About gambling 3NT

[sunnytofu]

As far as I have encountered the hands that partner or me opening gambling 3N, we rarely can really make the 3N contract, usually because the opponents can run the other suits and the dummy cannot really stop the leading suit and/or the suit after first lead, just wonder whether this convention is really a useful one? If yes, in terms of pre-empting opponents or really just "gamble" a chance to make 3N by running the minors? How often does gambling 3N work? If the chance of success is not high, why people are still keeping this convention?

[DavidKok]

It's more of a stop-gap, but the convention has fallen somewhat out of favour.

 

1. Most people place sharp restrictions on the side suit honours opener is allowed to hold - e.g. 'no aces or kings outside your long suit'. That way partner will know that a side suit is wide open if they don't have values there, and they can run to 4m or 5m (or leave it in and pray the defenders choose the wrong lead).
   
2. If the opponents have most of the values the goal is not to make 3NT but rather to go down only a few opposite their major suit game, or to sacrifice in 5m. The auction 3NT-(X)-5♣ (pass or correct) puts quite a bit of pressure on the opponents.
   
3. There are not that many great other uses for a 3NT opening bid. Strong hands are much better shown over multiple rounds of bidding, to collect as much information as possible for game and slam decisions. And if you're going to stick some weak hand in a 3NT opening, it may as well be non forcing. But there are some alternatives: I think Brink-Drijver use 3NT as 'a good 4♥/4♠ opening', kind of like a Namyats but with extra bidding space and softer requirements. I've also seen wild stuff like '3NT shows a 5cM with a 6cm' but I think that's not very common or effective.
   

[smerriman]

we rarely can really make the 3N contract, usually because the opponents can run the other suits and the dummy cannot really stop the leading suit and/or the suit after first lead

How often are you pulling the 3NT bid? If the opponents are always running the other suits, maybe you're not pulling it when you should be.

[Tramticket]

The way to think about the Gambling 3NT convention is that you are making a 4C or 4D pre-empt. But, since you have a running suit, you prefer not to by-pass 3NT in case partner has stops in the other suits. You expect partner to correct to 4m most of the time, which is fine because that was always the value bid on the hand.

 

I agree that it is rare that you will open 3NT and even rarer that partner will leave you to play in 3NT. But we have skipped three full rounds of bidding so I don't want the bid to be high frequency and do want the bid to be very specific.

[Cyberyeti]

The way to think about the Gambling 3NT convention is that you are making a 4C or 4D pre-empt. But, since you have a running suit, you prefer not to by-pass 3NT in case partner has stops in the other suits. You expect partner to correct to 4m most of the time, which is fine because that was always the value bid on the hand.

 

I agree that it is rare that you will open 3NT and even rarer that partner will leave you to play in 3NT. But we have skipped three full rounds of bidding so I don't want the bid to be high frequency and do want the bid to be very specific.

 

And also it being specific can lead you to good slams that are difficult to find otherwise, the fact that you know about the 7th card can be the difference between 11/12/13 tricks in auctions where you can't otherwise be clear about the length.

[LBengtsson]

What else can you use the 3NT opening bid for?

 

25-27 balanced? Last time I had a hand like this was when....before the year 2000 :) (And you can bid these hands through a game forcing 2♣ opener.)

 

A minor suit with ♣/♦ AKQxxxx or AKQJxxx That happens a lot more so that is why it is used as a 3NT opening bid.

 

As other forum commentators have said, you need to know that it is a specific hand with a minor suit like this and no more than a Q outside in any of the side suits. If you feel that 3NT is not the best contract you need to pull the contract from 3NT..

[AL78]

It very rarely comes up but with one partner, I play 3♠ as a solid minor with no outside A/K and 3NT is a 4-minor pre-empt (4♣ pass or correct). This has the small advantage that if partner bids 3NT to play, the lead is coming up to their stoppers, which may make a difference between making and going down.

