Consider this Auction

[Elianna]

You are playing in open pairs at a regional. You later find out (though your partner knows this at the time) that LHO is an expert playing with a client who is described to you as awful (after the round, of course, and not by his partner).

 

The bidding goes:

(you pass throughout)

LHO RHO

1NT (BIT)2C

2D (BIT)3S

(BIT)4H 5D

5H 6D

6H pass

 

BIT=Break in tempo

3S =Smolen

 

Partner asks if you have any questions, you ask for an explanation of the auction, LHO gives the explanation given above (diamond bids were explained by LHO as cuebids).

 

Partner leads club A.

 

First question: How surprised are you when LHO tables KQxx Tx AKJTxx x?

 

You have the spade A, so you try to signal partner with a high club, but partner seems to have been taken in by LHO's hemming and hawing (that they're playing in a 3-2 fit) and played a heart. (Again, I should stress that partner was not thinking how to set a difficult to beat contract)

 

Second question: After the dust settles, how surprised would you be to discover LHO had Jx AKQJxx xx QJx? (15-17NT, but the point is that he denied a fourcard major)

 

Third question: Did anything wrong happen here (should the director be involved)?

[shanbari]

are u sure of opps playing 2c stayman ?

 

this auction is more like KERI 2C, relay to 2d and jump 3s to show 5d+4s game forcing.

 

 

shan

[Guest Jlall]

the pro has been operating massively trying to play 3N. The client forgot smolen. The explanations were presumably correct, you were not damaged except by your own misdefense (if they are in a 3-2 fit then why play a trump anyways? trying to beat it 6?)

[luke warm]

i agree with justin.. 3nt was what he was angling for, with him declaring naturally :blink:

[Antoine Fourrière]

The pro's bidding looks simply right. When you open this kind of hand with 1N, which I think is far from stupid, it becomes much less risky to answer 2♦ to Stayman, unless you're playing Puppet. It will hurt only if responder has four hearts, and the odds are he doesn't have them.

[awm]

The 1NT opening and 2♦ response are probably reasonable attempts to "operate." What seems a little fishy is the subsequent auction.

 

(1) How did the "client" know to pass 6♥? Opposite a partner who has denied holding even four hearts, how can it ever be right to pass (a 3-2 fit at best) rather than correct to 6NT? If this was an experienced partnership, I'd have to say that the pass of 6♥ indicates an understanding that partner may have a hand with six solid hearts and bid this way, which certainly should be disclosed to the opponents. It seems that responder somehow decided that the "double psych" of partner opening 1NT with a six card major and subsequently denying holding even four in that major, is more likely than a continued misunderstanding based on his "smolen" call. Of course, it may well be that this player is so bad that bidding 6NT to avoid the 3-2 fit did not occur...

 

(2) Did the "pro" realize that bidding the hearts over and over would eventually get the client to pass? It seems like he is probably aware that partner tends to forget conventions like smolen, and that (at least given his hand) this has likely occurred. He is probably also aware that if he keeps bidding his hearts, partner will eventually pass even though logic would seem to indicate not to. Again, it seems like he knows a lot about partner's bidding and tendencies which a casual opponent wouldn't know, and which he sees no reason to explain.

 

It just seems like a situation where each player has two possiblities to consider, from the client's viewpoint: "Is partner operating, or does partner think I have hearts?" and from the pro's viewpoint: "Is this a serious slam try with a huge heart fit, or did partner mess up smolen?" The fact that they somehow (eventually) both guessed right that partner was distorting his hand seems somewhat off to me.

 

Also note that 6♥ is at most down one, whereas 6NT (which seems like the only reasonable call from responder here) is down at least two. Of course, one can blame the defense for not cashing out their two aces, but you have to be careful with this. It seems like some people are eager to license multiple psyches and de facto hidden agreements, and then say that just because opponents failed to defend accurately (in the face of massive misinformation), it constitutes a failure to play bridge and the table results stand. Even if the failure to cash out really was aggregious, I think this auction is so bizarre (and it really looks like a DOUBLE fielded psych to me) that it might be reasonable to adjust the declaring side's result (to say 6NT-2) while letting the defenders' table result stand.

[Echognome]

I've posted this at a Laws forum. Will let you know what they have to say. Sounds fishy to me. :rolleyes:

[Winstonm]

Looks to me like at the crucial point - when his partner bid 3S - that the "pro" hesitated trying to determine if his partner had indeed forgotten Smolen, and if so should he rebid 3N? Noting that without a diamond card his hand will problably play better in hearts than NT anyway, and sensing an "ethics" problem by NOT bidding 4H, he probably decided (hoped is a better word) that partner actually did have her bid.

 

Note that after this decision, and I have no doubt "knowing" that 5D was not a cue bid, he did not try to distort his hand in any way but bid his hand properly as if his partner had what she announced - he had no cue over 5 diamonds nor 6 diamonds, each time "signing off" in the "agreed upon suit". Maybe partner got all excited with Kxxx, Jxxxx, AKQ, A after a 1N opening and showing 3 hearts - I've certainly seem a lot weirder bidding.

 

As to why the "customer" passed, I can't tell you, but I bet it has a lot to do with "training".

 

Here is a true story to compare: Mike Passell was once playing in a regional with a customer and opened 1H. His partner bid 1S. Mike rebid 2D. His partner bid 2H. All passed. When dummy came down, she was 7-6 in the blacks with 6 HCPs - preferring back to her better VOID!!!! ROFLOLOLOLOL. They got a "top" on the board.

 

That is what I mean by "training." :rolleyes: :D :P

[Fluffy]

I remember 2 years ago a pro making 4♠ on a 2-2 fit beause the client forgot how to answer 2♦ multi-2NT. Sadly he scored 0 MP anyway since 6♥ was cold.

 

 

For the given auction, I must say I've seen my father on some situations like these kinda often, he will might yell to his client even when there is no difference at all. But the concept is important after all, I know some good players who beleive the only way to learn is to get a good partner and that he loses his voice yelling at you every board. I learnt this way.