So what's the deal with psyches?

[Antrax]

I'm not asking about "free" psyches like making a forcing major-suit bid en route to raising a preempt or psyching 1NT with long clubs etc.

I'm more interested in the general case you occasionally see, someone opening 1♠ in third with a spade doubleton and 4 HCP. Assuming you're not down 40 and just swinging, what's the rationale? When would you expect doing something wildly unexpected is more likely to screw with the opponents than with your partner?

[Endymion77]

> I'm more interested in the general case you occasionally see, someone opening 1♠ in third with a spade doubleton and 4 HCP.

 

This usually doesn't work, plus 4 hcp is a bit too much - I prefer 0-2 (no A, K or major suit Q) and a (semi) balanced hand with 2/2, 2/3 or 3/3 in the majors. But when I do it I always seem to find partner with a limit raise in spades and they either bid to their 630 anyway or we give up 1400. So I've stopped doing it. Mostly.

[mr1303]

A lot of people go through a phase of this, normally as a junior. You grow out of it.

[Cascade]

A lot of people go through a phase of this, normally as a junior. You grow out of it.

 

and hopefully keep the reputation

[ggwhiz]

A lot of people go through a phase of this, normally as a junior. You grow out of it.

 

One semi-regular partner I had claimed that the most effective psyche in 3rd seat was 2nt.

 

Played in all the local clubs one year a week before our regional and he psyched like crazy. When I asked him what he was doing he said "advertising" and only psyched again against opps who had fallen into his trap and only in club games.

[ggwhiz]

double post

[kenrexford]

I'm not asking about "free" psyches like making a forcing major-suit bid en route to raising a preempt or psyching 1NT with long clubs etc.

I'm more interested in the general case you occasionally see, someone opening 1♠ in third with a spade doubleton and 4 HCP. Assuming you're not down 40 and just swinging, what's the rationale? When would you expect doing something wildly unexpected is more likely to screw with the opponents than with your partner?

 

 

Theory only -- not judgment. A one-of-a-major opening, especially in a 2/1 context, has a benefit of often being self-disclosing rather quickly. As a simple example, consider 1♠-P-2♣-P-P. At that point, all four at the table know that a psychic occurred. The auction then starts at the two-level, with the opponents mystified as to how to move forward, and with your partner fairly well positioned to act inside of this strange bubble.

 

Thus, the rationale, if there is any, is that the psychic of that type is calculated to often lead into a bizarre delayed start at a heightened level with partner best prepared of the three others at the table.

[Antrax]

I wonder if it's a good idea when not playing a form of Drury? TBH I've experimented a bit psyching against GIB, and results were as random as you'd expect. Probably better than I had a right to expect because GIB never figures what's going on, so it keeps placing you with its partner's high cards. Anyway, I've found that my GIB partner often landed me in game if I psych an opening (going by the law or raising 1NT to 3, etc), which got me thinking when, if at all, you can expect to avoid this situation without CPUs.

[gwnn]

I gave it up after I talked opps out of 4M and they got a top with 3NT+1. :angry: On the plus side, sometimes I overcall so lightly that my p or opps still think I'm psyching, so I'm not that boring after all.

[Zelandakh]

I make baby psyches quite often. The rationale for those is that it usually adds a small loss of accuracy to the opponents' auction in a situation where they are far more likely to lose from it then you are. The key to such psyches is usually that you either know what the final contract will be (and wish to stop the opponents from bidding over it or doubling) or that it is clear that your side is not bidding constructively, so partner's actions are predictable and no game is missed.

 

A special form of baby psyche is a systemic psyche, where you make a normal-looking bid that is nonetheless anti-systemic. An example would be opening a suit with a balanced hand within NT range. That is often a good tactic in third seat in a light opening weak NT system for example, planning to find some sort of suit fit quickly "knowing" that no game is on. Some people would not classify that as a psyche of course, since all bids were natural. Many bids fall into such a grey area between psyches and deviations. It illustrates something else about psyches though - system matters. Some systems are easier to psyche in than others - it has been pointed out here before that a Precision nebulous 1♦ opening is an excellent weapon for third seat baby psyches.

 

Much of the time, sadly, psyching is actually about getting round system regulations. It may be that someone believes opening with 0-5hcp in third seat is a winning strategy but the local regulations ban this. So they do it anyway and claim that is simply a psyche. This is obviously illegal if it establishes an implicit (and therefore concealed) partnership understanding. And yet it is probably true to some extent in many partnerships that psyche regularly. Indeed, I once had a partner who thought they had spotted a pattern in my psyching. They warned the opponents that my third seat opening might be a psyche. As it happens that was not the case and it was a perfectly normal opening; however it gave me pause for thought and I psyched less even though I knew that it was a point of honour for them not to field. And that leads to the next rule of psyching - psyching once in a while is ok but doing it more often puts partner under ethical pressure, not to mention the loss of confidence. If you play with a partner about whom you have any doubts about their ability to handle such a situation then you should avoid psyching.

 

Wild psyches when partner is unlimited are a different kettle of fish completely. Here you are willing spinning the dice. The only reason I could think for doing that would be the start of a long team match with an opponent that you know goes on tilt against psyching opponents. Even then, there is almost certainly a better chance coming if you wait a board or two. Actually, I can think of another reason. Against a particularly obnoxious pair, you might psyche randomly to ruin the board abnd make a point to them. That is not really a bridge reason though.

