[Walddk]

Scoring: IMP

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Team match on BBO yesterday. Your partner passes and RHO opens a natural 1♣. Do you overcall 1NT or not?

Roland

[helene_t]

Nope, too little trick potential. I would not overcall with this hand under any circumstances. Yet the fact that RHO opened 1♣ (unlikely to be raised preemptively) and that partner is a passed hand (making it even less likely that it's our board) makes it even less attractive to overcall.

[Echognome]

I do. I don't view it subminimum for the call and it will save me headaches on any balancing decision. There is, of course, a risk of being doubled, but there's always that risk when overcalling 1NT. On the plus side, partner can effectively compete the partscore and we may have a game on (partner can still have a balanced 11 or 12 count depending on your style).

[Gerben42]

Pass for me. A natural 1NT overcall starts at a GOOD 15, no middle cards here.

[Fluffy]

I'd like to say no, but I always do it even when I know it is wrong

1♦ seems the best bid

[mhais]

bid 1nt

[Edmunte1]

Too weak for 1NT, but could work as a preempt for their major part score. I don't have intermediattes at all, almost only controls. I will bid 1♦ tghough, encouraging partener to open the bidding. I won't like to bid after 1♣-1♥-1NT for example

[mike777]

Yes I have 4 clubs but I double, takeout.
Second choice is 1D overcall.

[Walddk]

mike777, on Feb 28 2007, 03:12 PM, said:

Yes I have 4 clubs but I double, takeout.

What are you going to do when you get the likely 1♠ response?

Roland

[mike777]

Walddk, on Feb 28 2007, 08:16 AM, said:

mike777, on Feb 28 2007, 03:12 PM, said:

Yes I have 4 clubs but I double, takeout.

What are you going to do when you get the likely 1♠ response?

Roland

pass.

[Codo]

1 NT as a preempt is fine for me.
We have a lot of run out possibilities if we need them.

The biggest downside is not the possible -500. I would hate more to make declarer play so easy f they are in a border line game.

But all these downsides do not make up for the preempt factor.

[pbleighton]

1NT.

Peter

[inquiry]

It is bad results overcalling 1NT on hands like this that got me to switch to raptor. I have been able to bid most 1NT overcall hands adequately without using a natural 1NT overcall with Raptor. MAybe if I learn just to make a "sick" pass with these hands while playing strong NT overcalls, I would have better results overcalling 1NT.

I think in the long run, pass with the hand is better. Give me the KJ9x of diamonds, I would possibly overcall 1♦.

[helene_t]

inquiry, on Feb 28 2007, 04:58 PM, said:

It is bad results overcalling 1NT on hands like this that got me to switch to raptor. I have been able to bid most 1NT overcall hands adequately without using a natural 1NT overcall with Raptor. MAybe if I learn just to make a "sick" pass with these hands while playing strong NT overcalls, I would have better results overcalling 1NT.

I play Raptor for the same reason, and it never occured to me to overcall a natural 1NT with this hand, allthough I would probably do it with a jack more, especially nonvul at matchpoints. Then again, make ♦J the queen and I would be equally happy to overcall 1♦.

I would play a natural 1NT overcall if playing against you, though

A friend of mine (Rosalind Hengeveld) plays a 17-20 1NT overcall - the consequence of that is that double followed by 1NT over partner's 1♠ would show 14-16. This is a good hand for her method.

[MickyB]

Eugh eugh eugh

I wouldn't be close to bidding 1NT even if partner wasn't a passed hand.

As it is, the main plus side of bidding 1NT (reaching game when pard has a decent hand) has gone. Easy pass.

Btw, if there had been two passes to RHO I wouldn't mind 1NT. This is partly because I'd expect partner to open more conservatively in second than in first, but mainly because LHO is much less likely to find a double opposite a potentially light third seat opening.

[jdonn]

Obvious pass, anyone who bids 1NT is
1) not considering the situation closely enough (terrible vul for that action, partner passed hand, no spot cards at all)
and/or
2) equating their 1NT overcall range to their 1NT opening bid range too literally.
It doesn't have to be -500 to be a disaster. -200 when they were probably going down in something is lose 7, even worse than not bidding a nonvul game!

[cherdano]

Was it 800 or 1100, Roland?

[mikeh]

I'm going to jump on the 'pass' bandwagon for the reasons stated above, but I am not so sanguine that pass is wonderful. It is easy to see how we could be getting blocked out on this hand: we could easily miss a valuable double partscore swing or even a game.

However, the odds favour the opps having the substantial majority of the highcards.

I recall a hand like this many years ago. We were playing a pair, who finished (I think) 2nd and 8th in the masterpoint race in NA, in a short team match. One of them made a dubious vulnerable overcall of our 10-12 notrump and went 1700 red v white. The next hand, I made a 1N overcall on a hand very similar to this and went -1400. We won the match by 3 imps, so the moral of the story is that you overcall these hands only after picking up 1700 on the previous board.

[mikegill]

No, seems clear. Switch clubs/diamonds, make me white, or make pard not a PH and we'll talk.