[daveharty]

Well, it's Friday, which means that my partner and I had the chance to butcher a few hands at the local club last night. Actually we got most of them right for a change, but there were a few close decisions. Matchpoints:

1.

---

Are you worth a move?

2.

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Partner favors a sound weak 2 style, but he might take liberties against these particular opponents. South is the most random player in the club and a very poor cardplayer. Whether you agree with East's initial pass or not, what now?

3.

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As aggravating as it is, that's how it went. North is a poor player, and vulnerability probably didn't figure into her decisions thus far. Anything more to say?

[jillybean]

Tough problems and instead of embarrassing myself I will wait for others to answer but it appears these weak players caused a
few problems for you

[mikeh]

1. I have a great hand in the context of my 1N rebid, and I don't stop clubs, so I frankly don't understand the 3n call. 3♠ ought to set trump and invite cue-bidding for slam purposes if my hand warrants it within the context of having limited my hand and shape via 1N. I would have cue bid over 3♠ (4♦). As it is, partner has denied strong slam interest by not cuebidding over 3N, which he would have done on many hands on which we belong in slam. I think I am stuck with my (mis)bid of 3N...to move now is changing one's mind in mid-auction when there has been no new information to cause me to upgrade. I really don't like ever trying to make up in the auction for a poor call made earlier...partners never seem to work it out, nor should they.

2. Pass. If you want to raise to 3♠, do it right away. I wouldn't have with this defensive hand lacking Aces or a 3rd spade, tho this may be a minority and not very effective view. Passing and bidding makes it too easy for the opps to go right. Of course, in a weak field, the reality may be different, but I think it useful to pretend you are playing real bridge, else you get into bad habits that will bite you big time when you do play in a tougher field.

3. Double. Partner is still there.

[daveharty]

mikeh, on 2011-September-02, 12:30, said:

1. I have a great hand in the context of my 1N rebid, and I don't stop clubs, so I frankly don't understand the 3n call. 3♠ ought to set trump and invite cue-bidding for slam purposes if my hand warrants it within the context of having limited my hand and shape via 1N. I would have cue bid over 3♠ (4♦).

Maybe you misread the auction. West's third bid was 3C, not 3S.

[mikeh]

daveharty, on 2011-September-02, 12:45, said:

Maybe you misread the auction. West's third bid was 3C, not 3S.

You're absolutely right! Sorry, now the auction makes sense. Maybe the fact that it didn't, as I read the post, should have made me peer more closely, with my failing eyesight Thanks for catching this.

[BunnyGo]

who are you playing with these days?

1) Certainly not worth a move in AA. Whether it is in general, I'm tempted by the nicely fitting hands, but I'm concerned the tricks may be "too slow". I think he needs AQ of spades, AK of clubs, and stuff. I dunno, I think I'll not worry about missing this slam.

2) I'll pass. My hand is a lot of slow tricks that seem better for defense. Not that I'll necessarily set this, but every time I tried to write "bid 3♠ aiming for -1" I thought, all those losers I have, and they'd be tricks on defense.

3) Partner couldn't hit this? I'm not sure I'll get any hearts tricks, but I figure to get 1, even on this auction. I have a diamond trick, and wth, I'll double.

[daveharty]

BunnyGo, on 2011-September-02, 13:17, said:

who are you playing with these days?

Last night I played with Bob. Steadiest guy I know.

[wyman]

1. Yes I'm worth a move. Partner could have bid 4S over 2S and apparently he didn't want to play 3N. My hand is awesome, let's do this.

2. Having made my bed, I'll lay in it. Pass.

3. DOSBAP! I would have bid 5H over an opening 5C, and in a strong field I still might, and I'd mutter something about trusting your vulnerable opponents. But here, I'll play for +500. Surely my Kx is positioned well, and partner has a lead that won't give anything away. I'll let them figure out out to play diamonds.

[BunnyGo]

wyman, on 2011-September-02, 13:36, said:

DOSBAP!

Is this another abbreviation I don't know, or is it the sound I imagine goes through your head when I see your eyes fume at the table?

[wyman]

BunnyGo, on 2011-September-02, 13:46, said:

Is this another abbreviation I don't know, or is it the sound I imagine goes through your head when I see your eyes fume at the table?

the former, one of the greatest conventions of all time

doubles of stupid bids are penalty

[semeai]

1. I would have bid 3♦ over 3♣. Partner's bidding is confusing due to the lack of cuebidding. I guess it must have been a slam try with 5 spades and a side club suit, but partner was discouraged by our 3NT bid. Since I don't have a 3NT bid and in fact my hand looks good for slam, I guess I can move, but mikeh's comment above (under different assumptions!) about not making up for past bids is worth noting.

