[keylime]

Today I went to the local duplicate right near Ballston-MU Metro here in D.C. area. You are the new kid in town, but the people are friendly and competition is of decent quality.


You're playing with an unknown partner, when you are dealt this quality hand:

Ax
AKQJx
AKQxx
K

This is a two part question:

1. Do you open 2♣ or 1♥?
2. If 1♥, do you move after this auction:

1♥-1NT*
3♦-3NT

[Gerardo]

1. Usually 1♥ with this shape, but so strong 2♣ is certainly tempting

2. 4♦

[flytoox]

Abosolutely 2C. Too dangerous to open 1H. I dont want to get passed. After 3N, definitely 4D. Actually I think I will just jump to 6D.

[mike777]

1) do I have a long major
2) if so do I have 9 tricks
3) if so do i have 4 quick tricks
4) if so I open 2clubs

only 26 hcp but i will risk opening 2clubs....
2c-2h=neg(no ace or k)
3h=must be one round force in this style/.

[FrancesHinden]

I'm usually in the open 1H camp on marginal hands, but this isn't marginal, it's a genuine old-fashioned game-forcing 2C opening.

[Walddk]

When 1 of my suits is a major I will definitely open 2♣ with that hand. Say it goes:

2♣ - 2♦*
2♥

* waiting

Now I would like to know if we play second negative (2♠) or not.

Roland

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

1) holding 26HCP, ... you have to open 2C.

2) yes, 4NT quantitative, although it is unlikely
that partner will bid 6NT with 9HCP, after 4NT
he will place you with 22HCP at most, still you need
to make another move.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Free]

2♣, definetly!

After the given auction, I think I'll just blast to 6♦, since I don't know the partner and don't know if he's capable of passing 4♦ or not

[helene_t]

No Free, if you anticipate on p being an idiot you should not play with him (unless, occasionaly, in an indy).

But I agree with your conclusion.

[Blofeld]

This particular combination of suits may well actually be biddable after a 2♣ opening (2♣ : 2♦, 2♥ : blah, 3♦ is the auction I'm thinking of), so I'll go with that.

On the given auction, I think I bid 4♦. But what would 4♠ be here? A fragment? A forcing hand wanting to hear more from partner?

[Codo]

I am with the guys who always open two suiter at the one level, but this one is too much even for me, so 2 Club.

After this start, I bid 4 Diamond. I cannot believe that any serious player will pass this.

If I believe, that my pds is able to pass 4 Diamond, I blast to 6.
But if the field is so weak, I had always opened 2 Club.

[inquiry]

open 2♣, but really, don't worry about this hand, I have heard from some people that hands like this are never dealt.

[whereagles]

inquiry, on Jun 7 2006, 11:22 AM, said:

really, don't worry about this hand, I have heard from some people that hands like this are never dealt.

You're right. I've never seen one such beast. This surely is an hypothetical situation

[ArcLight]

No Free, if you anticipate on p being an idiot you should not play with him (unless, occasionaly, in an indy).


If you treat your pard like an idiot:

1 - why bother playing with them? I get very frustrated playing with players a lot worse than me (and I'm not all that good myself)

2 - will that benefit partnership harmony? What will your "idiot" pard think of you? Either they will say to themselves
"that !@#$%^& pard doesn't think I know what I'm doing"
OR
"that pard of mine is an idiot, I better master mind the rest of the hands"


I recently chastised my pard at the table (which is a bad thing!) for constantly pulliing my penalty doubles of the opps saves, or delayed overcalls. In every case we got a terrible score. And their willy-nilly bidding over the opps preempts (down a few) with garbage suits didn't help my mood either.

[jdonn]

keylime, on Jun 6 2006, 11:08 PM, said:

Today I went to the local duplicate right near Ballston-MU Metro here in D.C. area. You are the new kid in town, but the people are friendly and competition is of decent quality.


You're playing with an unknown partner, when you are dealt this quality hand:

Ax
AKQJx
AKQxx
K

This is a two part question:

1. Do you open 2♣ or 1♥?
2. If 1♥, do you move after this auction:

1♥-1NT*
3♦-3NT

1) Oy...you sound like it's a serious question, but really....
2) If you opened 1♥ for some inexplicable reason, this is closer to a 7♦ bid than it is to a pass at this point.

[joshs]

1. I hate opening 2C with 2 suiters, but this hand is a monster. If partner passes 1H you are not just worried about missing game, you are worried about missing slam. You have to open 2C.

2. If you for some reason put a gun to my head and made me open 1H, I would bid 5N (pick a slam) next....

[Free]

ArcLight, on Jun 7 2006, 01:44 PM, said:

No Free, if you anticipate on p being an idiot you should not play with him (unless, occasionaly, in an indy).


If you treat your pard like an idiot:

1 - why bother playing with them? I get very frustrated playing with players a lot worse than me (and I'm not all that good myself)

2 - will that benefit partnership harmony? What will your "idiot" pard think of you? Either they will say to themselves
"that !@#$%^& pard doesn't think I know what I'm doing"
OR
"that pard of mine is an idiot, I better master mind the rest of the hands"


I recently chastised my pard at the table (which is a bad thing!) for constantly pulliing my penalty doubles of the opps saves, or delayed overcalls. In every case we got a terrible score. And their willy-nilly bidding over the opps preempts (down a few) with garbage suits didn't help my mood either.

Perhaps I made a poor description of my thoughts. From the post above, it seems like you're not going to establish any long term partnership with this person. You're there to enjoy the game filled with uncertainties because you don't even know your partner. Why make it harder than necessary on you or your partner? Will you find a safe way to grand? Do you even know what kind of Blacky you're using?

[bid_em_up]

Actually, I think you should consider bidding 6♣

Partner has no more than 3 spades. He most likely has a stiff heart, and he doesnt have 4♦ either. That leaves at worst 3-1-3-6....

(I would never actually do this at the table, but.....i wont be surprised if it works)

[pbleighton]

6D, although since pd probably has clubs, 6NT is tempting.

Peter

[pclayton]

I'll open it 2♣. Since I can make 11 tricks if a catch a yarbourough over there, I think this hand warrants strong action. Still, I'm concerned about interference in the black suits and trying to get my suits in.