[geofspa]

Scoring: IMP

Bidding so far

- 1NT P 2♦(transfer)
P 2♥ P ?

---

Sitting South with this hand should I assess this as a minimum, or invitational?

I have 9 HCP and if partner has 16 or 17 we have the values for game.

I have some nice tens and nines, but the hand does look quacky.

Should I invite with 2N here?

[geofspa]

Oh and I can't count ... the hand is 8HCP not 9

[Walddk]

geofspa, on Mar 30 2007, 12:32 PM, said:

Scoring: IMP

Bidding so far

- 1NT P 2♦(transfer)
P 2♥ P ?

---

Sitting South with this hand should I assess this as a minimum, or invitational?

I have 9 HCP and if partner has 16 or 17 we have the values for game.

I have some nice tens and nines, but the hand does look quacky.

Should I invite with 2N here?

I only see 8 hcp but I would still invite with 2NT. This is a very good 8 count, much better than many 9 and 10 counts. The vulnerability is also tempting. In a way I hope opener has a doubleton heart; my hand is no trumpy as you point out indirectly.

I am in love with ♥10 ... sighhh ♥

Roland

[1eyedjack]

Personally I bid on. Obviously neither choice comes with any guarantees. Vulnerability and scoring method are influential in my decision. I would not criticise a partner for passing, and if he were to criticise me for whichever losing option I take here I will be looking for a new partner.

[Thread drift]
In my preferred method of responses I start with 2C on this hand, showing Hearts or a good balanced hand. With 4+ Hearts opener commits to 3 level. Lacking a 4th Heart partner bids 2D with max or 2H with min. So we get to play in 2H on hands like this opposite a minimum opener, or in game opposite a maximum without risking playing in 2N or 3H.
One day perhaps I will form a regular partnership on BBO to give these methods a good run.
[/Thread drift]

[whereagles]

Invite, of course.

Good hand for keri, though.

[inquiry]

The decision to "BID OR NOT TO BID" (sorry Larry) with this hand could be affected by,

• the range of your 1NT. I play 14-16 so that would temper my enthusiasm a bit more,
  
• type of game and vulnerabilty. At IMPs you would be more tempted to bid (especially vul) than at MP,
  
• rather or not you play super accepts over Jacoby or not, (if partner can not be maximum with some kind of good fit, you might be less likely to bid on).

Playing 15-17 NT, I would bid again vul at imps without a seconds thought, and would bid again not vul as well, and at MP I might guess to pass. Playing 14-16, I would pass.

[mcphee]

This hand looks like a clear invite to me. Partner may hold a 5 card minor, or S suit, in which case I have very helpful cards. I consider this type of hand to be a decision I was not asked to make, it is the openers decision after a simple 2NT invite. The fact I am vulnerable is even more compelling and really to pass is rather timid. There are many minimums that will give 3N a good shot when partner has the K of H and A of C .

[Apollo81]

invite

[mr1303]

Closer to GFing than passing 2H, but I guess an invite is a good middle of the road. 109 of spades look good here as well

[bid_em_up]

3N. Invites are for wimps.

Seriously, look at the hand.

♠ T95
♥ QJT86
♦ Q7
♣ K96

You have honors in every suit. (Yes, the 10 is an honor).

You have no card in your hand below a 6. All of these spots are going to work well in 3N or 4♥. While you can't assign an actual value to this, I have found that it is worth approximately an extra queen in your hand (or two hcp). It is 8 hcp plus a GOOD 5 card suit. It can provide 3 tricks even if partner is on xx in hearts. This so-called 8 count, actually evaluates to about 10-11 in NT or hearts.

This is IMP's and we're vulnerable. This game rates to be better than a 40% shot. It needs to be bid. Now isn't the time to be asking partner to judge his hand and accept or decline.

Further question, for all you inviters. Say you invite with 2N, and partner bids 3♥ showing 3 hearts.....do you bid 4♥? or do you now pass?

[cherdano]

bid_em_up, on Mar 30 2007, 01:28 PM, said:

Further question, for all you inviters. Say you invite with 2N, and partner bids 3♥ showing 3 hearts.....do you bid 4♥? or do you now pass?

This sequence, inviting with 2N and then bidding on over 3♥ exists. With a hand that plays better in hearts than NT and improves if partner has 3-card support. That hand would have shape, primary honors, maybe a lack of trump intermediates.
I hope my point is clear...

[mikeh]

It is often winning bridge, when red at imps, to bid game rather than to invite, if for no other reasons than:

1) opening leader may make a lead choice based on the tempo of the auction. If the opps bounce smartly into game, he may feel the need to make a high-risk aggressive lead, while with a slow auction, he may feel he can go passive because we simply may not have enough tricks. While prompting the opp to go aggressive may backfire for me, on the whole, when I am minimal for my bid, I'd prefer the opps give away a trick on the lead.

2) more importantly, if I invite and partner accepts, the opps have a better definition of his hand and can defend more intelligibly.

However, the problem with this hand has been hinted at by Justin's response to the follow-up question of what to do over 2N 3♥. I agree 100% with pass now: this is not a suit oriented hand, with slow values and bad shape.

In other words, I'd be happy to blast game in 3N if I knew he was going to pass, but I would not want to commit to the 10 trick game in ♥s unless he was happy (and likely not even then.... I would expect to go down more often than not if he bid 4♥ over 2N, since he has limited his hand by not super-accepting in ♥s).

So, because I do not want to reach 4♥ opposite a minimum, I will invite via 2N and respect a 3♥ signoff

[mikeh]

Jlall, on Mar 30 2007, 04:48 PM, said:

mikeh, on Mar 30 2007, 04:38 PM, said:

In other words, I'd be happy to blast game in 3N if I knew he was going to pass, but I would not want to commit to the 10 trick game in ♥s unless he was happy

You could try 1N-3N. This type of style actually has a lot of merit, of course the downside is obvious. Just throwing it out there though, one doesn't have to transfer with this hand necessarily. Or you could compromise with stayman trying to get to a 5-4 heart fit but avoid a 5-3 one.

I'd prefer the stayman approach, and considered mentioning it, but didn't want to sidetrack the theme based on the original transfer, which is the mainstream bid anyway. Besides, the first time I tried to be cute on this, some 30 years ago, I used stayman on a 2=6=3=2 hand in a mp event, intending to play 3N unless we had a 10 card fit. Partner, a maniac, bid 2♦, concealing his 5 card ♥ suit. 4♥ would have scored average: 3N was somewhat less... about half a board less, if memory serves... so much for leading the event, which we were at the time

[skjaeran]

I would bid 3NT over 2♥. Seriously, there's a lot if minimum openers where 3NT is laydown or odds on. This hand is too heavy for an invite.