[jocdelevat]

I saw in a lot of tourneys that I played some players open weak 2 or 3 in first or second seat. My question: is there any reason to do that or is a BIL thing. IMO I think is very wrong to preempt not only opponents but your partner too.

Thank you in advance for your advice
best regards
Jocdelevat

[jillybean]

I don’t think it’s a matter of right or wrong but a matter of style (sound, modern, aggressive, reckless) and as long as your partner is aware of your preempt style it should cause no problems - except for your opps

jb

[awm]

The idea behind a preempt is not just that you are getting in the way but also you are describing your hand. If partner has a strong hand, she usually has a pretty good idea whether we have game or slam right away after the weak two or three bid. And if she thinks we don't have game, she can pass and wait to double the opponents if they happen to come in. On the rare occasions partner can't figure out what to do, she has natural forcing bids available as well as 2NT asking for a feature.

Of course, this all depends on my preempts being reasonably consistent. If I could have absolutely anything it doesn't work quite so well. But provided you are on the same wavelength preempting in front of partner can be extremely useful. The general trend I've noticed is that stronger players tend to preempt more often than beginners or intermediates, although there are exceptions to everything.

[Cascade]

In my opinion 1st seat is the best seat to pre-empt.

There are two opponents and only one partner to make life difficult for.

Pre-empts also give useful information to your partner when it is our hand and with some discipline in your pre-empts you can expect partner to make good decisions after your first seat pre-empt.

[hotShot]

A preempt is a constructive bid of an unbalanced hand intending to reach the highest reasonable contract your side has. You expect a partners strength to be ((40-your own strength)/3). By reaching your sides best contract with one bid, you reduce communication beween opps, so they might not reach their best contract any more.
This is best in first or 2nd seat, because otherwise your partner and one opp already showed a hand below opening strength.
Preempting in 4th seat makes almost no sence at all, because there is no one left to preempt.

[helene_t]

When you have a hand suitable for preempting, there's good chance that someone else will have a such a hand as well, and it's an advantage to preempt before someone else does. That's part of the reason why it's called preempting.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

simply put:

If you have a FIRM understanding, what a specific
preempt shows / denies, preempts are very useful.
And if they have a high frequency, that is a great thing.

They describe the hand in one go, so that partner
knows what he is facing.
This knowledge allows him to place the contract right
away or after a short enquiry.

Important is, that you have firm agreements,
... and that you follow them.
Also important is to know, in which cases partner may
something do which is contrare to your agreements,
usually in 3rd seat, most partnerships will allow a faire
share of variability, i.e. 2H maybe grap or a minim. opening.

Of course the above is also relevant for non preempt
openings.

Preempts are a constructive weapon (they describe the hand
fairly precise) and a destructive weapon, they raise the level
for opponents, making it riskie to enter the auction.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[EricK]

jocdelevat, on Jun 9 2006, 04:35 AM, said:

I saw in a lot of tourneys that I played some players open weak 2 or 3 in first or second seat. My question: is there any reason to do that or is a BIL thing. IMO I think is very wrong to preempt not only opponents but your partner too.

Thank you in advance for your advice
best regards
Jocdelevat

One aspect of bidding is for you and your partner to reach the best possbile contract for your side. To best achieve that goal it pays to keep the bidding low to give yourselves as much space as possible. But you must remember that the opponents are trying to do exactly the same thing. Hence to really succeed it is also important to try to stop them achieving that goal. The best way to do that is to remove their bidding space

You are right when you say that a pre-empt may pre-empt partner. But if you never pre-empt partner when it happens to be your hand, then you are simply making it too easy for the opponents when it happens to be their hand.

The more likely it is to be their hand the more keen you should be to pre-empt. In first seat, if you have a weak hand then the chances are that it is their hand, so pre-empting may be a good idea. In second seat after dealer has passed it is now a bit more likely that it is your hand, so you should be a bit more cautious with your pre-empts. In third seat after two passes, it is now very likely to be opponents' hand so pre-empting has a lot to gain and little to lose.

Pre-emptive overcalls can be treated in a similar manner. I will leave it to you to think through the pluses and minuses in each position.