[jillybean]

Scoring: IMP

(1♣) 4♥ (4♠) DBL
RDBL (AP)

---

I need an unbiased opinion on the bidding here please

[cherdano]

Well done by LHO to redouble, good lesson
South has about 1.3 defensive tricks, plus something that could come out from his trump holding. i don't think that's enough to double opposite a preempt.

[the hog]

I don't like the X at all. Your KJ of H are unlikely to carry much weight here, and all the X does is to reveal the bad split. I would pass, though would not crime a 5H bid too much.

[jillybean]

And another...

Scoring: IMP

(P) 1♠ (P) 4♠
(AP)

making 4♠+2

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[jillybean]

cherdano, on Feb 24 2007, 11:28 PM, said:

Well done by LHO to redouble, good lesson

lol a painful lesson -12.9 imps

To be honest I was expecting a bit more for the 4♥ bid

[jchiu]

Unless your LHO is full of testosterone and under the age of 20, I think he means it when he sends it back with the blue card. I would not have doubled, but if this auction comes back to me, looking at my 1.5 defensive tricks, I would certainly pull to 5♥. Barring a semi-obvious trump lead, that's a game for the good guys.

[P_Marlowe]

jillybean2, on Feb 25 2007, 01:43 AM, said:

cherdano, on Feb 24 2007, 11:28 PM, said:

Well done by LHO to redouble, good lesson

lol a painful lesson -12.9 imps

To be honest I was expecting a bit more for the 4♥ bid

Hi,

4H is agressive, and depending on your partnership
style 3H maybe enough, but exchange the Ace of clubs
with the Ace of hearts the 4H bid gets better, and you
make one trick less in defence.

You have at best 3 tricks for the defence, and this
already assumes the King of clubs makes a trick,
but the opener is sitting behind you.

You need at least one trick from partner, and that would
only lead to -1.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[P_Marlowe]

jillybean2, on Feb 25 2007, 01:35 AM, said:

And another...

Scoring: IMP

(P) 1♠ (P) 4♠
(AP)

making 4♠+2

---

Normal.

You need the Jack of clubs, and you have no wastage
whats so ever.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[blackshoe]

First Hand: I think 3 ♥ is enough, double is too much, and 5 ♥ is much better than letting the RDBL stand.

Second hand: South is too strong for 4 ♠. I'd make a limit raise. Even opposite 4 ♠ I think North is worth a slam try. 1♠-4♠-5♣-5♦-6♠. 1♠-3♠-4♣-4♦-4♥-4♠-5♣=5♦-6♠ would be better.

OTOH, I just got up. Maybe I should go back to bed.

[P_Marlowe]

blackshoe, on Feb 25 2007, 07:39 AM, said:

<snip>
Second hand: South is too strong for 4 ♠. I'd make a limit raise.
<snip>

Of course, ... 3S is better, since it can be passed.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[pbleighton]

First hand: I agree with 4H. Double is horrible. 4H is a preemptive bid which doesn't promise any defense. Without the redouble, I would leave the double in, but as is, I would run to 5H.

Second hand: the 4S bidder is too strong for the bid. Vul at IMPs, I would:
1. If I was playing a constructive 2S (8-10 or so, which I hate, but which works here), I would bid it, and we would play 4S.
2. If not, I think I would bid 3S (and I hope I'm not saying this because it's the Forum), and we would bid the slam.

It's close though. I don't worry about missing 27 point slams, they're nice, but they go down a lot, and you have to be a very strong pair to bid them accurately. You don't have to be nearly as strong to think that you do

Peter

[cherdano]

jillybean2, on Feb 25 2007, 12:43 AM, said:

To be honest I was expecting a bit more for the 4♥ bid

4♥ is still a preempt (even though it is sometimes bid with goodish hands and shape).
I would NEVER bid 3♥ with this hand (except red vs white).

[Double !]

I do not agree with the double of 4S on the first hand.

Pass is likely the more prudent action: perhaps partner's pre-empt has done its work and the opps are poorly placed. It is difficult to tell although holding the KJ in hearts increases the likelihood that opps might be in the correct strain if not at the correct level (yet). OTOH, give partner AQ8th and out, and 10 hearts (5HX)
is -300, and a good save. Tough call, but doubling 4S does little more than help declarer locate cards, and you have 1, maybe 2 tricks on defense if P holds the template AQ7th or 8th and out in hearts.

Perhaps I am alone on this, but the South hand on problem #2 looks more like a limit raise than a 4S bid to me. xx in two outside suits and AK4th in other side suit along with 5-card trump support seems pretty good to me. I might ask, how yucky might my partner's 1 spade overcalls be, even at unfavorable?

dhl

[goobers]

About the second hand, I have a question as well.

A lot of the time with these things, I want to make a bid that's like "Please bid 4S, but don't play me for more than 8 or 9 HCP." Usually I just blast into 4S and understate my HCP I guess.

Does anyone have any general advice on how to handle this?

[barmar]

goobers, on Feb 25 2007, 11:15 PM, said:

About the second hand, I have a question as well.

A lot of the time with these things, I want to make a bid that's like "Please bid 4S, but don't play me for more than 8 or 9 HCP." A lot of the time, I just blast into 4S and understate my HCP I guess.

Does anyone have any general advice on how to handle this?

There are a couple of ways to handle this, but it requires special agreement with your partner.

1. If your system includes forcing 1NT, some play that 1♠-1NT(forcing)-2x-4♠ shows this hand. However, this might not help with this hand, because opener will probably rebid 3♣, and then responder doesn't have any way to show how good his support is.

2. My regular partner and I play that 1♠-3NT shows a constructive raise with 5-card support. Usually opener simply rebids 4♠, but if he has extra values, as in this case, he can explore slam (or double the opponents if they try to save). 1♠-4♠ is simply a preemptive raise, and rarely has any useful defense on the side, so partner should pass with practically hand.

[Stephen Tu]

I think anyone who claims they are reaching the 2nd slam w/o playing some sort strong club/diamond followed by relays is kidding themselves. Either that or they are reaching a ton of bad slams where responder has ♥J instead of ♣J, or a third club instead of the fifth spade, either of which makes the slam zero play.

I wouldn't have any qualms about bidding 3S inv on this hand, if that's systemic; if partner passes, it's going to be the right spot most of the time!

With more shape, one just judges the likelihood of missing slams vs. tactical advantages of blasting, temporizing with 1nt is a possibility, + if you have spare jump bids available you could use one of them as a stronger 4M raise.