[haver]

Your hand:

Sp 5,3,2
H A,6
D K,10,8,5,4,3
Cl Q,4

Vuln. against not would you open first place? Would you open (if 2 Dia is multi) 3 Dia?

How would you qualify the player who opens this hand 3 Diamond first place vuln.? Novice, beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert?

I need your opinion! Thanks

[inquiry]

Quote

Your hand:

Sp 5,3,2
H A,6
D K,10,8,5,4,3
Cl Q,4

Vuln. against not would you open first place? Would you open (if 2 Dia is multi) 3 Dia?

How would you qualify the player who opens this hand 3 Diamond first place vuln.? Novice, beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert?

I need your opinion! Thanks

Hi... if you want an accurate opinion, you really will have to provide more information. Is this imps or matchpoints? Does the person holding these cards need to create a swing (say late in MP event where he needs to huge swings to win, or in an imp barometer imp game and his side is well behind with just a board or two remaining and he knows it?). Sometimes, an expert, who is place into despirate situation will make a despirate bid. If something unexpected happens as a result, he can gain a good result. If he gets clobbered, well, he was going to lose anyway.

Having said that, let's assume this is the second board of a long IMP match with a flat first board, and the person holding these cards bids 3Diamonds vulnerable in first seat. I would say this person is either totally reckless expert who has absolutely no respect for his opponents and is knowingly making a horrible bid, or a complete novice who sees a long suit and less than an opening hand an opens in it.

This hand
a) lacks a good quality suit
has slow winners in side suit (club Q)
c) a side quick trick (heart ACE)

3D vul is not the worse bid ever, but clearly it is not the right bid (as long as the person making the bid is not intentionally trying to create a swing one way or the other in the despirate situations I mentioned earlier). BTW. the ability to know when the risk/reward for the non-standard bid favors making the off the wall bid as it relates to the overall event not the hand in question is a mark of a real expert. If they will lose anyway without doing something odd, makes them very dangerous opponents late in an event.

Ben

[Free]

I'd pass. You have 8,5 losers, and a bad suit. With DQ instead of CQ I'd open 1D. And even if 2D would be weak I'll pass, still the same reason.

I qualify such a player as crazy actually (no offense), he has 2,5 losers too much, and no reason at all to bid V. If partner has something, he'll bid, and if not then you'll be happy you passed...

[haver]

I respect that you may need more information:
it is IMP and not a desperate situation, not even a tourney event - every match is separetaly benchmarked against the field, BBO main club. No need for extreme measures -

[luis]

Haver,

This won't work.
First of all you can't measure the level of play of a player with one hand.
And second preempts are probably the worst way to evaluate the level of play of a player, it's really a matter of style and in my opinion preempting style is a partnership agreement as carding and leads. Without an agreement what's normal for one player can be horrible for his pd and vice-versa.
Good players avoid being "predictable" so from time to time something "strange" like opening 3d with this hand can be expected from really good players. If you always bid what the book says you have to bid you become a living pattern, and it will be very easy to play against you.
So my evaluation after this post is that the player is a bridge player that opened 3d with that hand. Just that.

Luis

[inquiry]

Quote

I respect that you may need more information:
it is IMP and not a desperate situation, not even a tourney event - every match is separetaly benchmarked against the field, BBO main club. No need for extreme measures -

LOL, ok then, either a novice or early beginner, or any player who has been imbibing way to much of the product of the grape. :-)

[hrothgar]

As always, the answer depends on system.

I think that it is losing bridge to play systems that force you to pass with this hand in first/second seat. This is a perfectly "normal" hand and you should be able to describe this holding with a more descriptive bid than pass. My impression is that most top players are migrating to bidding styles that permit very light openings, although potentially not this light.

Playing MOSCITO, I would open this 1S, showing an unbalanced hand, 4+ Diamonds,
and ~9-14 HCP. I'd be happier if I had Qxx in Clubs, but such is life.

With this said and done, playing 2/1 or even SAYC I would probably pass this hand.
I don't like 3D vulnerable in first seat, however, I have made worse bids.

[irg20]

I think the player who opens 3D with this had thinks he holds the DA rather that the HA (or at least that is what he will claim when his very anti-percentage action comes a-cropper).