[kfgauss]

A couple of hands with 8-card suits came my way at the local NAOP unit qualifier.

First board, none vul:

A
x
Axx
KT8xxxxx

N E S W
P P ?

How about if the auction had started:

N E S W
P 1S ?

(it did at many tables, though not mine)

A while later on, at both vul I was dealt:

xx
QT98xxxx
J
AQ

E S W N
1S ?

Your call?

[the hog]

1st board - 5C in both cases

2nd board - 4H

My view fwiw is that if the Bridge God gives you an 8 card suit she expects you to bid game.

[easy]

1. Since pard is a passed hand i bid a lot of clubs. Maybe ill make 5c maybe ill go down who knows but i prefer the opponents make the last guess.
2. i bid 4h. if i bid a lot of hearts maybe pard will know what to do over 4s. I sure dont:)

[inquiry]

Hand one. Well... that eight card suit doesn't look that long to me... and I have reasonable defesne to boot. So on the first auction two passes to me, I open 1C. On the second auction, P-(1S)-I bid 2C. None of this means I might not bid a bunch more clubs later if they bid 4S or 4H, but if LHO bids 2H over 2C and they end up in spades or hearts (or notrump), I will not.

On the second hand, I just bid 4Hs, but I have a sneaking feeling the winning bid is 5Hs.

Ben

[kfgauss]

Hand one:

I tried jumping to 5C. Both 4S and 5C could be made. My RHO backed in with 5S after passing on the first round.

The hand was something like (my memory isn't perfect and I lack hand records):

xxx
Jxxx
QJx
AQ
Kx QJxxxxx
Axxx KQTx
Kxxxxx x
J9 x
A
x
Axx
KT8xxxxx

(I might have the major suit high cards out of place, the rest I'm fairly certain of though).

How do people open East's hand here, and how would you bid the rest of the hands following that?

Amusingly enough, a pair I talked to after the event opened 1S and then, when south bid 4C, made a penalty double with the West hand (they weren't playing negative doubles this high [not my choice] but felt the need to take action anyways) and thus bought it for 4S.

Hand Two:

Actually, I was mistaken and RHO opened 1D (does this change anyone's bid?).

I bid 4H and bought it there, finding dummy with:

QT9xx
A
xx
Kxxxx

I was -1 (fortunate enough to have a diamond lead and continuation and to find clubs 3-3, but unfortunate enough to find hearts 4-0). This may not be so bad as I guess the opponents can make some number of diamonds.

[the hog]

How do I open the East hand? 4S
No doubt an unpopular choice, but I subscribe to Marston's law.

[kfgauss]

As you may have noticed, West has 14 cards and North 12 in my version of Hand 1. I think West had stiff K of spades and North 9xxx, with East having QJT-seventh. Sorry 'bout that.

Also, would you care to state "Marston's law", Ron?

Andy

[the hog]

Marston's Law says 7-4 shapes in the Majors should be opened in Game.

(Obviously this is within reason; you wouldnt open xxxxxxx x x xxxx with 4S)

[Free]

According to LTC, you can bid 5C and 4H in these 2 situations. And even if LTC tells me not to, I'd still bid the same...

[inquiry]

Quote

Hand one:
9xxx
Jxxx
QJx
AQ
K QJTxxxx
Axxx KQTx
Kxxxxx x
J9 x
A
x
Axx
KT8xxxxx

How do people open East's hand here, and how would you bid the rest of the hands following that?

I open EAST with 4Spades in third seat. Over 4S, south will bid 5C and north will probably press to 6C. This is too much of course. If East opens 1S, as suggest in your first post, a simple 2C overcall will do ok, and west has a negative double with all those red cards. North with AQ doubleton has just enough to raise to 3C so 5C can be bid confidently. EW will probably compete in hearts, and west, with good defense for his negative double (stiff Spade, diamnd K, heart Ace) might take a shot at doubling 5C to keep his partner from bidding on. That would be a mistake.

If East passes, I would open 1C and north will bid 1H. Now East will bid some number of spades, but it is too late. Once north shows values, south is going to go 5C I think.

Quote

Hand Two:

Actually, I was mistaken and RHO opened 1D (does this change anyone's bid?).

I bid 4H and bought it there, finding dummy with:

QT9xx
A
xx
Kxxxx

I was -1 (fortunate enough to have a diamond lead and continuation and to find clubs 3-3, but unfortunate enough to find hearts 4-0). This may not be so bad as I guess the opponents can make some number of diamonds.

If they open 1D instead of 1S, it makes 4H bid even more attractive. They may have a spade fit, but 4H makes it harder for them to find it, especially if they play 4Hx as penalty.

[kfgauss]

Quote

I open EAST with 4Spades in third seat.

East was in second seat. Does this change your bid?

Andy

[inquiry]

Quote

Quote

I open EAST with 4Spades in third seat.

East was in second seat. Does this change your bid?

Andy

Yes... second seat clearly changes my bid... my second seat preempts are "picture perfect" so partner will play a 4S bid by me as better spades, and less on the side. So in second seat, if my "x's" in spades includes the nine, I would open 1S, if not, I would probably open 2S.

[Karma]

A question you can ask yourself when unsure what to do is: "What will the field do?"
Perhaps you have heard of the expression, 'play the field'.

With these two hands, I think the field will bid 5C and 4H, respectively.
The bids may be wrong, but you won't be punished for the bids.
The next step is to beat the field by making the contract!!
;D ;D ;D