Big 6-5 hand

[daveharty]

Red/red, matchpoints. You hold ♠AK98xx ♥x ♦AQTxx ♣A. RHO deals and opens 1H. Double, 2H, something else?

 

If you choose 2H, what is your plan for showing this moose? If you choose 2H the auction continues: double on your left, 2NT by partner, pass on your right.

 

I have asked several good players about this hand and gotten very little consensus, about either the initial action or the followups. I seek clarity.

[mikeh]

I would Michaels, intending to make an aggressive call subsequently, if I were 5=6, but 6=5, especially when the 6 is AKxxxx, seems too important a discrepancy...I would far rather be in 4♠ on a 6-2 than 5♦ on a 5-3.

 

So I don't Michaels. That's not to say that Michaels is wrong and I certainly see it as plausible.

 

That leaves double and 1♠. I am a big believer in very wide range overcalls, but this hand is simply too strong, so I double.

 

How I bid next depends on how the auction develops, and the OP only gave me info about what happens after the (presumed) Michaels choice made at the table.

 

One advantage of the wide ranging overcall style is that when one bids double then bids a suit, it has a higher minimum than for those who feel that overcalls should be capped at, say, 15 or 16 hcp. Having said that, this hand is so good that I might well do something other than merely bidding spades....but, as I said, I'd need to know what the auction was.

 

having Michaels, I am in exactly the dilemma I feared.....partner (probably) wants to know our minor...I say 'probably' because it is playable to use 3♠ as weak and 2N then spades as forward-going....and I can't afford, imo, to leave spades unbid. 3♠ would show the 6-5, but is it forcing? If it were, then I'd be retroactively happy with my initial action. If it weren't or, as I fear, if I don't know how partner will take it, then I'm very unhappy....if he raises, is it because he felt forced or because he has a good hand? Can I afford to bid, or can I afford to pass?

[Fluffy]

I disagree with AKxxxx being too good, AKxxxx is a very good side suit and doesn't need to be trumps, as opossed to KQJxxx.

 

 

So I bid 2♥, I have an easy 3♠ rebid over 2NT

[MickyB]

2H, wtp? I can show the sixth spade later. If it gets back to me at 4H I can bid 4S and partner will have a decent idea whether to pass or pull. If it comes back to me with partner having asked to play in my minor at the five-level, 6D seems a decent shot.

[mtvesuvius]

2♥ for me. I'm happy to have longer spades since now I can bid them easily over some number of hearts. While Mike's reasoning is good, I think that AKxxxx is not a kind of suit we want to insist on as trumps -- I'd much rather give us a better chance to show a strong two suiter. After double, we will almost always lose diamonds, and won't be able to really show the hand.

[Zelandakh]

I would bid 2H but do not hate double. I prefer to play 2NT by Advancer as a relay ask with bids at the 3 level showing the weak hand type and bids at the 4 level the strong version. So my response is 4S meaning super-strong with diamonds. I suspect that I would bid 3C (Pass/correct) with your hand that chose 2NT in which case a simple 3S showing the strong hand with extra spade length seems to be indicated.

[the hog]

2H Michaels stands out here and is far better that the ghastly misdescription of a double. 2H gives te approximate shape, and as others have pointed out, you can show the 6th spade later in the bidding.