[FrancesHinden]

You are vul against not playing matchpoints.
You hold

---

and RHO opens 1♠.

This is a mildly interesting problem: any of double, 1NT, 2H or pass could be right and would probably gain votes in a bidding competition.

However, you choose to pass. The auction continues

1♠  Pass  4♠  5♥
5♠

Once you have picked yourself up off the floor, it's your go. What now?

[whereagles]

Looks simple to me. 6♥ and dbl 6♠

[Free]

I don't get this: it's MP and I pass

I guess 6NT or 6♥ is pretty obligated now...

[flytoox]

If pd is reliable I will bid 7H.

[helene_t]

Dbl, blame-transfer: If partner passes with - Axxxxxx xx Axxx I'll say that it was an obvious action double :-)

No, 6♥, partner rates to have ♣A. Besides, even if 6♥ doesn't make we won't necesarily get rich from defending 5♠.

Btw, I would have overcalled 1NT.
(Now that McPhee mentions it: 5NT is not a bad idea. But I prefer 6♦ which may help partner if LHO bid 6♠).

[mcphee]

Not a bad hand for dear old pard who entered at the 5 level red versus white. I think I would bid 5NT over 5S and if pard introduces C ace I will help him off the floor with 7H. I do not know what he has over there, but I have what he needs. I can't imagine partner thinking that 5NT is anything other than a huge raise of H, which I forgot to bid over 1S.

[hrothgar]

My shape (and my experience) suggests that partner is sitting on some king of big two-suiter, with enough dispariety in suit length that parter named his own suit rather than starting with 4NT

♠ Void
♥ AQ98765
♦ x
♣ KQJTx

Looks about right

My original thought was to bid 6♥, however, I like the 5NT bid that Mcphee suggested

[Robert]

Hi everyone

I normally check to see 'if' everyone is using the same deck of cards in these type auctions. Are the backs of the cards all the same here?

Is partner is reasonably sober?(Is it New Years Eve or the equivalent in this part of the world?)

I suspect that I would only bid 6H here. Do you normally pass a 5S bid with say an 8-5 shape at MPs? I would guess either 7-5(+1) or 8-5 is the hand in question 'if' partner saw that he was Red vs White 'even' while playing MPs.

Since I did already pass, I will cut partner some slack and bid 6Hs. If partner would bid 5H missing these cards, might he also take the push holding something less? x Axxxxxxx void KQJx aren't there two cashing Aces now?

With an 8 card suit headed by the AQ, I suspect that many bridge players might attempt a 5H bid at MPs after 1S-4S.

Regards,
Robert

[Codo]

5 NT blame transfer. If he pulls this and they can cash two aces I tell him, that this was obvious to play :-)

I think 5 NT is fine, but would bid 6 Heart instead, never believing in a grand after this bidding.

[cherdano]

mcphee, on Nov 19 2006, 03:44 PM, said:

Not a bad hand for dear old pard who entered at the 5 level red versus white. I think I would bid 5NT over 5S and if pard introduces C ace I will help him off the floor with 7H. I do not know what he has over there, but I have what he needs. I can't imagine partner thinking that 5NT is anything other than a huge raise of H, which I forgot to bid over 1S.

This plan just won't work. Even if partner takes 5N as an invitation to cue-bid (rather than pick-a-slam) Partner won't cooperate in a grand slam try with - AQ-7th xx AKxx opposite a hand that passed earlier.

[kenberg]

I suppose I would just bid 6H, not wanting to give partner a puzzle. But what could be the meaning of 6D? Control in diamonds with values in hearts, and some decent cards given I'm a passed hand? Surely when partner bids 5H he has set trumps. Seems logical to me, but partners have a way of finding other interpretations so I will bid 6H.

[pclayton]

At face value, pard has a void in spades and loooong hearts; void, AQxxxxx as a base. What else does he need to dive in red / white? Certainly not 3-3; a minimum of 4-2 and likely 5-1. But I don't think that its a hand as strong as Richard suggests; that leaves the opponents with all of 13 points.

Something's really rotten in Denmark.

Did RHO open with a 9 count and LHO raise with 4? Possible. What seems more likely is that RHO made a blatant psyche as dealer with or without the spade suit. This introduces some additional possible hands for pard, including Axxx of spades (since he knows that I have to short spades) and less than a super heart suit.

Whatever he has, and there's no real way to figure this out, is that there are a lot of different kind of hands that give us a good play for 6♥. I don't think we can find 7 with any degree of confiThere's a good chance the opps will be sacrificing anyway, so all of this analysis may be moot.

[kenberg]

Frances says this hand is for amusement. Maybe partner meant to bid 5C and misclicked. That would be a real laugher.

[neilkaz]

Can you possibly have a better hand and pass ? Certainly not me, and I would have overcalled 2♥ in a flash.

Anyhow..on to the real question...6♥ almost certainly is cold, but we may have a grand if the opps cannot cash an ace.

So..why can't we Q bid 6♦ to show the ace along with a max raise to 6♥ and deny the ace of ♣ ? Certainly we cannot be running from ♥'s after passing and while this may help the opps lead, it seems to convey more info to PD than 5NT does, since he very easily cold be ice cold for 7♥.

.. neilkaz ..