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Balancing problem


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Passing is out of the question, although it could be the winning call.

 

Partner could be sitting there with a strong unbalanced hand with long clubs. You could be cold for game in any of three denominations.

 

I recognize that LHO could be the one with the strong hand and you could be rescuing the opps from a bad contract. But I will take that chance.

 

I bid 1. I do not double. Besides the fact that double is more than a bit silly with 74 in the red suits, I don't want to defend 1x in any event.

 

At this vulnerability, passing is only right if (1) you go plus defending 1 more than the value of your red suit or NT partial; (2) you go minus 100 and the opps cannot make 9 or more tricks in clubs; (3) you go minus 200 or more; or (4) the opps find a better contract and you can't do anything about it. The first three of these possibilities are pretty remote. The last one might happen, but it seems unlikely.

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1 seems fine, and my options are limited by style. 2 /1 in balancing chair would show about two more Aces than I have, double is unprepared, and pass seems silly. Also, 3D doesn't feel right with 3/4 of my HCP in another suit.
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[hv=pc=n&e=s6hkqj3dq987654c2&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1cpp]133|200|

mgoetze asked

IMP pairs. Your bid?

 

IMO Pass = 10, Diamond bids = 8.

If you protect and partner has

- 3 or fewer, then you may have some explaining to do.

- 4, then you may survive.

If partner has a fair hand with 5 or more, then he would already have bid.

[/hv]

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What is 3 supposed to mean?

 

The reason I don't like entering the auction is mainly the possibility of hitting a misfit. Opponents seem to have spades and we won't be able to outbid them; however this might not be so bad since partner is likely to have 4 spades. Also 1 looks better than 1 if we're not gonna play the hand; but there's a 3-card difference between those suits and it may lead to misunderstandings.

 

I might regret not bidding because we're vulnerable but spades are such a menace that I prefer to pass and have my 'I'm sorry' ready.

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What is 3 supposed to mean?

 

Most parterships don't have these bids defined, so 3 will be natural (by meta-rules). In theory...

 

- It's not weak/preemptive because you pass out 1 with a weak hand. Besides, since you can pass, you're not preempting anyone here.

- It's not strong (although you can define it as such) because strong hands, as in 15+, dbl first.

- It's not artificial because it's undiscussed and thus must be natural.

 

The only option left is, logically, natural with an intermediate hand. I.e. 10-14 or so with about 7 cards (with 6 you balance 2 only).

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I couldn't decide between 1 and 3 and thus bid 2. Probably a bad method.

 

[hv=lin=pn|x,helene_t,y,mgoetze|st%7C%7Cmd%7C1S4JQAH69AD3KC467J%2CS27KH47TD2TJAC5KA%2CS3589TH258DC389TQ%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%203%7Csv%7Ce%7Cmb%7C1C%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C2D%7Cmb%7C2S%7Cmb%7C3N%7Cmb%7C4S%7Cmb%7C5D%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cmc%7C11%7C]480|360[/hv]

 

It's a good thing my LHO knew all about "cover an honor with an honor".

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I couldn't decide between 1 and 3 and thus bid 2. Probably a bad method.

LOL, sometimes, after a 1NT opening I can't decide between 2 and 4. ;)

 

Why didn't West overcall 1NT?

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2 in the 4th seat would have attracted 6 not 5 from me, to me it shows a strong jump overcall type hand x, AKQ, KQ98xx, Qxx is not far off par. Is this a normal interpretation ?

This is normal to me, and pretty-much dates back to the mid 20th Century with no particular reason for it to have changed.

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I would not overcall a NT on a bad average 15. I think its dangerous, especially are red vs green. And I can rely on my partner to balance with pretty much nothing :)

Imo it's a good 15, not average.

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