[MrAce]

mgoetze, on 2015-September-15, 15:01, said:

I'm pretty disappointed so far... I've learned how to play Slawinski leads properly but good Fantunes bidding remains a mystery.

[Jinksy]

gwnn, on 2015-September-09, 09:15, said:

Yes that's what I'm saying. But I guess I would double if you can have 4 hearts, that way there are two very good scenarios available (we find spades or hearts). Maybe I'm cutting it too fine and I wouldn't double either way. No strong feelings on that except that I don't like the 2S opener at all, especially not when followed up by pass.

It only just occurred to me that on this hand that potentially costs a game swing playing your preferred way. One might reasonably (judging by the poll) open 2♠, and unless E doubles you're going to miss game. I opened as W planning to bid the hand a second time in many scenarios (ie if P made a preemptive raise I'd put us in 4), but when they bid my best side suit, P remains limp and we're unfavourable, it didn't seem like the time.

[gwnn]

Jinksy, on 2015-September-17, 12:50, said:

It only just occurred to me that on this hand that potentially costs a game swing playing your preferred way. One might reasonably (judging by the poll) open 2♠, and unless E doubles you're going to miss game. I opened as W planning to bid the hand a second time in many scenarios (ie if P made a preemptive raise I'd put us in 4), but when they bid my best side suit, P remains limp and we're unfavourable, it didn't seem like the time.

Indeed it potentially does but I also hate the 2♠ opening and the balancing pass so maybe we should factor that in. Also you are losing countless game swings when you do have 4 hearts and so does partner.

[Jinksy]

Quote

Also you are losing countless game swings when you do have 4 hearts and so does partner.

I honestly haven't found this a problem. I'm sure we've missed a couple, but I honestly can't think of a single one from either bidding or play. The nasty ones for full-strength openings are when opener has 5(+) cards in both majors, but that's why we have a separate opening for those. Normally when 4 of the other major might give you game, P can afford to feature ask and find out about it (if he has tolerance for your first suit he can be a bit ambitious, if not, game will likely be tough even on a 4-4 fit). The hardest hands for us to deal with are probably when responder has 5oM and a misfit for opener's suit, but the potential 9-card fit would make up for it. I'm sure we lose out on those hands, but they just don't seem frequent enough to come with a high cost (and often the opps will save you from your pass-out, if you have a 9 card fit).

The main reason we play full-strength openings is to limit complexity, though. Our system over 1M openings is mostly natural (other than Gazz), and I'd like to keep it that way so it remains playable in only semi-regular partnerships.