Jump to content

pre-balancing with bad 5-card suit


helene_t

  

14 members have voted

  1. 1. Which of the following choices are reasonable?



Recommended Posts

Matchpoints, red vs white. RHO deals and opens 1NT (12-14)

(1NT)-p-(2)-p

(2-?

 

You hold

9xxxx

x

AQJx

KTx

 

As you don't have any conventions to distinguish five spades from six, you pass in first round.

 

I suppose you could have asked opps if they regularly open 1NT with a 5-card major, and if they play smolen or crawling stayman, but this is the local club so you assume the answer to the first two questions would be "no" and to the third probably "no agreement".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Matchpoints, red vs white. RHO deals and opens 1NT (12-14)

(1NT)-p-(2)-p

(2-?

 

You hold

9xxxx

x

AQJx

KTx

 

As you don't have any conventions to distinguish five spades from six, you pass in first round.

 

I suppose you could have asked opps if they regularly open 1NT with a 5-card major, and if they play smolen or crawling stayman, but this is the local club so you assume the answer to the first two questions would be "no" and to the third probably "no agreement".

Perhaps I am to cautious, but I don't see this as "pre-balancing". LHO's hand has not been limited, so you have no reason to believe that partner has any useful cards. You could be walking into a huge minus score.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bidding 2 has little going for it. I find that opps are bidding on three quarters of the time - so you don't want to suggest a lead. Also, there is no reason to think that opps have more than a seven-card fit and competent opps will be able to double if appropriate (yes, I know you said it was a local club ...).

 

Much safer to double.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, for everyone wanting to take some action, what contract are they going to play in? 2h...4h...3m...3N? You have no idea. If they play in hearts, do they have a fit? What is you partner going to do if you pull a 2h contract in which they have 5 decent hearts to play in the mess you have? If they play in 3n, what is a spade lead going to do? Additionally, you are potentially turning a -110 or -140 into a real number...for them. Finally, going forward, you partner will never trust your bids to mean anything in the future, so if you get a decent playing hand that actually should take some action, your partner is going to do the wrong thing.

 

The glass looks half empty and my rose colored glasses are broke.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bidding 2 has little going for it. I find that opps are bidding on three quarters of the time - so you don't want to suggest a lead.

What are the odds that partner will be on lead? I don't think they will play in diamonds or spades, so the only remaining possible strain where partner is on lead is clubs...

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...