[bridgeboy]

All Vul,imps,

You hold

AQ76543
9654
-
xx

LHO opens 1H followed by 2 passes.

What's your bid?

[whereagles]

Funny.. pard is short in hearts and didn't double? Maybe it's because he has only 2-3 spades. Still, I think I'm going to bid 4♠, though it wouldn't surprise me pass would be the right move.

[P_Marlowe]

1S.

You are not strong enough for 2S / 3S,
let alone Dbl.

4S is not certain, you are bound to loose 3-4
tricks in hearts, after a trump lead, so I would
suggest to go easy.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[whereagles]

Marlowe, aren't you suspicious that LHO, who very likely holds a strong 18-20 hcp hand, might overcall 2/3m over 1♠, enabling his pard to raise it to 5?

That is the reason why I think one either bids 4♠ here or passes.

[P_Marlowe]

whereagles, on Mar 16 2006, 06:47 AM, said:

Marlowe, aren't you suspicious that LHO, who very likely holds a strong 18-20 hcp hand, might overcall 2/3m over 1♠, enabling his pard to raise it to 5?

That is the reason why I think one either bids 4♠ here or passes.

Hi,

no, but this may be a lack of experience.
The resaon, that partner did not double may
well be, that he is short in spade as well, and
that he does not have a heart stopper to overcall
1NT.

In other words, a possibile option is also, that
partner holds a fairly strong hand.

And if they bid 5m, ... 11 tricks are a long way
to go.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[awm]

This is an easy 2♠ call in my style, where jumps in the passout seat show weak hands, although sound for the weak range. Playing a more standard style where passout-seat jumps show intermediate to strong hands, the situation is much tougher.

[pbleighton]

This would be an easy 2S call, were it not for the 4 small hearts and vulnerability. 1S for me, but 2S is close.

Whereeagles, how many do you think you are going down in 4SX

Peter

[whereagles]

pbleighton, on Mar 16 2006, 04:01 PM, said:

Whereeagles, how many do you think you are going down in 4SX

Oh yeah? And who's gonna double me? Not you, for sure.. if you don't have the guts to bid 4♠, you won't have the guts to double either

[luis]

3♠ seems to be right.
1♠ is ridiculous and I have a lot of shape for 2♠, 4♠ may work but seems to be an overreaction.

Luis

[mikeh]

I have trouble believing the auction, but here it is.

4♠ may make but it sure sounds as if LHO will either double or bid 4N. If he doubles, I could be going for my life.

3♠, a bid I have never made in this seat, shows (I think) a hand that has expectations of making 3♠ opposite not very much at all, and strongly invites partner to bid game with a modest fit and some working cards: a contribution of 2 tricks or so. I probably need more, but that depends on the degree of fit.

2♠ shows a hand of a completely different character than the one I am looking at

1♠ is almost right on values: make our hand 6412 for example, and we'd all bid 1♠ without a second thought (a rash prediction, I know... predicting unanimity is silly). However, the risk that 1♠ will let them get together in a minor is too great for my liking.

The choice then seems to boil down to 3♠: this is not the hand that I would file in the dictionary as prototypical for the bid, but it represents, in my view, the right combination of moderate distortion, relatively low risk, and good chance of working out when the hand belongs to us. It also does not significantly overstate our defence should the opps bid to 5m: partner on such an auction will not expect us to take more than 1♠ trick even if we held AKQxxxx of the suit.

Pass might work, but I could never bring myself to make the call.

[whereagles]

I don't get it, mikeh. You're worried that LHO might bid 4NT over 4♠, but not that he bids 4m over 3♠? Doesn't make sense to me

[mike777]

3S preemptive but p may expect a bit more than this Vul so Pass is a close second choice.

[luis]

mike777, on Mar 16 2006, 06:01 PM, said:

3S preemptive but p may expect a bit more than this Vul so Pass is a close second choice.

Preemptive in 4th seat ? Cmon!

[mike777]

Mike Lawrence, The Complete Book on Balancing. 1980 1988

"The jump to the 3 level in a higher ranking suit. You can get alot of opinions on this one. The one thing that is clear is it won't come up often. The important thing is to have an agreement and what it is doesn't matter too much as long as it is reasonably safe and sane.........I offer this, play the jump as a good preempt with which you expect to make your contract opposite a random ten count."

[luis]

mike777, on Mar 16 2006, 06:31 PM, said:

Mike Lawrence, The Complete Book on Balancing. 1980 1988

"The jump to the 3 level in a higher ranking suit. You can get alot of opinions on this one. The one thing that is clear is it won't come up often. The important thing is to have an agreement and what it is doesn't matter too much as long as it is reasonably safe and sane.........I offer this, play the jump as a good preempt with which you expect to make your contract opposite a random ten count."

Good reference
Obviously I don't have the book and my understanding is that in 4th position the most standard view is that a jump to 3♠ shows a hand from 11-14 HCP with 7 spades.

[pbleighton]

"Oh yeah? And who's gonna double me? Not you, for sure.. if you don't have the guts to bid 4♠, you won't have the guts to double either"

Oh, I think with Kxx-AQ10xx-AJx-Kx even a Chicken-EHAA bidder such as myself might find the red card

Peter

[whereagles]

eheh.. in that case pard tables

JT
Kx
Qxxxx
AQxx

and I make it

[joshs]

bridgeboy, on Mar 16 2006, 06:13 AM, said:

All Vul,imps,

You hold

AQ76543
9654
-
xx

LHO opens 1H followed by 2 passes.

What's your bid?

Seems like a normal 1S bid. Its not strong enough for 2S. Pass might be right, but thats too big a position for me.

[pbleighton]

"eheh.. in that case pard tables

JT
Kx
Qxxxx
AQxx

and I make it "

I eagerly await the news of your winning lottery ticket.

Peter

[pclayton]

In my dream last night I passed Win 9 against the other table in 4♠-2.

My pards always hold 1=3=4=5 in this auction. Easier at MPs than IMPs anyway.

Then I woke up and bid 1♠. Oh well, another push.