[GreenMan]

I rarely psych; when I do it's the 3rd-seat short major at favorable kind, and only against stronger opponents. So it doesn't come up very often.

 

Once in a national pairs I got a good board off an expert pair when they ended up in 4OM +1 with 6m ice cold. They just shrugged and moved on.

 

I wouldn't do it against "regular" opps because I figure I'm entitled to at least an average result by normal play, and it doesn't pay to throw the board in the air for no good reason.

[Siegmund]

I find that when all the stars align, it is highly effective, especially against good-but-not-great opponents.

 

It can easily make it harder for them to find their game or slam than an "honest" weak two opener can, as it causes them to mis-estimate their own partners' strength, which can hurt them worse than a simple loss of a little bidding space can.

[Antrax]

Siegmund, do you mean you open weak 2s on the 1-level to get them to misplace HCPs? Or do you open a short major with 1M?

[wank]

i psyche reasonably frequently. you just have to apply some judgment, like in all other situations in bridge, rather than just sticking a pin in your bidding box.

 

don't psyche short suits. 3 cards is optimal imo. you don't want to get raised, and certainly not higher than the 2 level. the apocalypse scenario is when you pick off LHO's suit, he passed, partner makes a big raise and LHO can smack it.

[Antrax]

wank, I'm trying to get a feel for what makes you think "hmm, this situation is such that a psyche is more likely to work to my advantage".

[CamHenry]

One of my favourite psychs is a heavy weak 2 in 3rd seat. We're not (often) missing game, even if I have 12-14 HCP, and LHO sometimes gets too high and/or misplaces cards. Sure, it's not original - but it works when it happens.

[P_Marlowe]

we are rarely / never psych.

 

this is due to the fact, that we have already a high degree of variance in our non psych actions. so add.

variance due to psyching would be an overkill.

making psychs adds variance, so psychs are for those pairs, that usually bid quite quite solid, even

conservative.

And psychs in regular partnerships are dangerous, because they will become implicit agreements, and even

when you alert those psychs, it can happen that you start to act in a manner, that they dont hurt you,

and I play only in regular partnerships.

 

if you make a psych, you should have good feel, that you can control all of partner normal actions.

This means, he needs to hold a limited hand, i.e. he is a passed hand (however you define this).

You want also to have situations, in which the stronger hand of the opponents, has to make the first

decision,this basically means 3rd seat.

 

If a psych backfires, the price tag should not exceed a certain level, this basically implies being green

(and they beging red).

 

Psychs will work fairly well, when the opponents partnership is not very fine tuned, i.e. if it is a not

a regular partnership.

 

Finally: On RGB someone said, that he tries to collect patterns, (bidding situations, hand patterns) that

are suitable for psychs. A good psych needs to come without hesitation, like a falscard, i.e. you need to

think beforehand, about certain situations.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[helene_t]

On the plus side, sometimes I overcall so lightly that my p or opps still think I'm psyching, so I'm not that boring after all.

hehe I remember in Brasov you made an overcall on a 4-count and I bid 3NT with my 16-count. It was towards the end of the weekend when most opps were drunk, and these particular opps managed to make me make it when I should have been two or three off. Then they starting shouting at each other because they both thought I made it due to partner's bad defence, and you said that you were glad that I didn't understand Romanian as the language they used was pretty rough :)

[the_clown]

I like to open light in 3rd seat, especially fav, I can remember opening 1♦ on as little as xxx xxx KQxx xxx.

 

Playing a strong club I sometimes respond on air since partner has a limited hand, but I cant remember psyching a response in my stiff major or smth like that.

[wank]

wank, I'm trying to get a feel for what makes you think "hmm, this situation is such that a psyche is more likely to work to my advantage".

 

3rd in non-vul is a cliche for a reason - all the other positions are big gambles. take notice of the opps' tempo and demeanour. you can often tell if LHO has a particularly fat hand.

[ggwhiz]

3rd in non-vul is a cliche for a reason - all the other positions are big gambles. take notice of the opps' tempo and demeanour. you can often tell if LHO has a particularly fat hand.

 

We had a player that moved her lips while counting her points. When she got into the high teens 1/2 way through her hand it was go time.

[1eyedjack]

A lot of people go through a phase of this, normally as a junior. You grow out of it.

and hopefully keep the reputation

 

+1. For some reason I could not upvote the post. Perhaps he is a mod.

 

When assessing the benefit of psyching it is easy to overlook the benefits of developing a reputation for psyching which may reap dividends on hands that you do not psych.

[RSClyde]

One of my favourite psychs is a heavy weak 2 in 3rd seat. We're not (often) missing game, even if I have 12-14 HCP, and LHO sometimes gets too high and/or misplaces cards. Sure, it's not original - but it works when it happens.

I once made a weak jump overcall on a 17 count.

[ggwhiz]

This thread brought back a memory of my favorite psyche by a partner.

 

White on Red pard opened 2nt in 3rd seat and I raised to 3nt on something like

 

♠J9x, ♥Qxx, ♦Kx, ♣Axxxx

 

Opening lead was a diamond, he flew with the King, played the ♥Q, tanked and flew with the Ace dropping the stiff King for 7 hearts 1 diamond and 1 club.

[Antrax]

I think I get that one. If the opponents double, he can run to his hearts. If you try to transfer him to spades, he can pass you out. What was his plan over something like Stayman? Just play it straight and hope for the best?