Takeout double

[pilowsky]

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This hand came up in Speedball Tourney.

When the dust settled, I decided to cop most of the blame,

My question is: What's your call as North in this auction?

[/hv]

[nullve]

3♠: 6(+)S4-D4-C, a bit too strong for a 2♠ overcall

[mw64ahw]

3♠: 6(+)S4-D4-C, a bit too strong for a 2♠ overcall

X followed by 3♠ regardless of whether this is a weak 2♥ or an Ekren style 2♥

Too strong for 2♠

A direct 3♠ would show a stronger suit for me

[eagles123]

I would put the stop card out and then bid 2S, thus signalling a max 2S bid.

[mw64ahw]

I would put the stop card out and then bid 2S, thus signalling a max 2S bid.

And get penalised?

[LBengtsson]

3♠ also like nullve. yes suit could be stronger but is headed by AK plus two more aces. hand is over 18 on kaplan/rubens and as the opponents have preempted I will assume partner will have 7-8 high card points. X followed by 3♠ is also an option, depending on partnership agreements but I would take this bid as this sort of hand also. one where a immediate 2♠ overcall shows a weaker hand than this. game will probably depend on no more than a finesse against the stronger ops hand. give your partner ♠xx ♥xxxx ♦kxxx ♣KJx and as long as trumps are 3-2 game is more than 50/50

[nige1]

[hv=pc=n&n=sak7432hqda53cat3&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=pp2hdp]133|200|

Pilowski 'This hand came up in Speedball Tourney.

When the dust settled, I decided to cop most of the blame,

My question is: What's your call as North in this auction?'

++++++++++++++++++++

I rate

1. Double = T/O. If partner passes ♥Q should prove useful.

2, 3♠ = NAT Good hand good suit. Nullve is usually right but I'd like better intermediates.

3. 2♠ = NAT Undebid.

[/hv]

[hrothgar]

[hv=pc=n&n=sak7432hqda53cat3&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=pp2hdp]133|200|

Pilowski 'This hand came up in Speedball Tourney.

When the dust settled, I decided to cop most of the blame,

My question is: What's your call as North in this auction?'

++++++++++++++++++++

I rate

1. Double = T/O. If partner passes ♥Q should prove useful.

2, 3♠ = NAT Good hand good suit. Nullve is usually right but I'd like better intermediates.

3. 2♠ = NAT Undebid.

[/hv]

 

2♠

 

Not tempted by anything else

 

The queen of Hearts isn't carrying any weight.

The spade suit is to weak to consider a jump bid.

[Douglas43]

[hv=pc=n&n=sak7432hqda53cat3&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=pp2hdp]133|200|

Pilowski 'This hand came up in Speedball Tourney.

When the dust settled, I decided to cop most of the blame,

My question is: What's your call as North in this auction?'

++++++++++++++++++++

I rate

1. Double = T/O. If partner passes ♥Q should prove useful.

2, 3♠ = NAT Good hand good suit. Nullve is usually right but I'd like better intermediates.

3. 2♠ = NAT Undebid.

[/hv]

 

I was a Spade bidder, but double is interesting. Assuming no penalty pass, what would be your planned follow-up Nige1? Would you bid Spades over a Lebensohl response or go with partner's choice of suit?

[nige1]

I was a Spade bidder, but double is interesting. Assuming no penalty pass, what would be your planned follow-up Nige1? Would you bid Spades over a Lebensohl response or go with partner's choice of suit?

If partner bids 2N (Lebensohl) I guess would bid 3♠, (assuming that to be constructive but N/F). I hope this suggests tolerance for alternative strains. Unfortunately Partner will probably judge this to be stronger than Nullve's direct 3♠ overcall. Oh Well. Anything could be right. Pilowsky posed a hard and interesting problem :)

[pescetom]

For me it's a clear 3♠: 6-card is no problem, 7432 is, but the two side aces make up for that.

[TylerE]

I'll content myself with 2♠.

 

I like the hand, but not THAT much. The spots and lack of intemediates is BAD.

 

If we're making anything, partner has to find a raise somehow.

 

Opposite a couple of nasty splits and a broke dummy I might struggle to make even 2.

[johnu]

2♠ - WTP? A good 6 loser hand for a 2 level overcall.

[pescetom]

Opposite a couple of nasty splits and a broke dummy I might struggle to make even 2.

And opposite Qxx xxxx KQJxx x you might struggle to go down in slam, as cyberyeti is bound to point out B-)

[johnu]

Opposite a couple of nasty splits and a broke dummy I might struggle to make even 2.

 

Or maybe even struggle to make 1.

[johnu]

And opposite Qxx xxxx KQJxx x you might struggle to go down in slam, as cyberyeti is bound to point out B-)

 

I would immediately get another partner if they passed 2♠ with that hand. Apologies in advance if I boot you from the table if you do something like this :lol:

[Winstonm]

2S - a slight underbid - not because of the 6 spades but because of the prime cards. If partner can't find a raise I doubt we've missed anything.

