[MickyB]

Playing in a pick-up partnership with a US star, against a top Israeli pair -

Scoring: IMP

2♠-3♥-4♠-?

2♠ shows a weak 5-5.

---

[FrancesHinden]

5H.
Double (take-out) very close second place, but it feels wrong with 4-card support.

[Codo]

Stars like it to play.
Stars don`t like double swings.
I like it, if the strong player plays.

5 ♥

Opposite a solala part, I would need a long time but would still prefer 5 Heart slightly over pass. 5-5 hands opps a fit can produce an awful lot of tricks quite often.

[whereagles]

I'm not so sure 5♥ makes. I'll double, regardless of what it means. If pard can scrap up a pass, we'll set them a few. Otherwise if pard bids, I can always go back to 5♥.

[Gerben42]

5♣. Partner is on lead against 5♠X, help him.

[Free]

5♣ if partner understands, otherwise 5♥...

[FrancesHinden]

While I understand the reasoning behind 5C, it just asks for the auction to end there. The time to make lead-directing 'natural' bids is when one of the pairs is in a forcing auction.

[mikeh]

5♥.

The opps usually do not bid 4♠ then 5♠, altho it can happen. If it does, we probably do not need a ♣ lead anyway.

And 5♣ is the kind of bid that sounds okay until you think how you would interprete it if you were the overcaller: Let's see: you overcall 3♥, LHO bounces to 4♠ and partner, as an unpassed hand, bids 5♣. You are looking at some 1=6=4=2 and are delighted to have a ruffing value for partner.

I was rereading an old BW the other day, and in the semis of a major event, one player made an imaginative 5♦ call on a similar auction. The preemptor turned out to have a side 4 card ♦ suit and the other opp held 6. Neither were sporting enough to double. So declarer, with his void, fell a few tricks short of his contract.

[Al_U_Card]

While the 5H call is most likely to be correct, I like pushing the envelope and with a good pard who judged to bid 3H (red vs wht), I am providing an extra trump and a secondary fit in C (I know he didnt bid them but so what) I like 6H, make them guess who was zooming who...(btw dbling here makes me want to puke)

[whereagles]

Al_U_Card, on Mar 30 2006, 04:35 PM, said:

(btw dbling here makes me want to puke)

Here:..

[joshs]

I know the hand, but I still think 5H is correct at imps. There is too much risk of a double game swing here.....

[luis]

Double, defensive values Qxx of spades, Qx of diamonds, 2 tricks in clubs...
And not enough trumps for 5♥ over 4♠

Luis

[jdonn]

Sorry I wrote something stupid, then deleted it.

[cherdano]

I said I would double when Mike showed me this hand. With this balanced hand, and four trumps as only offensive feature, going to the 5-level feels wrong to me. They may just be in an 8-card fit, in which case 5H can be in a lot of trouble.

Arend

[MickyB]

Scoring: IMP

I took the push to 5♥, hating it -
I think I would have doubled if West had shown only 5-4.
East doubled for 1 off, 5♠ was 2 off at the other table.

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[mikeh]

I sympathize with the result... I was a 5♥ bidder and I remain a 5♥ bidder. Your partner made a normal overcall, but he would almost always have more high card strength for a red v white 3♥ overcall. Of course, that would be an asset on defence as well

BTW, it sounds as if the board was lost at the other table: I assume that they bid 5♠ over 5♥... so your decision should have pushed the board.

[Al_U_Card]

I guess that the H overcaller must be a great card player. His hand has a nice suit but the hand is a mess. To jump to 4H might be more descriptive if not suicidal, but facing 3 small trumps that is likely to be where he would end up anyway so why not take pard off the hook.

When they want their bid to be what they have and not what it should be....that too makes me want to puke so Whereagles, get me that airsickness bag again, will ya?

[mikeh]

Most NA experts would take a jump to 4♥ as a much, much better hand: x AKQxxxx AKx xx would be a 4♥ call imho.

[Joe de Balliol]

I went for 5H and I stand by it - even if 4S and 5H are both going off, 5H gives them a losing option to bid 5S.

The flip side of the coin is that double gives pard the chance to take it out to 5H, but that isn't likely, and I'd be thinking about this one for long enough to make a pull unattractive in case of adjustment.

J

[luis]

Joe de Balliol, on Mar 30 2006, 09:40 PM, said:

and I'd be thinking about this one for long enough to make a pull unattractive in case of adjustment.

What?