[kgr]

I was surprised by some of the answers in another topic about opening an rebid.
Therefore a new topic to concentrate on opening and rebid with the following hand:

you are dealer

---

I didn't mention the vulnerability or the scoring (MP/IMP). Please indicate how these influence your decision.
What do you open and what do you rebid (if partner bids 1NT; or partner bids 2C; or partner passes and LHO bids 2C)?
Does your plan change if Hearts and Spades are switched?


Note:
I expected that 1♠ followed by 4♠ would be the favorite.
- Less sure if Hearts and Spades are switched or if vulnerable; Maybe then opening 4H is better?
- Less sure if partner passes and LHO bids 2C; Maybe then rebidding 2S/3S is better?
...I'm not an expert, therefore my expectations are not important.
Thanks,
Koen

[whereagles]

Depends a lot on tactical factors, but 4♠ is probably the best against avg+ opposition.

[wank]

4s unless at adverse.

1s then 4s shows a hand too strong to open 4s. that's certainly not what i think i have by a very large margin.

[ahydra]

4S in first position at any vul for me.

ahydra

[helene_t]

I would open 1♠. Maybe at vulnerable this a 4♠ opening is possible but generally I consider this hand too strong.

[MrAce]

1♠ and then 4♠ for me is ok. Switch the majors and I open 4♥. But I have no strong feelings against opening 4♠, I can easily see how it can be the winner or shut them down. Naturally we want to play this hand in our suit and our hand is not worth much in defense. Best way to achieve this is to open 4 because it is usually let played, sometimes doubled.

[WesleyC]

I used to open 1S hands like this, but after surveying several world class players on an even stronger hand I've switched to just opening 4S.

[Fluffy]

I think this is a clear 4♠ opening, but my experience is bad opening anti field at the 4 level on weak fields, so I might open 1♠ on that circumstances.

[mikeh]

Many years ago I would open 1♠ but I have learned a lot since those days.

Yes, one can easily imagine hands on which a slow auction, starting with 1♠, leads to an excellent spot, unattainable or improbable after 4♠.

However, opening 1♠ on this hand, imo, makes you a soft opponent, and while we can always easily imagine hands where it would work, those hands actually don't come up that often in real life. In the meantime, chasing that moonbeam makes the task facing the opps, who may have their own high-level contract available.....can we expect to beat 6♣ on our hand? Or 6♥ by RHO?....far easier than were we to open at the game level.

I used to think that the secret to doing well in tough competition was reducing one's mistakes. While that is still a good idea, it is also extremely important to maximize the chances that the opps will make a 'mistake'. One needs to put pressure on the opps and once in a while, as here (imo) it is better to sacrifice some potential precision in our auctions in order to make life difficult for the opps....and there are two opps with potentially difficult hands and only one partner.

[mcphee]

While it might mean finding an awesome fit and missing slam, I feel a 1 level opening can make it too easy for the opps. 4S is what we hope to make and starting there seems best. All offense no defense this is easy.

[the hog]

4s at all vuls.

[Cthulhu D]

Playing a naymats a like, how many people put this though that, rather than the direct 4S? It even has the advantage they cannot double clubs!

[kgr]

Cthulhu D, on 2014-November-25, 04:02, said:

Playing a naymats a like, how many people put this though that, rather than the direct 4S? It even has the advantage they cannot double clubs!

We play Namyats but require a closed Major for that.
f.i.: AKQxxxxx=v=Kxx=xx

[Zzjurt]

With ♦A and no ♣ I would never consider 4♠.
Give P ♠Ax ♥AKx ♦QJTx ♣xxxx and 6 is a lay down and remove the ♥K and 6 is still 50%

If P has passed it is clear cut 4♠

[PhilKing]

Four Spades!

[lowerline]

kgr, on 2014-November-20, 05:02, said:

I was surprised by some of the answers in another topic about opening an rebid.
Therefore a new topic to concentrate on opening and rebid with the following hand:

you are dealer

---

I didn't mention the vulnerability or the scoring (MP/IMP). Please indicate how these influence your decision.
What do you open and what do you rebid (if partner bids 1NT; or partner bids 2C; or partner passes and LHO bids 2C)?
Does your plan change if Hearts and Spades are switched?


Note:
I expected that 1♠ followed by 4♠ would be the favorite.
- Less sure if Hearts and Spades are switched or if vulnerable; Maybe then opening 4H is better?
- Less sure if partner passes and LHO bids 2C; Maybe then rebidding 2S/3S is better?
...I'm not an expert, therefore my expectations are not important.
Thanks,
Koen

I'd open 4♠ when red vs white in 1st, when red in 2nd or when in 3rd. I'd open 1♠ and rebid 4♠ the rest of the time (unless we play Namyats).

S.

[neilkaz]

I wish this was a poll. Put me down for a 4♠ opening as well.

[jdeegan]

You intend to end up in 4♠ almost regardless. You hold a 7-4 that is a player.

You can either open 1♠ and "walk the dog" or blast with 4♠. Against equal or better opponents, I think you have to blast no matter of the vulnerability. Make them guess.

With lesser opponents, you might want to toy with them. You do have the boss suit.

[WesleyC]

This hand led me to having an offline discussion about 4M opening style and was talked into doing a double dummy analysis.

The only constraint I put on the deals is that North held OPs hand. I DD calculated N/S's tricks in Spades as well E/Ws tricks in every other suit. (I arbitrarily chose to assume that West declarerd every hand for E/W).

A few random factoids:

(In Spades)
NS Makes 10 tricks (or more) 61%
NS Makes 12 tricks (or more) 13.5%

(In their best double dummy fit)
EW Makes 11 tricks (or more) 19.5%
EW Makes 8 Tricks (or less) 41.5%

I'll let you draw your own conclusions from this info, but at least to me it indicates that EV lost from missing a making slam is pretty small compared to the tactical benefits of the preemptive opening.

Full Results

[gszes]

4s is a very reasonable description of this hand. We have a 1 suited
hand with very little defense and while our expected trick total is
between 7 and 8 the side ace diminishes the odds we will be left in
4sx so there is less risk.

Many before have echoed that if the opps were forced to remain silent
1s would be better but sigh those pesky opps always seem to want to bid
for some reason. I much prefer to make their lives more difficult when
they do bid:)