[jillybean]

2S - a slight underbid - not because of the 6 spades but because of the prime cards. If partner can't find a raise I doubt we've missed anything.

2♠, for this reason.

[eagles123]

And get penalised?

 

 

;)

[pilowsky]

[hv=pc=n&s=sq85hjt8dkq87c982&w=st9hak9753d94cqj6&n=sak7432hqda53cat3&e=sj6h642djt62ck754&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=pp2hdp2np3sppp]399|300|

Here's the entire hand and auction. Matchpoints btw.

Earlier that day, my partner sent me a message saying a friend had 'dropped' for tea, so Lebensohl was on my mind.

I thought that the double meant she had a strong hand with no decent 5-card suit to overcall with.

One of the lines that I took away from Lawrence on Takeout Doubles was "a five-card suit is gold".

I know there were 300+ more pages to the book and even stuff not covered, but with that in mind, I assumed my partner lacked a 5-card suit and had lots of points.

The 3♠ bid surprised me, and I assumed North had a strong hand with four chunky spades - so I left it.

Double-dummy suggests 3NT is optimal, but the top 6 pairs were in 4♠+1.

The bidding on the 4♠ tables reflects the results of the poll:

On five tables, West opened 2♥. One person overcalled 3♠, Three people overcalled 2♠, and one person doubled (followed by 3♦ 3♠ 4♠)

West opened 1♥ at two tables, making it easier for NS to reach 4♠.

Afterwards, I decided that since EW and I were all weak, I should have taken my partner to be much stronger than I imagined.

[/hv]

[hrothgar]

Couple quick notes:

 

I don't think that you be sure that the partner of the preempted is weak.

They could have a relatively strong hand with no fit...

 

If you start with a double with this sort of hand, you aren't going to easily be able to show a chunky 4 card spade suit. (It would be nice if you could, but you need some way to show the strong single suited hand)

[AL78]

[hv=pc=n&s=sq85hjt8dkq87c982&w=st9hak9753d94cqj6&n=sak7432hqda53cat3&e=sj6h642djt62ck754&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=pp2hdp2np3sppp]399|300|

Here's the entire hand and auction. Matchpoints btw.

Earlier that day, my partner sent me a message saying a friend had 'dropped' for tea, so Lebensohl was on my mind.

I thought that the double meant she had a strong hand with no decent 5-card suit to overcall with.

One of the lines that I took away from Lawrence on Takeout Doubles was "a five-card suit is gold".

I know there were 300+ more pages to the book and even stuff not covered, but with that in mind, I assumed my partner lacked a 5-card suit and had lots of points.

The 3♠ bid surprised me, and I assumed North had a strong hand with four chunky spades - so I left it.

Double-dummy suggests 3NT is optimal, but the top 6 pairs were in 4♠+1.

The bidding on the 4♠ tables reflects the results of the poll:

On five tables, West opened 2♥. One person overcalled 3♠, Three people overcalled 2♠, and one person doubled (followed by 3♦ 3♠ 4♠)

West opened 1♥ at two tables, making it easier for NS to reach 4♠.

Afterwards, I decided that since EW and I were all weak, I should have taken my partner to be much stronger than I imagined.

[/hv]

 

I would have overcalled 3♠ (if you wait for the perfect hand, you might as well take SJO over a weak two off your card), but if 2NT was Lebensohl, 3♠ shows a strong hand with a spade suit, so South has an easy raise to 4♠.

[helene_t]

Afterwards, I decided that since EW and I were all weak, I should have taken my partner to be much stronger than I imagined.

No, opps don't have to be weak. They could both have up to 11 points.

 

But partner has shown a monster hand with 5+ spades, so you should raise.

 

In general, it is better to trust partner than to trust opps. Even if partner is a less reliable person than opps. Fon one thing, partner tries to give you the information you need while opps try to conceal it. Another reason is that there's only one partner who could distort his hand, but two opps.

 

And of course, partner may be upset if you don't trust them, while opps will be perfectly OK with you not trusting them.

 

Btw if you play Lebensohl, you should start with 3♦. Then partner's 3♠ bid would be forcing. But here it doesn't matter, you will reach 4♠ regardless of methods and regardless of North's choice. If North just overcalls 2♠, South should invite and North will of course accept.

[eagles123]

...

[apollo1201]

If North just overcalls 2♠, South should invite and North will of course accept.

A good player corrected me in a simillar sequence, that it was (technically) not an invite.

But you, a good player from what I read from your other posts, use that terminology.

Maybe it is a question of native speaker (I guess he was, I am not, I don’t know for you).

Courtesy raise is the word?

Or it is a different strength vs an unopposed invite (from a good 10 to a bad 12)?

If you know, I’m happy to learn. After all, improving one’s bridge is not only masterizing new squeezes techniques or conventions, it is also using the appropriate terms!😃