This hand cost

[the hog]

Imps. V vs not.

 

(1D) P (P) ?

 

AKQ962

A72

J7

Q2

 

What do you bid?

If you choose 2S as I did, the bidding proceeds

 

(1D) P (P) 2S

(4H) 4S (5H) ?

 

Now??

[Gerben42]

2♠ is okay. It seems LHO has a freak 2-suiter, always dangerous. Also we don't know what partner bid 4♠ on. I pass, partner knows I have this and is in a better position to figure out what to do next.

[PMetsch]

1) I think the hand is too good for 2♠, I would DBL

2) 5♠, this seems no forcing pass situation. Don't know who can make a contract at the 5-level. The opps don't know either, so they may bid 6♥.

[Finch]

This is a down the middle 2S bid.

 

I don't think this is a forcing pass position, but whether it is or not I probably pass as I have exactly what I have shown: opening values & a decent 6-card spade suit.

 

I have a nasty feeling it isn't our hand. It's not impossible they are making 6H.

Of course, this depends a bit on opponents & whether we trust them or they are insane. If everyone is sane, then something like

 

-

KJxxx

AKQxxxx

A

 

on our left, and

 

xxx

Qxxx

x

xxxxx

 

on our right, with

 

J10xx

x

xxx

KJxxx

 

in partner's hand is entirely consistent with the auction.

[Chamaco]

Is pass forcing ?

I am not sure here.

 

In any case, I bid 5S, pard should have all the clubs of the deck (opener has a red 2 suiter, his pard has hearts support with close to a yarborough, since he passed , I expect to lose 2 diamonds and claim :-) ).

 

I I am off 1, I think/hope it's not a phantom save (in we are off I'd expect opps to have 5H laydown).

[Jurek S]

I'd pass. Forcing or not ? Who knows but accept both. :)

[whereagles]

5S for me. LHO seems to have a freak, and in these sort of cases it's usually better to bid one more for the road.

[Guest Jlall]

Pass. I can't see justifying going to the 5 level on 6322 shape. I'm not sure how this can be a forcing pass as partner may have just been saving. He knows what I have approximately and should be well placed to do the right thing. He could have anything. This is not my decision to make.

[mike777]

pass, another easy one.

1) 2s tells my story wonderfully.

2) ditto 6332 shape

3) ace of H and 3 hearts more pass than bid on.

4) 5 level belongs to opp

5) p could not overcall 1d

6) well bid 4s partner, very well done.

7) partner can bid again if they have funny hand.

[Walddk]

Pass is clear to me. I showed my hand when i bid 2♠. Now it's up to partner to decide. Only he knows why he bid 4♠. There is nothing forcing about my pass now.

 

Roland

[Al_U_Card]

Buy low (2S), sell high (pass). Not forcing, ever, and glad they didn't double 4S which might have been less than 6H making but more than 5H making.....

[Chamaco]

I have read with interest the various comments by players far better than me: so I would appreciate feedback on my thought processes, given below.

Thanks :-)

 

--------------------------------------------------------------

 

I realize that my 2S bid has indeed shown my values (and 5S would run the risk to bid "twice" my hand), but there are 2 things pard won't know, and if we pass he will have trouble to figure out:

 

1) I have Axx in opps suit and I know from the bidding pard is short in the same suit (we are likely not to lose heart)

2) I have Qx in clubs: the Q is a huge offensive card according to the bidding: as opener is likely to be VERY short in clubs and RHO has a semi-yarborough, pard is likely to have all values there.

 

The combination of 1 and 2) has transformed our hand from a "down the middle" 2S to a huge offensive hand IMO.

Even in the layout shown by Frances, even 6S is a good sac, red vs white, and that says it all about the offensive power of this hand once opener shows a red 2 suiter and RHO shows a bust (so he has no clubs values).

 

So I think that bidding 5S is not "rebiding my hand", but showing the extra offensive power of Axx in opps suit and Qx of clubs.

[Guest Jlall]

even in the layout shown by frances, pard has a very easy 5S bid.

[Chamaco]

even in the layout shown by frances, pard has a very easy 5S bid.

Justin, could you comment on the rest of my "thinking aloud" of my previous post ?

[Guest Jlall]

sure.

 

1) I agree that our red suit holdings are nice. This is likely to be a double fitter. Partner is likely to know this as well. If we had values in the red suit, it is quite likely we would X 5H. Our pass obviously shows that we couldn't X them, which partner can imply to mean we arent loaded in the reds. If we had another red suit trick it's likely we would have Xed.

 

2) I think you are overrating the club queen. If partner has AKxxx of clubs or something, then it may not help since we would likely be able to ruff the red suits in dummy anyways. If partner has the king, the hook rates to be on. It may be a useful card but it also may not.

 

3) Our shape does not argue for offense at all. Remember we have the worst possible shape for a 2S bid.

 

4) partner could have a lot of values in diamonds. He could have values in clubs. We don't know. Basically my viewpoint is this is partners decision, and it should be reasonably well informed.

[inquiry]

Pass.. I have told my story...

 

Time for another Commercial.... Francis gives this hand for them as a possibility...

--

KJxxx

AKQxxxx

A

 

on our left, and

 

xxx

Qxxx

x

xxxxx

 

Not against me.. My bidding would be MISIRY

 

2NT - (P) - 4C - (4S)

?

