[kgr]

What is the minimum you need to open a weak 2 vulnerable in 3th hand?
= = = =
The hand that triggered the question:
IMP's teams; You are vulnerable - opps green. Opps play strong 1 Club

---

P-(P)-P-(1C)
P-(2D)-P-(3NT)
AP
(3NT made +1 because partner didn't find the ♥ lead or heart switch from ♥Kxx)

[eagles123]

not expert obv but would never even dream of opening 2h

maybe i should reevaulate

[Jinksy]

I would, unless I was specifically playing to avoid swings* (though I would also not expect P to lead my suit if they had anything more promising available).

It's also slightly more appealing against strong clubbers, since if I pass they're likely to have a tightly defined bidding sequence.

* I try to persuade my partners not to invite on less than 2.5 of good support, shortage and a primey near max as a passed hand, and not to competitively raise without at least an extra card than they'd normally expect in the suit, and preferably distribution too.

[ahydra]

(3th? You mean 3rd?) Something like Qxx KJ10xxx xx xx

OK, so EW are cold for game, but this could too easily go for 800 or more. It gets worse because opps are NV, so if they have a close decision between converting a TOX or bidding what looks like a thin 3NT, they will be more tempted to pick the former since even just 500 pays well. You have to pass this pile of rubbish.

Maybe we got unlucky on this hand because a) team-mates couldn't double their 2H and get 500, b) the hearts split 2-2 so they couldn't hold up, and c) partner couldn't divine the heart switch (maybe we didn't get a chance to make a suit-preference signal). It happens - next board please.

ahydra

[whereagles]

colours suck... lol. obv 2H at other vulns.

as it is, I think I pass..

[Mbodell]

There are many negatives to opening that hand 6322, very weak suit, unfavorable colors, QTx of spades making opponents spade game unlikely, IMPs, and a strong club pair passing. Opposite that we have 3rd seat.

I probably still do it.

[rhm]

 kgr, on 2015-January-25, 05:59, said:

...
(3NT made +1 because partner didn't find the ♥ lead or heart switch from ♥Kxx)[/i]

How many tricks does 2♥ doubled make?

If you get 7 tricks would partner not raise hearts?

Rainer Herrmann

[Jinksy]

No. Raising third seat preempts at this colour on almost any hand is just asking the opps to penalise you. Why not trust that the preempt has done the damage?

[kgr]

 rhm, on 2015-January-25, 10:52, said:

How many tricks does 2♥ doubled make?

If you get 7 tricks would partner not raise hearts?

Rainer Herrmann

Hearts were 2-2 with opps, i don't think they would manage to DBL us in 2H.
This is an attempt to reconstruct the hand. I don't really know the distributions in the minors, because this wasn't really a hand where I paid a lot attention.
This is what I know:
- I know that I had ♠QTx ♥Qxxxxx
- Partner started a small spade from a 3c and RHO had ♠J9xx and LHO had ♠AKx
- small ♠ lead for ♠T, ♠J, ♠Q and ♠A
- I think that declarer did go to dummy with Diamonds and I played high, this is Lavinthal signal.
- Delclarer played ♣ to his ♣J and partners Q.
=> Should it be clear for partner to switch to Hearts...not sure??

---

(This is not 100% correct because I think that 2D promises more then what I gave West

[wank]

Bidding is very very bad. Basic rule: if the idea of getting raised is sickening, don't bid

[Free]

My partner can have little faith in my 3rd seat NV actions, but I'd like him to trust me whenever we're vulnerable. This is a clear pass!

[Vampyr]

 kgr, on 2015-January-25, 11:50, said:

- I think that declarer did go to dummy with Diamonds and I played high, this is Lavinthal signal.

Could this high card not have been asking for another spade? You may gain accuracy by playing Smith Peters.

[Vampyr]

 kgr, on 2015-January-25, 11:50, said:

- I think that declarer did go to dummy with Diamonds and I played high, this is Lavinthal signal.

Could this high card not have been asking for another spade? You may gain accuracy by playing Smith Peters.

