Do I have enough to go for a slam here ?

[bluecalm]

I didn't played 3S as promising half stopper. I just thought it should promise it but had no agreement.

I actually like what gnasher/others are saying here. I need to think a bit more about it and see what kind of hands are bad for half-stopper agreement and what are bad for 3S = no other bid agreement.

My intuition for now is that this "2NT religion" is actually better way to play but as I said I need some more time. I will come back here with some summary/problem hands so we can have some more clarity on shortcomings of both methods.

 

Thanks for interesting discussion so far.

[gnasher]

Because they said so. See BlueCalm post 15. He didn't bid 3♠ because he played 3♠ as promising half a stop. I am trying to stop him converting to the No Trump religion.

Bluecalm can probably look after himself, but I believe that you're doing him an injustice.

 

In post 8, he said he would bid 4♣ with Jx KQTxx xxx AKx or Jx AQJxx Jxx Kxx. In post 9, I said that these two hands (but not the hand in the original post) should bid 3♠. In posts 11 and 16, he showed some interest in this idea, but didn't seem convinced.

 

He has never suggested that one should bid 3♠ with J10 K10xxx K8x AK9. So, whoever it is that you're trying to save from this perversion, it's not Bluecalm.

[PhilKing]

Maybe I should bid 3S now with 2-5-3-3 etc as gnasher is suggesting. I actually like it and I think it makes a lot of sense it just was against my intuition at the time (which was that it promises half stopper).

 

My bad. Just felt I had to encourage him not to go beyond "maybe".

[bluecalm]

Btw what is the downside of just bidding 2NT with Kx-1-4-6 kind of hands like:

Kx x AQxx AKxxxx or:

Ax x AQxx QJxxxx ?

 

If we would bid 2nt with those then position after 3D would be much easier to untangle (leaving only hands without spade stopper there so only very suit oriented hands like xx x AKxx KQJxxx or 6-5's)

[Fluffy]

2NT says 3NT is probably our spot unless you have 3 clubs or 6 hearts, 3♦ says I really doubt 3NT is our spot.

[PhilKing]

Btw what is the downside of just bidding 2NT with Kx-1-4-6 kind of hands like:

Kx x AQxx AKxxxx or:

Ax x AQxx QJxxxx ?

 

If we would bid 2nt with those then position after 3D would be much easier to untangle (leaving only hands without spade stopper there so only very suit oriented hands like xx x AKxx KQJxxx or 6-5's)

 

I would not bid 2NT on the first hands unless I am playing full relay 2/1 - I think it's too strong. Maybe I should bid 2NT anyway, since it cleans up 3D. And I already admitted I am bidding it on the second, because I think the downside is small and the upsides several.

 

If I'm 4-6, I'm generally bidding 2NT on hands where it's a) Very unlikely we can make 6♣ b) There's a pretty high chance that it is right to play 3NT from my side. But I probably don't bid 2NT enough.

 

All the rest can sort itself out with the extra space we gain (the way I really play it, the auction starts 1h-2c-2d(various)-2H-relay, but 2NT is fine).