Spades and more spades

[SimonFa]

This came up last night. MP teams.

 

[hv=pc=n&s=shajtdkt97caj9865&w=sakjt97652hq86dc2&n=shk93daqj862ckqt4&e=sq843h7542d543c73&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp2c4s5cppp]399|300[/hv]

 

We were playing against one of the better teams. At the end East said he didn't bid 5♠because he thought we had a slam in the minors. Fortunately our team mates didn't gave them the push to for a flat board.

 

At the tables where East bid 5♠there was a mixture of 6♣and 6♦. All N/S made 13 tricks.

 

By my reckoning East can push and sacrifice all the way up to 7♠if they can make the Q♥.

[gwnn]

S has an obvious raise to 6 imo*, with or without 5♠ from East. If East had bid 5♠, West would have an obvious 6♠ bid over 6m.

 

I'm not sure how high to bid from East, it depends how fond your partner is of bidding 4♠. This time he had 9, but 7 would be closer to the truth most of the time. In some cases 6 is possible...

 

*-no, if E passes, actually he has a 5♥ bid trying for a grand. then I'm not sure about the last few bids, but maybe NS will end in 7. So the reason to bid 5♠ is to stop them from finding grand and offering partner to sacrifice. note that this is not the same situation at all as 2♠-p-3♠, which most people play as "pard don't bid again, i'm captain", because 4♠ has a very wide range, so the 4s bidder is entitled to bid again.

 

edit 2: btw what do you mean by "MP teams", is that BAM?

Edited August 19, 2011 by gwnn

[Free]

South needs to work on his hand evaluation imo.

[ArtK78]

I like East's pass. I have seen this tactic used on a handful of occasions, and it is very often successful.

 

Needless to say, South should bid again.

 

By the way, if anyone thinks that EW are going to score the ♥Q declaring a spade contract, they are living in a dream world.

[pooltuna]

♣

I like East's pass. I have seen this tactic used on a handful of occasions, and it is very often successful.

 

Needless to say, South should bid again.

 

By the way, if anyone thinks that EW are going to score the ♥Q declaring a spade contract, they are living in a dream world.

 

thot you meant 7♣ or 7♦ not 7♠ :D

Edited August 19, 2011 by pooltuna

[mikeh]

We haven't been told if 2♣ was gf, which impacts whether N had the option of a forcing pass.

 

Assuming he didn't, he had only 3 ways to raise clubs, while the fp gives him the additional pass and pull.

 

Bidding 5♣ is, to put it very mildly, astoundingly conservative!

 

Even if 2♣ were non-fg, it is hard to construct a hand on which slam has zero play. I mean xxx xxx xx Axxxx is not down off the top! And even if 2♣ is non-gf, he'll hold a tad more than that :P

 

I'm torn between a prosaic 6♣ or the more descriptive 5♠, but I sure as heck am not bidding 5♣.

 

Were N to bid 5♠, I suspect that S would have little difficulty bidding the grand, with or without E interfering.....indeed, given that he is looking at a spade void himself, I think S would raise 6 to 7.

 

 

if this were an ATB contest, it would be 100% to N in terms of missing grand, and 50-50 in terms of missing small.

[SimonFa]

Our bidding wasn't the point, otherwise I would have put it in the B//I forum, but FWIW 2♣ wasn't GF and showed 10/11HCP and, usually, 5 clubs. I've been playing 12 months and partner longer, although she isn't as aggressive as I am when trying to learn from mistakes.

 

I posted this here because I thought it was an interesting hand, but thanks for the feedback.

 

Simon

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

I think 5C is timid, I prefer 5S.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[VM1973]

I can't understand anyone's bidding. North surely has enough to go to 6 on his own and South's pass over 5♣ is similarly eye-popping. In other threads we've found out that people will preempt to 4♠ holding AKQ10xxx x x xxxx so under that reasoning surely the West hand is worth a 5♠ (or even 6♠) call and East's decision to pass his partner's preempt holding 4-card support is astounding.

[gwnn]

VM, the two situations aren't exactly the same. Furthermore, even if the two situations were the same, it pays to have a wide range of hands to bid 4♠ with.

[VM1973]

VM, the two situations aren't exactly the same. Furthermore, even if the two situations were the same, it pays to have a wide range of hands to bid 4♠ with.

In that I certainly agree! The situations are definitely NOT the same... in this case your partner is a passed hand and your opponents are showing strength whereas in the other circumstances your partner's strength was unknown as your opponents were passing.

[Bbradley62]

I like East's pass.

East's decision to pass his partner's preempt holding 4-card support is astounding.

East's pass seems clear to me.