[Winstonm]

Quote

As a matter of partnership coordination I ask would winstomm, or others, have passed 3S holding the 1NT hand?

Generally speaking the 3S bidder will hold 5 1/2 to 6 losers using LTC - responder only holds one prime cover in the ace - the QJ combination is of some value but how much is unknown - probably worth 1/2 cover. Therefore it is unlikely this hand can cover enough losers to make game a good bet so pass is probably best.

Winston

[kenberg]

Thanks, Winston. Sounds reasonable.

Arc, Are you sure about the advice from Mike Lawrence? I don't have his CD but I have his book somewhere. As I recall, the 3S=semi-solid suit advice comes up after a 2/1 response: 1S-2D-3S is semi-solid. You can have this precise agreement because you are already in a forcing auction. After 1S-1N, it seems to me that 3S will sometimes need to be bid on suits that may be called semi-solid only by a public relations practitioner. Of course you need a fair amount of extra stuff to invite four with a shaggy suit but with truly good values, a suit oriented hand and a somewhat shaggy six card suit what else is available but 3S? I am assuming you don't have a gadget. In the play you may lose an uncomfortable number of tricks in the trump suit but you may also be able to retain control while establishing the long spades, while in NT you won't have the time to set up the long but shaggy spades.