid

[gwnn]

For me it's 100% 1NT. I also know that partner will basically always bid 2♠ holding 5 of them so it's not like I am missing any 5-3 fits.

The problem is not that you miss 5-3 fits, it is that you miss some very nice 4-3 fits and sometimes partner just rebids 2M when he would have tried for/bid game.

[Fluffy]

So, when you have a hand that is in the middle, you have to compare it to what you consider to be a maximum for the sequence and what you consider to be a minimum for the sequence to figure out where the hand stands.

This is not a joke, if I did that my answer would always be: my hand is in the middle.

 

My quick hand comparison gives only 2 answers: beter or worse.

 

I compare my hands with standard ones to come to a conclusion if the hand is good or not.

 

Not that it is really important, but I found it interesting that my thinking approach is completelly different.

[bluecalm]

my guess is, that you would find more people from Europe raising, if the hand

would have a 5431 shape

 

Yes, especially if it's exactly: 3♠ - 4♥ - 5♦ - 1♣ after 1♦ opener or 3♠ - 4♥ - 1♣ - 5♣ after 1♣ opener.

Those are the only hands on which I would bid 2M personally.

 

 

The problem is not that you miss 5-3 fits, it is that you miss some very nice 4-3 fits and sometimes partner just rebids 2M when he would have tried for/bid game.

 

I understand those concerns.

I saw too many times American pairs getting owned by themselves in:

 

1m - 1M

2M - 4M auctions getting to 4-3 contract which has no play though.

 

I guess the solution is to use some kind of gadgets but I am big believer in bidding games fast on simple hands and system which produces long auctions on the simplest of hands is not what I like.

[Siegmund]

If you had asked me a year ago, I would have voted 1NT out of principle and stubbornness. I have come around to bidding 2S with 3 on this type of hand, and ONLY on this type of hand - strong 3-card support, and a small doubleton or worse in an unbid suit, and an extra flaw for each of the alternatives (a second unstopped suit for 1NT, and only AJxxx for 2C.)