Solid Clubs

[gnasher]

I have played a weak only multi at county level tournaments and national tournaments and no one has ever questioned it. I am pretty sure that I did not even know that it was illegal.

It's not illegal - as Vampyr said, it's allowed at nearly all English tournaments apart from some club games.

 

Who writes these regulations?

You'll find a list of them here:

http://www.ebu.co.uk/general/about_ebu/LandEcommittee.htm

At least five of them post frequently on these forums.

[whereagles]

I was convinced having a strong option of any type in your multi is a big loser: This pair of hands occured on consecutive boards in beijing when I was watching my teammies:

 

(...)

 

No matter your multi-style, if you include strong balanced hands in your multi one of these things will happen, either partner will pre-empt your strong balanced, or partner will fail to preempt when he needs to and you will concede a (double) game swing.

 

Phil, those hands were more a display of ineptitude from your teammates than multi's fault. When responder is weak, opener might be strong and vice-versa.

 

It is as simple as that and it's not resulting. It's technique.

 

By the way, I'm not a multi fanboy. But I obviously agree it's easier to keep it weak only. The main advantage I see to that style is that responder can tactically PASS the multi, leaving 4th seat in a lot of pressure.

[nige1]

huh...? how come 3♥ shows both a min and a max???

Duh :( Sorry. Attempting to adapt an old version with three options. Now think that's too many options. But I over-simplified :(

Over 2♦ - 2N (relay) - ??

• 3♣ = Minimum weak two in ♥ or strong 444 with black singleton. (Now 3♦ = relay,. 3♥ = to play opposite weak two in ♥)
• 3♦ = Minimum weak two in ♠ or strong 444 with.red singleton. (Now 3♥ = relay,. 3♠ = to play opposite weak two in ♠).
• 3♥/3♠ = Maximum. With unbid major. Effectively transfers.
• 3N = AKQxx or AKJxx of either major.

[Finch]

Most people I know play their multi as:-

1) weak 2 in either major

2) Acol 2 in either minor

3) either strong balanced or strong 3-suiter

 

Very few pairs add more than 5 hand types here. I think the Yeti is suggesting playing with 6 types (both of those in type 3) but not more. Even 6 is starting to push it imho.

 

A workaround for EBU rules (which disallow weak-only multi except in a very high level competitions) is:-

1) weak 2 in either major

2) Acol 2 with solid diamonds

 

This allows Responder to pass with any diamond figure in a weak hand since partner cannot have the strong variant. Playing on BBO there are no rules restricting the mini-multi which I personally think is much better than the traditional multi. :)

 

We play your 'workaround' and have continued to do so even after the restrictions on the multi were relaxed. It's actually quite a handy hand type to take out of the 1D opening.

[han]

I play that 2D is either weak with a major, GF with diamonds (and perhaps another suit) or balanced 24-25. I don't the strong balanced hands as a problem. My partner usually takes such a long time counting his points that I know whether he is weak or strong.

[phil_20686]

Phil, those hands were more a display of ineptitude from your teammates than multi's fault. When responder is weak, opener might be strong and vice-versa.

 

I dispute this. The problem is always that if you preempt, you might be preempting partner, and if you do not preempt, you might fail to preempt the opposition. Opposite a weak only multi you at least know what your objective is in the bidding. Obviously, teammies should have had one style and stick with it. Bidding 4H p/c opposite a multi with a strong option is not a long run loser imo, you just accept sometimes you hit partner with a balanced hand and no major. I would have bid 4H P/C with both of those hands. OTOH, you cannot getaway from the fact that you are either losing preemptive options, or you are allowing partner to preempt your strong options. All preempts work best when partner has a good fit and a weak hand. Oddly, those are exactly the times partner is most likely to be strong, so you are getting rid of your best hands if you dont preempt there.