A two-step problem

[mikeh]

That's what I did, bid 4nt hoping to make 10. But I thought 2-3 mins because it was not simple to see why partner would not X in the balancing position.

I actually placed him with a 5-5-0-3, so that IMO he also had the chance to remove to 5♣, where I hope to concede 1♣+1♠.

 

Unfortunately, I regretted the choice.

A 5503 would open with say 8 HCP, so he must be weaker. He needs to have something not biddable in 1st seat. We played multi, so he had passed with 10xxxx A9xxxxx / x, which makes 4♥.

The unfortunate thing is that the alternative I was considering was 4♥ since that would give value to Kx. 4♠ is down 1.

I had not seen this post when I wrote mine.

 

4D was nonsensical.

 

But so too was your comment that he would have opened with 8 hcp if 55 in the majors. That would be ok, if you were playing a forcing club method and disclosed on your CC that your 1M could be 8-15 (which I have seen at high-level events). But for standard bidders to be opening on 8 hcp is playing terrible bridge, for a host of reasons, not least of which is the impossibility of ever limiting your hand properly should partner have a good hand.

 

There are a lot of inexperienced players opening ever lighter and lighter, and yet (not surprisingly) I never encounter them in the late rounds of a swiss, or a KO, and rarely see them threatening to win a serious pairs game. It's 'fun' to be in every auction, which is why a method known as EHAA was (mildly) popular a generation ago, until the proponents discovered that they weren't winning much. Yes, they had lots of wonderful tops, and lots of stories, but they couldn't win playing an undisciplined method.

[mikeh]

Partner only has one available bid after passing and that is double. He has no idea how the missing points are divided. If he doubles and I bid 4♣, he can bid 4♦. Partner's 4♦ bid is suicidal (cos I will kill him myself afterwards!)

I will now go out on a limb and bid 4N and hope that he understands that I want him to pass!

Lesson one for bidding on misfits: do NOT bid notrump unless your suits are running without help from partner.

 

When one has a misfit, and one's suits are not running right away, the defenders can defend accurately and effectively. If you try to set up dummy's suit(s), they get to choose whether to hold off their winners or they attack dummy's entries..any entries in the side suits will be short, by definition, and thus easy to dislodge. They use the same tactic on your hand should you choose to try to set that up. They often don't need to set up their own tricks...they will come naturally as your hand, or dummy's, collapses.

 

When you have a misfit, get out as soon as possible in the least unpleasant trump suit.

 

While 4D is an odd bid (and as we learn later in this thread, an egregious overbid), bidding 4N is even worse. The fact that you think it even plausible (as, it seems, did the OP) simply demonstrates why 3N was the correct action over 3D. However, having passed, 4H is the clear choice for the reasons I elaborate on in my long post on this thread...a post I wrote before I found out how silly partner had been.

[rmnka447]

I missed this thread, but would bid 3 NT over 3 ♦. Over 3 NT, partner clearly has to make a bid to get you to 4 ♥. ("What do you call a 7 card suit? Trump")

 

If the auction is passed back to partner and I was partner, I'd just bid 3 ♥ not 4 ♦. Preemptor's partner didn't make any further move over the preempt, so is unlikely to have a huge hand. Opposite a stiff ♥ with 1 or 2 other useful cards in partner's hand, 3 ♥ should be pretty close to making.