[helene_t]

Difficult to defend. Even if p finds the heart switch the suit may block. Leading a heart honour is probably correct according to vird/anthias but I would be too lazy to consider it.

P holds KTx of your suit and still it is -500 against a dubious 400. I would open 2H but most good players I know wouldn't.

[kuhchung]

 helene_t, on 2015-January-27, 11:07, said:

Difficult to defend. Even if p finds the heart switch the suit may block. Leading a heart honour is probably correct according to vird/anthias but I would be too lazy to consider it.

P holds KTx of your suit and still it is -500 against a dubious 400. I would open 2H but most good players I know wouldn't.

middle from H8x/H9x/HTx is pretty well known if you're going to lead the suit. it's especially great when you lead T and don't hit partner, and he can't figure out what you've done

[jogs]

 kgr, on 2015-January-25, 11:50, said:

Hearts were 2-2 with opps, i don't think they would manage to DBL us in 2H.
This is an attempt to reconstruct the hand. I don't really know the distributions in the minors, because this wasn't really a hand where I paid a lot attention.
This is what I know:
- I know that I had ♠QTx ♥Qxxxxx
- Partner started a small spade from a 3c and RHO had ♠J9xx and LHO had ♠AKx
- small ♠ lead for ♠T, ♠J, ♠Q and ♠A
- I think that declarer did go to dummy with Diamonds and I played high, this is Lavinthal signal.
- Delclarer played ♣ to his ♣J and partners Q.
=> Should it be clear for partner to switch to Hearts...not sure??

---

(This is not 100% correct because I think that 2D promises more then what I gave West

The hand in the original post was 2-2 in the minors.
This South hand is marginally stronger.

Opponents green. Sounds like you are not from the USA.

Look up deflategate(American football). Opening 2♥ is safe only as long as partner is barred from competing.
If your convention card says a weak two is 6-10(or 11), 2♥ is not an option.

[helene_t]

 jogs, on 2015-January-27, 18:44, said:

If your convention card says a weak two is 6-10(or 11), 2♥ is not an option.

It doesn't matter what the CC says about point count. Make it QJT987-43-5432-2 and it is a fine 2♠ opening regardless of what the CC says. Obviously you don't promise any HCPs when you preempt in 3rd seat.

The question is if p assumes a decent 6-card suit or not, in other words, if he will raise on most hands with 3-card support or not. You can of course include that information on the CC, but it's not about HCPs or even about playing strength. If you preempt on 432-A65432-KQ-QJ you will also hope that p doesn't raise.

[mikeh]

Late to the thread.

The OP is yet another in the never-ending series of normal actions at the table that didn't, the OP thinks, work out well, hence the feeling, reflected in the question, that opening 2♥ on this hand 'must' be a good idea, because it 'would have worked'.

The end result of applying this form of 'analysis' is insanity, in the form of careening from one extreme to the other. Next, we'll see an opening of 2♥ on xx KQJ9xx xxx Kx and it happens to go for 800 against their game, or talk the opps out of a failing 3N into a cold 5♦ and someone will argue that we shouldn't open these hands.

Bridge is a game of percentages, in the bidding as much as in the play of the hand.

When red v white, opening very light is very poor in the long run, even tho it is obvious that it may occasionally work out well.

FWIW, my own preference, in terms of fudging bid requirements in 3rd red v white is in exactly the opposite direction, aided by the fact that in my serious partnerships we open many 11 counts in 1st seat.

Thus if my nominal range were 5-10, I would comfortably open 2♠ 3rd seat unfavourable with KQJxxx xx KQx xx. Game is virtually impossible given my lack of Aces and sterile shape, and I wouldn't try for game opposite a drury bid, and meanwhile I make life awkward for the opps.

As for the notion that partner ought never to raise a 3rd seat weak 2, that is silly. Even if one allowed very weak weak two bids, won't we often/usually have a middle-of-the-road hand: a hand on which we HAVE to have partner raise?

Bridge is not merely a game of percentages: it is also a partnership game. Make your actions too erratic, and while you may be having fun, your partner won't be..at least not if he enjoys the thinking part of bridge.