[Jinksy]

Matchpoints, basic system is Acol. The alert of 1♠ didn't come out well: it shows 4+, P would probably open 1M with a balanced (4n)(4n) outside the NT range.

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[eagles123]

2s for me

[nige1]

Jinksy, on 2014-November-29, 10:54, said:

Matchpoints, basic system is Acol. The alert of 1♠ didn't come out well: it shows 4+, P would probably open 1M with a balanced (4n)(4n) outside the NT range.

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IMO 2♣ = 10, 2♠ = 9, 1N = 6. Assuming Jinksy is playing a natural system, like Acol.

[whereagles]

Not an ACOLite, but this seems like an easy 2♣ within that context. If pard has a bal 15-17, you want to be in game. If he is unbalanced he has 5 spades, in which case your next bid is 3♠ (8-loser hand).

[helene_t]

whereagles, on 2014-November-30, 02:58, said:

If pard has a bal 15-17, you want to be in game.

Yes I thought so too but obviously that is the question. If he has 17, 2♣ or 2♠ may work better than 1NT as partner gets to declare a notrump contract. If he has 15-16, the question is if we want to be in game.

If he has a 5332 with 12-14 (he might have opened 1NT with that but supposed he doesn't), 1NT won't work well either.

If he has an unbalanced hand it probably doesn't matter, we will end up in 3/4♠ anyway. But if you think that the 3-level may be unsafe, you have to show your values now by bidding 2♠ or 2♣.

[Jinksy]

Part of the reason I voted for 2♠ was from the recent threads where P opened 1♥ (5+), and with 3♥s and 5 decent ♠s opposite, the strongest players were almost unanimous for 2♥. It's obviously different in Acol, but it still seems like a 2♠ raise isn't much less encouraging than a 2♣ bid followed by 2♠ preference (and I wouldn't want to jump-bid to 3♠ over P's red suit rebid). Meanwhile it gives away less about my hand and P's, which could be worth a lot on this sort of hands at MPs.