[sceptic]

Please feel free to rip this apart

I was South and 7clubs is a good sacrifice I think. I just really cant seem to get my head round when to shut up and when to bid.

I considered my hand to be pretty good for a bid at the 5 level thinking my p would choose the right contract for me i.e. 5!h pass or choose 6 clubs

my p was off like a shot afterwards

Scoring: IMP

---

West North East South

 -     -     -     1♣
 Dbl   Pass  5♦    5♥
 Dbl   Pass  Pass  Pass
 

[helene_t]

I suppose you lost trump control after the opps forced you in diamonds, yet 6♣ would have been a good sacrifice. Partner should have bid that, he knows you have at least six clubs.

I wouldn't have bid 5♥, though. What's going on in this auction? Where are the points? Either 5♦ is a very undiciplined call, or LHO has some monster hand, or both. You may go for 800 or 1100 on a board where opps have slam but wouldn't bid it anyway.

[inquiry]

Your partner left like a shot because of his own poor decision making. I am not condoning your 5♥ bid, but you paid your entry fee and you get to make a grown up decision for yourself. Your partner with 4 good clubs and crappy two small hearts had absolutely no right to pass 5♥X. He must bid 6♣, QED.

In 6♣ you will lose the obvious 1♠, 1♥, 1♦ for down two (-300) versus a laydown vulnerable game (-600). Send the jerk an link to this page, so he can learn something about the partnership nature of the game. Your 5♥ bid here shows 5♥ and 6+♣, a novice would find 6♣ over this bid.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

5H is following the old saying "Six five,
come alive", so I think 5H is ok, ... my
regular partner would have done the same,
he is a bid more dynamic than me (no big deal .-).

And partner should bid 6C holding 4 card
support.

But this example is irrelevant for the discussion at hand,
you play with a random pickup partner, i.e.
there is no partnership agreement, and you have
no clue, if he understands 5H as a freakish 2-suiter.

Also you have no clue about the playing strength of
your opponents, which means 5D may or may not
make, against sane OW more often than not, but a
random OW pair?

With kind regards
Marlowe

[paulg]

Interesting hand - from the auction it appears highly likely that West has both majors so your 5♥ bid is unlikely to work as a contract (you'd rather play in a 6-1 club fit than a 5-3 heart fit when you are going to be forced).

However the bid is likely to get partner to find the best lead and 6♣ rates to be a sound sacrifice, so I think it is probably best.

I'd be grateful your partner left after his pass of 5♥

Paul

[pclayton]

Hi Wayne:

Pard can't find a call at the one level, yet you decide to branch out on the thinnest limb at the 5 level?

Furthermore, LHO very likely has a heart stack on this sequence. This hand could play terrible with the tap, especially if your pard is 2=1 in the rounded suits. 5♥ has -1400 written all over it, even NV.

I know thats a great 5-6 and the colors are right, but I think a 5♥ call ooks like the actual hand along with the ♥K. In that case you have a reasonable chance of making 5♥.

What would really suck is if LHO had some sort of 4=4=3=2 and RHO on 1=2=7=3 and you are actually beating 5♦ with your AK-A .

Of course your pard should correct to 6♣, but thats not really the point. You caught a surprise fit. I don't mind a direct raise of 2♣ over the double, but thats my style.

[EricK]

I think your partner made the first mistake when he didn't support your 1♣ bid.

He made his second mistake when he didn't correct back to ♣.

People like that should not be allowed to play 5 card majors.

[P_Marlowe]

EricK, on Jun 30 2006, 01:44 PM, said:

I think your partner made the first mistake when he didn't support your 1♣ bid.

If one makes a move with the North hand 1S
is clearly better, it is THE SUIT, and your most
likely game / partial.

But passing is certainly not wrong.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[EricK]

P_Marlowe, on Jul 1 2006, 09:19 PM, said:

EricK, on Jun 30 2006, 01:44 PM, said:

I think your partner made the first mistake when he didn't support your 1♣ bid.

If one makes a move with the North hand 1S
is clearly better, it is THE SUIT, and your most
likely game / partial.

But passing is certainly not wrong.

With kind regards
Marlowe

When second hand doubles, suggesting he has a ♠ suit and is short in ♣, I do not think it is so clear what your most likely partial is. But it is clear that they will have either a ♦ fit or a ♥ fit or both. I would be tempted to make a pre-emptive raise to 3♣ at this vulnerability.

[barmar]

First, I agree with those who criticised your 5♥ bid. I might bid 4♥ over 4♦, but I wouldn't do it at the 5 level.

But once West doubled, partner has no excuse not run back to your first suit, even though it's a level higher.

I'm not sure I'd make a preemptive raise immediately with the North hand. Over a minor opening, especially 1♣, it's preferable to have 5-card support to preempt. With only 4 cards, you should at least have a singleton on the side.

[SoTired]

I criticize responder the most. What's the point of having a partner at bridge? The most important duty of a player is to choose between partner's 2 suits. If a player can't do that, then they should take up some other non-partnership game.

This galls me no end. Whether 5H is a good or bad bid is irrelevant.

[barmar]

SoTired, on Jul 5 2006, 11:05 AM, said:

This galls me no end. Whether 5H is a good or bad bid is irrelevant.

Well, it's partly his own fault for putting responder in that situation in the first place. While it turns out that 6♣ is a good sacrifice, he had no way of knowing that either 5♥ or 6♣ would be safe when he made the bid.

[neilkaz]

The 5 level belongs to them!

While 6C is, in this case best. Your 5H virtually commits you to 6Cx since the doubler likely has a few hearts. I would simply just pass 5D and hope that the opps get set. Maybe two clubs cash as well as your ace of H, perhaps PD has the Ace of Spades and the take out doubler has the QJ. 5D can be off two on this bidding. Also PD can have the K of H and you may cash two H tricks. Most probably the player jumping to 5D is quite distributional, but one never knows when 11 tricks cannot be made. Perhaps the take out double was made with 44 in the majors but only 2 diamonds (worse minimal take out doubles are made all the time). PD on this bidding is marked with spade length and a weak hand and also likely has a couple clubs at least. 5H can work out and must lead to either 5Hx or 6Cx, but it is the decision to bid over 5D that I disagree with. Perhaps PD has KQx in H and 5H is cold, but I really don't think that is too likely !

That being said, PD absolutely must bid 6C rather than letting you get butchered in 5Hx. From his standpoint, you've probably made an error, but he has to give you a chance, rather than pulling out the chair from under you to hang you.

Note that you are on lead to 5D so 5H is not lead directing. It also may tip declarer as to the freakish distribution which can lead to him finding a winning line.

By leaving, your PD saved you from leaving him/her !!

.. neilkaz ..