[mike777]

I got this one wrong last night, how do you evaulate this one?

J8xxx..AKJx...9x...9x

MP

2nt=3c
3s=?

1) 2nt=20-21
.
2) You have the option of signing off, bidding quant 4nt or making a rkc bid.

[jdonn]

Is 4♥ not an option? That is usually an artificial slam try in spades (since 4m is natural). In fact, I would do that, and respect partner if he decides to sign off.

The 5th spade is huge, this is certainly not a slam try without it. But lots of hands for partner make slam very good, as long as he has good controls (which are exactly the hands he would accept a slam try on when he has a narrow range).

KQxx xx AKQx AJx
AKQx Qx Axx Axxx
AKxx xxx Axx AKQ
AKQx Qx KQxx Axx

And those hands are all 19 or 20, not even 21

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

You left out 5S.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[pbleighton]

4S.

I don't like slam on this hand. Very bad suit, and neither you nor pd has a singleton. Not the stuff of which good 29 point slams are made.

OTOH, it's posted in the Forums, so...

Peter

[mcphee]

I also think the hand is worth making a balanced slam try with 3H. The 5th trump is a big ticket and 2 doubletons are not shabby at all. To me this "try" mean my hand is good enought to play the 5 level. I have no fear of playing 5S.

[jchiu]

4♥, unless you and your partner have explicitly agreed that it is something other than a semi-natural slam try (e.g. 4♠ and 6♥ P/C, keycard for ♠, or even some sillier things). Why not give partner a chance to evaluate his control structure?

[mike777]

If you guys play 4H as artificial slamtry showing what?, 4 of minor natural and forcing and 4nt as quant what do you use for rkc?

[jdonn]

mike777, on Jun 15 2006, 06:52 PM, said:

If you guys play 4H as artificial slamtry showing what?, 4 of minor natural and forcing and 4nt as quant what do you use for rkc?

4♥ then 4NT. Of course partner might beat you to 4NT over 4♥ but how can that possibly be bad?

[luke warm]

i guess i'm in the minority here, i think (after opener's spade bid) that slam is almost cold... i did learn a lesson here, that in this sequence a 4♥ bid by responder is a spade slam try, and 4nt after 4♥ is rkc

if i held that responder hand, i'd probably have just bid 6♠

[mike777]

I do not see how 4H helps. It is just a general slam try and does not promise heart controls, why not just use 4h as rkc?

[P_Marlowe]

mike777, on Jun 15 2006, 07:53 PM, said:

I do not see how 4H helps. It is just a general slam try and does not promise heart controls, why not just use 4h as rkc?

You need a control rich 2NT opner to make
the slam good, that is the message you send
via 4H or via 5S.
Of course 4H instead of 5S is better, since
RKCB is still an option.

Also it would be better, if the strong hand bids
4NT.

With kind regards
Marlowe

PS: RKCB wont help you a lot, partner will have
2 Aces most of the time, and if he accepts your
slam try, he definitily will hold at least 2 Aces.

[Winstonm]

A few points here in my view. First, LTC suggests 11 tricks - your 8 loser hand verses the probable 5 loser hand. Second, with the super hearts pard has to hold most of his hand outside of hearts, 18-19 worth. The only support outside of hearts is the spade J so of the 30 HCP outside hearts your side only holds 19-20, which also suggests 2 losers. Third, the spade suit is not robust. You could easily find yourself opposite Kxx in spades and end up with 3 spade losers. And fourth, it is matchpoints, so there is no big reward for reaching for a speculative slam.

I bid a simple 4S here. Although 6S can make, I would expect 4S to be no worse than average minus and most likely average plus. Moving toward 6 is more likely to be a top or bottom bid, IMO.

Winston

[FrancesHinden]

mike777, on Jun 16 2006, 01:53 AM, said:

I do not see how 4H helps. It is just a general slam try and does not promise heart controls, why not just use 4h as rkc?

You seem to have an obsession with RKC - in the initial post the only options given were signing-off, inviting with 4NT (not telling partner about the spade fit) or asking for aces.

The point about using 4H as an artificial slam try is that - unlike the 'sign-off' or 'rkc' options it asks partner to look at his hand and see if it's suitable for slam. I realise it's not that useful when you can't make a trial bid to tell partner which values will be useful, but he'll still know what a 'good hand' and a 'bad hand' are. You'll also discover if you are off the AK of diamonds - with something like

AKQx
Qx
QJx
AKQx

he can cue 5C and sign off over 5H

[han]

I also like 4H here as a slam try in spades, isn't this standard? While I agree that 6S is against the odds, I'm willing to make a try below 4S.

[jdonn]

mike777, on Jun 15 2006, 07:53 PM, said:

I do not see how 4H helps. It is just a general slam try and does not promise heart controls, why not just use 4h as rkc?

RKC commits you to slam if you have the keycards. 4♥ is (potentially) a slam INVITATION, and I am passing if partner can only bid 4♠. You also bid 4♥ if your intention is to bid keycard next.

[mike777]

Thanks for all the feedback, my bidding 4s here got me a 13%.