Just one possible hand for partner: AQxxx Kx xx AQ10x. My club J is worth something, but slam seems likely to be on a finesse if partner wasn't interested opposite something like Kxx AQxx KJxx xx.

(I added a stupid extra comment here briefly, and now retract it.)

2. Pass. I'm mildly tempted to double.

3. Was pass forcing? If this is "obviously a sacrifice" and you play forcing passes of obvious sacrifices, then I suppose so. It's hard for there to be an obvious red/white sacrifice though, and maybe you don't want your passes to be forcing whenever the opponents "walk the dog" (though I guess that's not, intentionally at least, what's going on here). I guess pass wasn't forcing. I'll double, but also wouldn't be so surprised if it makes.

[quiddity]

1. I would pass.
2. With the given conditions (weak opponents, sound partner) I'm tempted to try 3♠. It's unsound but I'm hoping to escape undoubled.
3. 5♥. Partner couldn't hit them and I'm 7-4 with a club void.

[nigel_k]

1. It is close but I will make another move
2. 3♠. It just feels like someone is making nine tricks.
3. Double

[han]

1. I'd expect partner to hold something like AQxxx Kx x AQxxx, which makes it quite a bad slam. If partner is even stronger than that he should have just bid 3S over 2S and take control after cuebidding. Partner has shown a 2-suiter and left the decision with us, and our diamond honors do not look very good. I would pass.

2. Deviating from your sound preempts because the opponents are random and poor seems like a bad strategy. Here we are far from certain to make 3S, even if partner has a very classical preempt such as AKJ10xx xxx x xxx. I'd pass and try to go plus on defense.

3. If we double partner will pass almost surely. In no way can partner expect a hand with this much distribution, so we're kidding ourselves if we say that partner is still there to pull to 5H if it is right. I think this is a difficult decision, but it is a decision that we have to make. Partner would have doubled with a trick or a few random honors, so we can't count on much from partner. We may have this beat in our own hand though (I would not expect LHO to hold 2 hearts on this auction, but the spade king is a likely trick). Close between doubling and bidding 5H. If 4H is making then +200 might still be a bad score, so I think I'll bid 5H.

[daveharty]

han, on 2011-September-02, 15:19, said:

2. Deviating from your sound preempts because the opponents are random and poor seems like a bad strategy.

I agree completely; rather than strategical considerations, however, against this particular opponent, my partner might feel (and I would agree) that it's important for constructive reasons to make a bid that reasonably describes your hand before he has a chance to muck up the auction by making a two level vulnerable overcall on Jxxx, or bidding and rebidding a three card suit, or any of the other things we have witnessed (those are both true stories BTW), even if the bid falls just a bit outside the usual parameters for the partnership. Some of his shenanigans can be put down to poor eyesight (I have several times seen him put down dummies with suits misarranged, where the actual distribution bears no resemblance whatsoever to what he described in the auction).

[whereagles]

1. yuck... it feels like a bit of a lucky shot. If pard has the diamond ace, this should make 6. Else probably not. I guess this would depend on how reliable pard is with his slam tries.

2. well, our side seems to have more cards so you probably should act. My guess is 3S. Not perfect, but I'm not going to dbl on an unsuitable hand.

3. dbl. What else?

[Hanoi5]

Pass. I don't quite understand the bidding, is partner suggesting a slam or is he just showing a GF hand with two suits.

3♠. It might push them. Doubling doesn't look convincing. Pass is for... pussycats.

Double. Partner could have supported hearts (and yes, he could also have doubled) but the vulnerability pushes us.

[whereagles]

Hanoi5, on 2011-September-02, 17:46, said:

I don't quite understand the bidding, is partner suggesting a slam or is he just showing a GF hand with two suits.

He's suggesting a slam. What purpose would it serve to show side suits on the way to game? That would be frivolous.

[VM1973]

I'm assuming that in hand 1 partner is showing a stiff heart (as he's bid the other 3 suits). As I have nothing wasted there, I suppose he wants me to go so I guess I'll bid something more, but reluctantly. I have already shown my hand.

I think pass is clearcut.

It's a frustrating hand. I'll try 5♦.

[semeai]

VM1973, on 2011-September-03, 07:20, said:

I'm assuming that in hand 1 partner is showing a stiff heart (as he's bid the other 3 suits).

Partner's 2D bid was completely artificial.