Do you pre-empt?

[gwnn]

I know what muy partner usually has and you can probably afford 2000 :)

I do not think it is winning bridge to have NV preempts promise literally nothing (i.e., "I promise I have nothing" rather than "I do not promise anything"). It's fine to play them as ridiculously wide-ranging, but to promise 0 tricks makes them pretty rare to the point of useless. The same goes with Bergen extremists advocating for "0-4" jump raises. Even assuming that it's winning boards if it comes, how often but does it?

[pescetom]

I don’t like holding the AQ of clubs (I’d much rather KQxxxx)…

Could you expand upon this point please?

[mikeh]

Could you expand upon this point please?

 

 

AQxxxx is possibly two defensive tricks. Even worse, imagine both LHO and partner have doubletons, with Kxx in dummy. They play, say, 4S by LHO on a club lead. Especially when I have the spade queen, three rounds of clubs could destroy the hand.

 

Contrast that with KQxxxx or even KQJxxx….far less powerful on defence while the latter holding is stronger on offence

 

And if RHO bids 3N on Kxx, a low club lets us run the suit should partner hold two clubs, while if declarer held Axx and I KQJxxx, I’d never be able to run the suit no matter how often partner gets in.

 

Now, obviously the hands will probably not be like these examples, but the point remains, imo, valid.

 

I remember, many years ago, an expert friend (at that point a much better player than I was) commenting after I’d opened a weak 2H in third chair with AKQxx….he said, if you’re bidding on a five card suit, it shouldn’t be that good…KQJxx would be far better because AKQxx is too good on defence.

[Cyberyeti]

I do not think it is winning bridge to have NV preempts promise literally nothing (i.e., "I promise I have nothing" rather than "I do not promise anything"). It's fine to play them as ridiculously wide-ranging, but to promise 0 tricks makes them pretty rare to the point of useless. The same goes with Bergen extremists advocating for "0-4" jump raises. Even assuming that it's winning boards if it comes, how often but does it?

 

I didn't say it promised nothing, just that he usually had nothing if I raised.

 

I've opened xx, xxx, xxx, xxxxx twice with 3♣, on both occasions LHO was obviously counting points and had run out of fingers and toes. The funnier of the two was where I was contemplating what to psyche when they opened 2♣ out of turn. I didn't find the winning opening bid of 5N (which they can't or at least couldn't at the time double for pens opposite a silenced partner).

 

The other they bid 6N on their combined 39 count after partner raised to 4♣ on Jx.