 

Over 4♠ if I have strong hand with spades, I double. All other bids show strong hand without spades. With 4NT showing 3-4 loser, 5C showing 2 loser, need lower cover, 5D two loser, no need for lower cover, 5H 1 loser, etc...

 

So over 4S I would bid 5D, and partner would bid 6♥. Here we have partner raising us and opponents competiting, and we still land accurately and quickly at correct spot.

 

The combining of 3-4 loser hands in competition and if partner is so rude as not to bid the transfer suit at cheapest level is very common.

[mike777]

even in the layout shown by frances, pard has a very easy 5S bid.

1) "fought the law" our hand

13-3-0=expect to make 10 tricks vul.

13=total tricks

3=guess of combined 2 shortest suits

0=guess of 19-21 working hcp

 

2) "fought the law" opp hand

13-2-0=11 tricks

13=total tricks

2=guess of combined 2 shortest suits. If "1" then they make 6.

0=guess of 19-21 working hcp.

[Chamaco]

2) I think you are overrating the club queen.

The evaluation of the club Queen is not so much in the power in offense (we can ruff side suits so no discard needed), but the fact that its defensive value is null. Basically it raises the ODR value of the hand, not so much for the high offensive power, but for its null defensive value.

[Finch]

even in the layout shown by frances, pard has a very easy 5S bid.

That was my thought as well.

 

What put me off acting is that partner may have a load of values in diamonds, and a trump lead could put paid to any ambitions the opponents have of making 11 tricks.

 

Who the opponents are is relevant. I would bid 3H on some pretty powerful 5-6s (or even 5-7s) here; I wouldn't bid 4H unless I think it's very likely to make as I trust my partner. However some people may not be in a regular partnership, or may not trust their partner to (say) bid 5D over 3H looking at xxx Kx Jxx xxxxx.

[Fluffy]

I don't see any way to beat 5♥, I'll bid 5♠.

[Al_U_Card]

Seems to me that the shape and values are soft. Pard expects some high cards outside of spades and certainly the Club ace-Q would be huge cards while the H ace, while stopping their suit once, does nothing to promote tricks in our hands. Pard may well be disappointed to find the H ace in your hand.

[Rebound]

I feel much less qualified to comment than those above, however, my opinion, fwiw, is that I have bid my values. The rest is up to partner. It has always been my experience that when once you have shown your hand, free bids will sink you.

 

I agree that this is far more of an issue with weaker players whose judgement is less well developed than that of the expert player, but I feel it is a marvellous method of developing trust in any partnership.

[the hog]

[hv=n=sxxxhq63dxcj9xxxx&w=stxxhjxdqxxcakt82&e=sakq962ha72djxcqx&s=sjhkt98xdakt9xxxc]399|300|[/hv]

 

This was the full hand. Yes I agree that the 4H bid was excessive, but while this was a strong event, this was certainly one of the weaker pairs playing.

 

The full auction was:

(1D) P (P) 2S

(4H) 4S (5H)

all pass.

 

I must admit that I was a little surprised at partner's final pass. I might have doubled with his hand, and maybe I should bid 5S, but I felt that my 2S bid had expressed my values. Question - should my pass be a forcing pass?

 

The defence has some academic interest.

Declarer ruffed the opening C lead and played A of D and ruffed a D and played the Q!!of H off the board (I told you this was a weaker pair). I won the A and underlead AKQ of S, hoping that pd had the J so I could overruff dummy's on a D return. It was not to be - making 6. Partner suggested I should duck the HQ in the hope that declarer hooks the Ten of H. Faint hope....it looks like she was playing to drop Jx.

So they made 6 instead of 5. The datum was 370 our way! 5S can't make of course unless there is a defensive error, but at least it lessens the loss on the hand.

[Chamaco]

5S can't make of course unless there is a defensive error, but at least it lessens the loss on the hand.

This seems to confirm my evaluation: even opposite partner's hand, which is not offensive, our hand (despite 6322 shape) is so ofensive that bidding 5S is still a winner.

 

What matters here IMO is not so much the shape distribution, but the HONORS fit: from the bidding we know that opps are in a very pure fit, and there will be many more tricks than usual for both sides.

In this case, the 6322 shape has MUCH more potential than usual.

 

If EAST does not bid 5S, he cannot expect west to bid it if west has a "normal" hand, yet, when east does have a normal hand, 5S is the par of the hand (if we are down, opps have game).

[mike777]

5S can't make of course unless there is a defensive error, but at least it lessens the loss on the hand.

This seems to confirm my evaluation: even opposite partner's hand, which is not offensive, our hand (despite 6322 shape) is so ofensive that bidding 5S is still a winner.

 

What matters here IMO is not so much the shape distribution, but the HONORS fit: from the bidding we know that opps are in a very pure fit, and there will be many more tricks than usual for both sides.

In this case, the 6322 shape has MUCH more potential than usual.

 

If EAST does not bid 5S, he cannot expect west to bid it if west has a "normal" hand, yet, when east does have a normal hand, 5S is the par of the hand (if we are down, opps have game).

Strongly disagree with your wording here.

1) Shape does matter very much.

2) Let us just call honor fit " working hcp"

3) Combine one and two and you do NOT have more tricks than expected. In fact you do not have any more expected tricks.

 

See "fought the law".

13-4+1=10 tricks.

 

Will grant you the opp hand is much harder to count out in all fairness.