[Phil]

3♥ but its close. This has has a lot of red flags - bad suit, short in partner's suit, non-fitting spades, and opponents that didn't bid diamonds. It might be a screaming misfit, and 3N will go for many 100's.

By the way, a lot of hands that are just 'weak with hearts' pass 2♥, but do I really need to pass 2♣ with xxx KJTxxx xxxx void? . Only if I played WJS, would I ever take 2♥ as constructive.

[Zelandakh]

the hog, on 2011-February-07, 04:20, said:

Partner showed at least 6C with that bid.

Really? What was the rebid with xx/AQ/xxxx/AQJxx? 1NT perhaps? Or do you open 1D? Saying that partner has promised 6 clubs in standard is incorrect. Better to say that partner usually has 6 clubs but that 5 decent ones with 4 diamonds is also possible. I do understand there are different styles in this context but nothing in the OP leads us to believe anything unusual is being played.

[gwnn]

1♣ promises 6. If you bid it with 5 that's your problem. Another good argument for minus votes.

[gnasher]

In some styles 2♣ promises six, in others it doesn't. In Steve Robinson's survey 18 of the 36 panelists said they sometimes rebid 2♣ on a five-card suit here.

[gwnn]

Sometimes bidding 2♣ with 5 and showing 6 (or even promising 6) are not mutually exclusive.

[phil_20686]

This is one of those question that only tells you about agreeements.

(1) Do you play WJS over 1!c, such that 2!h = too good to bid 2!h initially.

(2) Do you always raise 1h to 2h with 3 cards and a shortage, such that 3316 or 1336 are impoosible? If so 4h looks much less attractive. I have played in partnerships that would routinely bid 2h on 2-3-2-6, and certainly whenever you have 4h and only 5 clubs (w/o 4 spades).

(3) A significant number of players play 3h on this sequence ad GF, on the grounds that with a WJS and 1c-1h-2c-2h showing 8-11.

I really thing that if partner cannot have 3h then 4h feels like a bit much. If partner can be expected to have 3h some of the time then a 4h rebid is more attrative. I would expect partner to raise 2h to 3h with say a 14 count 3h and decent clubs anyway.

[the hog]

Zelandakh, on 2011-February-10, 07:31, said:

Really? What was the rebid with xx/AQ/xxxx/AQJxx? 1NT perhaps? Or do you open 1D? Saying that partner has promised 6 clubs in standard is incorrect. Better to say that partner usually has 6 clubs but that 5 decent ones with 4 diamonds is also possible. I do understand there are different styles in this context but nothing in the OP leads us to believe anything unusual is being played.

With the hand you posted 1NT is an obvious rebid if you open 1C
Treat balanced hands like balanced hands.

[Zelandakh]

the hog, on 2011-February-10, 22:17, said:

Treat balanced hands like balanced hands.

I think this is the crux of the matter to some extent. When I was young a balanced hand meant 4333, 4432 or 5m332, and indeed such old-fashioned thinking is still very common in these parts. Shapes like 5422, 6322 and the like were sometimes described as semi-balanced but never balanced. Nowadays I hear folks, at least here on the forums, calling these hands simply balanced. In this instance if you are willing to treat all weakish 2245 and 3145 hands as balanced and at the same time all weakish 1345 hands as worth a 2H raise then you can indeed make a 2C rebid promise 6. I did say I am aware of such styles as well as methods where most 4D-5C hands are opened 1D in order to avoid this problem completely. However, it is my belief that the majority view, at least in the non-expert community, is still to allow a 2C rebid with such hands. Since the OP did not specify any particular style, and since we therefore must assume a PUP, it would be unsafe to assume partner has shown us a 6-card suit. Naturally if you were bidding with your regular partner you can assume anything you want. Of course as gwnn mentioned, many players who do 'promise' 6 card clubs in this spot routinely bid 2C with 5 good ones anyway making the 2 positions not completely mutually exclusive.

[Cascade]

gwnn, on 2011-February-10, 07:40, said:

1♣ promises 6. If you bid it with 5 that's your problem. Another good argument for minus votes.

Six card minors - does that mean you play the short major openings?

[gwnn]

ha. nice catch. egg on my face.

[whereagles]

3♥ here. The extra heart compensates for low suit quality.