[HighLow21]

wyman, on 2012-April-04, 16:26, said:

I swear I'm not responding because it's you (in fact, I considered _not_ responding because it's you).

Can you feel the love?

wyman, on 2012-April-04, 16:26, said:

I don't see (2) as a reason not to preempt. If anything, opps are more likely to bid a game (possibly the wrong one, if there's a right one) if we preempt, and if partner has defensive tricks, great. Also, re: your comment in (1), they are getting a bad break in both majors, which is great for us.
Re: (3), your intermediates are not that bad, and at these colors, if they have enough to penalize 3D after a takeout, they are at least considering 3N. Plus, you know there are spades somewhere around the table. I think it's really unlikely that we play 3Dx.
(4) is a legit concern but again is somewhat balanced out by (2).
(5) I dont think anything is ever demanded. Also it's not at all clear that partner will be on lead.
And (6), you follow up by saying you'd consider 4D with x / Jxxx / QJxxxx / xx, which I find totally inconsistent. I don't know why partner is thinking about your losers specifically in the diamond suit. He's thinking about your losers in general. If he bumps you to 5/6 diamonds, it's incredibly unlikely that you'll have more than one loser in diamonds anyway. Your 6-4 has similar playing strength to a 7222, and I think it's certainly worth a bump to 3D. As I told OP privately, other calls that crossed my mind were 1D, 1H, and 2D. Ranking them, I think 3D > 1D > 1H > 2D, though I think the last two are close (as both are pretty bad, at least 1H serves as a lead director though).

I think all your points are fine and I think mine are too.

[Siegmund]

I confess that with most of my partners this is a pass.

I can see a case for 3D (I hate the other listed choices) but even if we aren't worried about a heart fit, KQ in a side suit is a pretty serious flaw and I am being slightly optimistic to get this hand all the way up to 5 winners.

Now, take away the king of hearts, and I can start seriously considering opening 1D. Or even 1S.

[mr1303]

I really do hate bidding on this hand. The only time I'd do this is with a partner that I didn't rate.

[phil_20686]

HighLow21, on 2012-April-04, 16:05, said:

Thought about it some more and I seriously think 3D is a mistake here. There are some benefits (namely taking up space and pressuring the opponents) but to me the disadvantages are huge.

You are massively underrating the effect of the fundamental rule of competitive bidding: If you take away their space, they will make a worse decision.

Sure sometimes that means they are in a game they would not have bid and it makes. More often it means they are in a game they should not have bid uncontested, and it goes off.

Diamonds and clubs make good preempts, as its often hard for the opponents to sort out their majors.

The relative poorness of your diamonds means that a heart game is largely out of the picture. A hand like AKxxxx diamonds and Kxxx hearts will actually play much better in hearts than the given hand. I do not think missing a game for our side is a concern. Getting penalised is a small concern, but my hand likely plays pretty well, and its rare to get penalised even when its right for the opps to do so.