[alphred]

Hi all
In the bidding sequence: 2C(south)- 2D(north)-2H(south),
must south have 5 or more cards in his heart suit?
Thx all

[G_R__E_G]

Assuming you're playing a standard system where 2♣ is artificial and strong then yes, the 2♥ rebid promises 5+.

PS Welcome to the forums!

[jillybean]

I play 2♣ 2♦ 2M is routinely made on a 6 card suit, with a 5cM opener will rebid 2N.

[ArtK78]

AKQx
AKQx
AKQx
x

Seems to me it would be perfectly rational to bid 2♥ on this sequence with this hand (assuming that 2♥ is a natural call).

So, unless you have some special method for 4441 powerhouse hands, then the answer is that 2♥ promises 4 cards.

[blackshoe]

jillybean, on 2012-January-31, 13:29, said:

I play 2♣ 2♦ 2M is routinely made on a 6 card suit, with a 5cM opener will rebid 2N.

Even with an unbalanced hand?

[blackshoe]

I would say that the 2♥ rebid shows five, but I agree with Art that a big 4=4=4=1 should probably rebid 2♥ even though the hand only has four.

I don't like "promises" in agreements. For one thing, some hand will come along where you have to "break your promise", and I'd rather be sure partner and I both recognize this possibility before it happens. For another, too many opponents are likely to hear "promises" and think (wrongly) that we've made a promise to them.

[the hog]

jillybean, on 2012-January-31, 13:29, said:

I play 2♣ 2♦ 2M is routinely made on a 6 card suit, with a 5cM opener will rebid 2N.

Not if she is 5-4 or 5-5. With 5332 probably.

[Zelandakh]

The answer is "Yes" but with a strong 4441 hand it is sometimes best to rebid 2♥ as the least lie. There are also some very common artificial methods where 2♥ can be bid with other hand types but that is probably not of interest to you.

[mich-b]

blackshoe, on 2012-January-31, 17:44, said:

I would say that the 2♥ rebid shows five, but I agree with Art that a big 4=4=4=1 should probably rebid 2♥ even though the hand only has four.

I don't like "promises" in agreements. For one thing, some hand will come along where you have to "break your promise", and I'd rather be sure partner and I both recognize this possibility before it happens. For another, too many opponents are likely to hear "promises" and think (wrongly) that we've made a promise to them.

I agree with this.
I suggest agreeing that it shows 5 , though in some special difficult cases (4441) it may be only 4.
This is similar to a 1 level overcall - though a 1 level overcall "shows" a 5 card suit , in some special cases it is ok to overcall with 4.
This does not make the "shows 5" agreement meaningless - it means that we expect partner to support with 3.

[Codo]

Yes it promises 5+, this is the B/I forum.
There had been so many posts here about the 4441 hands. Forget it. They are all right, but they choose 2 ♥ as the smallest lie. Whenever partner bids 2 ♥ here, play him for 5+ hearts and bid accodingly.

4441 hands occur just in 2 hands out of 100 and are often hard to bid. But don't care about them too much.

[gwnn]

Codo, on 2012-February-01, 04:26, said:

4441 hands occur just in 2 hands out of 100 and are often hard to bid. But don't care about them too much.

Even less often than that if you restrict your search to 21+ or so.

[Fluffy]

2♥ shows a good 5 card suit, one that can be raised on doubleton honnor.

[ahydra]

2H shows 5+ cards. If I had 4441 I'd rebid 2NT and Stayman will get us where we need to be.

And Fluffy, if partner raised me on 2 cards (even AK) I'd kick him under the table - hard. A new suit is forcing, no need to do that.

ahydra

[Zelandakh]

ahydra, on 2012-February-01, 07:32, said:

2H shows 5+ cards. If I had 4441 I'd rebid 2NT and Stayman will get us where we need to be.

Where do we need to be when partner holds Qxx/Qxx/xxxxx/xx?

[Phil]

I think its perfectly reasonable to state that 2♥ does not guarantee 5 in a B/I setting. While 4 is possible, responder should expect 5 and it isn't practical to worry about.