[Cascade]

Scoring: MP

PASS 1NT*** PASS PASS*
2♦** PASS 2♠ PASS
PASS 3♣ All PASS
* Agreed Hesitation
** Four Spades and five of any another

---

Would you allow the 3♣ bid?

Edit: 12-14 NT

[TylerE]

What was the range of 1N?

My gut feeling is that yes, I allow it.

[Cascade]

Sorry 12-14 NT

[mrdct]

I've got a passed hand on my right and an opponent on my left who couldn't act over 1NT at favourable vul even though he had a few gadgets at his disposal. My opponents appear to have found a major fit at the two level, I'm playing matchpoints, I have an undisclosed 6-card suit, my partner hasn't sought to remove 1NT to his 5-card suit and my side seems to have about half the points. I don't think there is any logical alternative to bidding 3♣.

[nigel_k]

mrdct, on Aug 2 2010, 04:14 PM, said:

I've got a passed hand on my right and an opponent on my left who couldn't act over 1NT at favourable vul even though he had a few gadgets at his disposal. My opponents appear to have found a major fit at the two level, I'm playing matchpoints, I have an undisclosed 6-card suit, my partner hasn't sought to remove 1NT to his 5-card suit and my side seems to have about half the points. I don't think there is any logical alternative to bidding 3♣.

The opponent on my left could still have a good hand if balanced. My opponents have not necessarily found a fit and may in fact have missed their 5-4 diamond fit and be playing their 4-3 spade fit instead (LHO thinking his partner's suit is clubs). Partner has shown no signs of life in his first two turns to call and could easily have a shortage in clubs. I could have bid 3♣ a round earlier before they settled on a trump suit and nothing has happened since then to make bidding more attractive. They will often have an easy double if I am wrong.

I think passing is definitely a logical alternative.

[aguahombre]

There are people who just plain don't bid again after allegedly showing their size and shape with one bid --- unless partner bids.

There are probably enough of them to make passing a LA. But how does partner's hesitation make 3C a better or worse shot? In what way does it suggest that 3C will work out well? I think you should do what you want (pass or 3C). 3C might give them another shot at a big diamond fit or it might lead to a making contract, but I cannot imagine what pard's hesitation was all about. Action or inaction facing a NT opening is pretty straight-forward. I will do what I would have done without it.

If I guess to double, and find pard with a bad 10 count and spades, then I should be fried. That might be suggested by the hitch.

Come to think of it, maybe he was contemplating drop-dead stayman with 4-3-5-1, in which case 3C would serve him right for not doing it.

This post has been edited by aguahombre: 2010-August-01, 22:15

[jdonn]

I would poll peers of the player who made the bid, giving the problem without a hesitation, and base my answer on those results.

[RMB1]

I think it is clear that Pass is a logical alternative, some people just do not bid again.
I do not think it is clear that 3♣ is suggested by the hesitation, partner often thinks with a weak hand, wondering whether (and how to) run.

[CamHenry]

Cascade, on Aug 1 2010, 09:15 PM, said:

Scoring: MP

PASS 1NT*** PASS PASS*
2♦** PASS 2♠ PASS
PASS 3♣ All PASS
* Agreed Hesitation
** Four Spades and five of any another

---

Would you allow the 3♣ bid?

Edit: 12-14 NT

I'm allowing the 3♣ bid on the grounds that I do not believe it to be demonstrably suggested. The tank could be "do I use garbage Stayman here?"; it could be "will we make one more trick in my major suit?"; it could be "am I strong enough to invite game?". I suspect that a poll would find pass to be an LA; if I held this hand I'd definitely consider passing now.

[Cyberyeti]

RMB1, on Aug 2 2010, 01:26 AM, said:

I think it is clear that Pass is a logical alternative, some people just do not bid again.
I do not think it is clear that 3♣ is suggested by the hesitation, partner often thinks with a weak hand, wondering whether (and how to) run.

Agreed, could be lots of things, 9 count, 5 hearts, play 1N or 2H being another.

[Cascade]

Its curious that some are arguing that the slow Pass does not suggest bidding. This is something that I frequently argue although I am aware of a flip side. The flip side is that partner will often know what the hesitation is based on or at least be well placed to guess what it is most likely to be based on.

However that first argument did not occur to me here because when this happened at the table I am pretty sure that everyone knew that the hesitation was based on values.

[jdonn]

Of course the hesitation suggests values and thus suggests bidding on. For one thing, hesitations usually do. For another thing the opponents are unlikely to have stopped at the 2 level with 27-28 between them.

[gwnn]

I guess it depends on partner. I had a partner who would auto-pass when he had a pass-or-invite decision. It worked well for him. Whenever he hesitated, it did not suggest values. Also when I opened a limited 1M, he passed in very clean tempo with all 9 counts without a fit.

With 90+% of people it is true, however, that slow passes of 1NT show more values than quick passes.

[campboy]

jdonn, on Aug 2 2010, 08:56 PM, said:

Of course the hesitation suggests values and thus suggests bidding on. For one thing, hesitations usually do. For another thing the opponents are unlikely to have stopped at the 2 level with 27-28 between them.

Eh? Yes, the auction marks partner with some values but since this is true whether or not he hesitated I don't see how it tells us what the hesitation suggests.

I also am unconvinced that partner having a good hand makes 3♣ more likely to work. The most likely downside for bidding is finding partner with a maximum pass where we could have taken +200.