Crockfords Final 3 (EBU)

[lamford]

competing to 3♠ with a 4333 full of defensive stuff? I wouldn't even consider it a LA.

Clearly you are not in the same peer group of those in the bar at Hinckley. It is an expensive bar, too, so I am surprised that those surveyed by VixTD were not sober enough to pass.

[dburn]

Of course I wouldn't bid three spades. I wouldn't bid three spades even if I'd seen the hand records, because if I did bid three spades people would realise that I'd seen the hand records.

[bluejak]

Particularly when he may only have a weak notrump with just four spades.

I think you should investigate this. In traditional Acol, a player with a weak 1NT hand not playing a weak 1NT would make a prepared opening because a 2NT rebid showed 15-16, or, more likely these days, 15+. One effect of that is that while playing 4cM, a hand which has opened a major has either 5+ cards or 15+ [or both]. As a consequence in many sequences it is reasonable to deduce that partner has a 5-card major on this occasion and act accordingly.

 

:ph34r:

 

Personally I would pass 3♥ myself - and I do play the above methods. At teams it is important to bid 3♠ only if you suspect both 3♥ and 3♠ are making, which seems wildly unlikely to me.