[thepossum]

As far as I have encountered the hands that partner or me opening gambling 3N, we rarely can really make the 3N contract, usually because the opponents can run the other suits and the dummy cannot really stop the leading suit and/or the suit after first lead, just wonder whether this convention is really a useful one? If yes, in terms of pre-empting opponents or really just "gamble" a chance to make 3N by running the minors? How often does gambling 3N work? If the chance of success is not high, why people are still keeping this convention?

 

Never having had opportunity to use if but I imagine it is called "Gambling" for a good reason :) it seems a wonderfully useful pre-empt from time to time

 

I remember reading on a Bridge teaching site that natural 3NT was generally best avoided so there is a spare bid :) - could the natural and gambling be combined as some kind of multi-3NT or is that what its like anyway?

[DavidKok]

I remember reading on a Bridge teaching site that natural 3NT was generally best avoided so there is a spare bid :) - could the natural and gambling be combined as some kind of multi-3NT or is that what its like anyway?

No, normally it is purely preemptive. If you have a very strong balanced hand partner is likely looking at some weak garbage and will 'raise' your gambling 3NT to 5♣ or 5♦, which you do not want with a strong balanced hand.

Incidentally I do play two-way 3NT over our 3♣/3♦ opening - either to make, or a weak raise to 4m that invites partner to bid again.

[eagles123]

one of my all time favourite auctions was when my first bid was grand in a suit where I was void. Partner opened 3N gambling, and I had a ton of tricks with a void diamond so just bid 7D. They led a trump and it was an easy make when partner had AKQTxxxx and the J fell in two rounds.

[pescetom]

It very rarely comes up but with one partner, I play 3♠ as a solid minor with no outside A/K and 3NT is a 4-minor pre-empt (4♣ pass or correct). This has the small advantage that if partner bids 3NT to play, the lead is coming up to their stoppers, which may make a difference between making and going down.

That makes sense and indeed passing 3NT gambling rarely works out. But I wouldn't be in a hurry to sacrifice a great preempt like 3♤ for such a low frequency gain.

[pescetom]

It very rarely comes up but with one partner, I play 3♠ as a solid minor with no outside A/K and 3NT is a 4-minor pre-empt (4♣ pass or correct). This has the small advantage that if partner bids 3NT to play, the lead is coming up to their stoppers, which may make a difference between making and going down.

That makes sense and indeed passing 3NT gambling rarely works out. But I wouldn't be in a hurry to sacrifice a great preempt like 3♤ for such a low frequency gain.

[helene_t]

My experience is that it works very well when it comes up, but maybe because I mostly play in mediocre fields where people don't know how to defend against it (both in bidding and in play). Once I opened a gambling 3NT and was allowed to win the first trick with a sec king as LHO underlead an ace.

 

Even not catering to declarer holding a sec king, you should still lead the ace in case a switch is needed, or in case declarer has the Jack sec and dummy Qxx or such.

 

The reason people underlead honours is that they want to retain a finesse position against declarer, but that is irrelevant when declarer is known not have anything to finesse against. So you lead an honour, preferably an ace and otherwise a king.

[Cyberyeti]

one of my all time favourite auctions was when my first bid was grand in a suit where I was void. Partner opened 3N gambling, and I had a ton of tricks with a void diamond so just bid 7D. They led a trump and it was an easy make when partner had AKQTxxxx and the J fell in two rounds.

 

I have 2 favourite G3N moments.

 

Winning the pairs at the county congress for the first time due to a 2 board round against the pair that were leading consisting of a 3N-7N (partner had 3 AKs and 2 cards in my suit) and a +1130 which is normally not a bad board.

 

An old partner psyched one -P- I'm looking at 4 clubs to the Q and 4 diamonds to the A, so I know he's psyched, I figure he knows what he's doing so I pass. Opening leader does what he's supposed to do, leads an ace, sees my Jx and assumes he's getting a come on from his partner's card. He was disabused of this when his partner showed out on the next one, declarer took 6 hearts and my ace for -100 against a vulnerable game.