[Gpm_bg]

inquiry, on Apr 3 2007, 10:40 PM, said:

This is an OMG auction... It makes no sense whatsoever.

a 100% agree

2/1 is like a rope which everyone pull to his side.
To pretend that you playing 2/1 and to bid like this is like to say that you play football and to go on the pitch with a bat.

Yesterday i have seen the almost same class of bidding 2/1 with these cards:
♠KJx
♥AKJ10x
♦K10x
♣Ax

The open bid was 1♥, his partner bid 1♠, and the rebid was ..... 3♣
On the reasonable question after the game from his partner who bid 3nt ( for -2 with ♣ lead and A♠ and Q♥ at the back ) the answer was, i like to hide the ♣, and i wonder what to rebid . That's i call 2/1 player !

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

1H?: Either bid 3S as a splinter or 4C
5C?: having made the gamble you will
never convince partner that you have
only 3, see the gamble through
Either 4H or 3S, playing 6H in a 4-3
fit may not be a bad idea

With kind regards
Marlowe

[kenberg]

1H is a bit crazy. Ok, more than a bit. But in a pick-up partnership you often have no idea of what either 1C-2C or 1C-3C means. So he gave it a try and hoped to get away with it. The thing to do, after the heart raise, is to calmly bid 4H. If the opponents start with three rounds of diamonds you pitch on the third (not needed as the card lie but to protect against a 4-2 split). Then you claim.

Of course the raise to 2H might have been on 3, and then you are in a 3-3 fit. Probably not good. But in a pick-up, opener should not be in a hurry to raise 1H on 3 cards.

If bidding 1H and raising 2H to 4H is just to weird to contemplate then you cannot bid 1H. You cannot bid 1C-1H-2H-5C. No one can figure that out. I suppose it's exclusion key card, but with a pick-up? You can't expect it to be taken as an offer (demand?) to play 5C.

Playing online pickup leads to weird situations. What else can I say?

I sort of like the suggested 1C-5C auction given the lack of agreements.

[helene_t]

P_Marlowe, on Apr 4 2007, 04:20 PM, said:

1H?: Either bid 3S as a splinter or 4C

You cannot splinter with a pick-up, and 4♣ will probably be understood as preemptive. So without a forcing raise, you must bid a fake suit. Usually 1♦ but I can understand 1♥ with this hand.

After partner's raise of hearts it becomes difficult. Maybe 3♣ or 4♣ (not sure which is more likely to be understood correctly by opener) followed by some number of clubs if opener bids 3NT (suggesting that he'd raised on 3). If opener insists of hearts, so be it. 4♥ might be a playable contract.

Of course, responder could also blast 5♣ immediately, or try 2♣ which is unlikely to get passed out.