[deftist]

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Just played this hand on a relaxed game table. I bid 1♥, LHO overcalls 1♠ and partner jumps to 4♥.

I wasn't sure what this means. Had LHO passed, I think this 4♥ raise would have been preemptive (am I correct?), showing about 6-9 HCP. Does this change once LHO overcalled my opening? If so, what range of hands is my partner representing? Either way, should I stop at game or go for a slam? I ended up passing because I thought he didn't have many HCP's and 6♥ would have been too ambitious, but maybe I am wrong because chances are we are going to have a very long heart suit.

[mgoetze]

What 1♥-4♥ means uncontested is a matter for partnership agreement; for the moment I would recommend that you never bid it as there is generally another more easily understood way to bid any hand.

After LHO overcalls 1♠, yes, 4♥ is certainly preemptive or semi-preemptive. Preempts are all the better when you have offensive values (i.e. cards in your partnership's long suits), and all the worse when you have defensive values (i.e. high cards in the opponents' long suits). Aces possess both offensive and defensive value - and when you have two of them you have too much defensive value for such a preemptive bid as 4♥.

Thus, given that your partnership is extremely unlikely to have more than two aces combined, it is also extremely unlikely that you can make slam.

[1eyedjack]

In the context of a natural system, the opening bid of 1H can have a high card range of values of about 10 points between min and max. That is such a wide range that it behoves responder to have a fairly narrow range for a direct jump raise to 4. Doing so on all hands where you have a reasonable expectation of having play for the contract puts opener under intolerable pressure in deciding whether to try for slam when holding extras (which could still be quite a wide range). Furthermore, there are always alternative routes to getting to 4H via other forcing bids, so it is not only undesirable but also unnecessary to cram them all into the direct raise.

This principle holds good regardless of whether you get a 1S overcall. After an overcall you can usually use a cue bid of the opponent's suit to show the stronger raises. Without an overcall you may have some special gadget (ie artificial "Jacoby" 2N response) but at the very least you could make a forcing change of suit (or jump change of suit) on the way.

The direct raise tends to show the weakest of the hand types that want to get to that spot, so as you suggest are mainly pre-emptive, and in that regard the 1S overcall does not make much difference. So I would not move over 4H with the stated hand, with or without a 1S overcall.

[Stephen Tu]

deftist, on 2015-December-21, 01:12, said:

Just played this hand on a relaxed game table. I bid 1♥, LHO overcalls 1♠ and partner jumps to 4♥.

I wasn't sure what this means. Had LHO passed, I think this 4♥ raise would have been preemptive (am I correct?), showing about 6-9 HCP. Does this change once LHO overcalled my opening? If so, what range of hands is my partner representing?

It doesn't change because of the overcall. 6-9 HCP is a stronger range than I would expect. Typically it's more like 0-8 HCP (bad 8, not control rich; 2 aces is too strong). It shows 5+ trumps and a singleton or a void somewhere. Enough shape that 4♥ is on percentage either a make or a good sacrifice against the opponent's contract, a 2-way bid. But not enough high card strength that missing slam is going to be at all frequent, since jumping the auction takes away your own space as well as the opponents.

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Either way, should I stop at game or go for a slam? I ended up passing because I thought he didn't have many HCP's and 6♥ would have been too ambitious, but maybe I am wrong because chances are we are going to have a very long heart suit.

It's very easy to pass this; you aren't supposed to have any heart losers, but you have way too many side losers. Partner isn't supposed to show up with spade void and two minor aces, or spade singleton, DA, CAQ. With that strong would have bid 3♠ over 1♠ as a splinter, or 2♠ with other hands strong enough in high cards to cover enough of your losers.

[Cyberyeti]

Yes partner might just have void, xxxxx, xxxx, AQxx but in reality, 99.99% of the time you won't be making 6♥ and quite a lot of the time you won't be making 5♥.

[billw55]

As said above, 1♥-1♠-4♥ is best used to show a preemptive hand. Same for 1♥-p-4♥. Something like 4-5 hearts, possibly a singleton, but few high card points.

However players have different ideas. Especially weak players. In random games on BBO, it might mean almost anything. Don't let that distract you from the best use of the bid.