[pclayton]

Jlall, on Aug 7 2007, 07:04 AM, said:

pclayton, on Aug 7 2007, 09:53 AM, said:

My only 'fear' on this auction is that LHO is playing games on something like: ♠AKxx ♥AJxx ♦x ♣Kxxx.

lol, you were one of those people who feared the monsters in the closet when you were a kid werent you

Anyways you are dreaming if you think you are going to play 3H when partner has Axx Axx xxx AQx, but thats ok since it's a pretty decent game.

Yeah, well you were the kid that used to pull the wings off of flies and kill ants with a magnifying glass

[han]

ArtK78, on Aug 7 2007, 09:31 AM, said:

Hannie, if you look at my post, you will see that I stated that there is an exception to having an above-average opening hand or better for a direct action over a preempt. It is exactly the hand that you described - a hand with shortness in the preemptor's suit and a good suit to overcall. Still, you have to tread warily, as partner assumes that you have a good hand when you act in direct seat over a preempt.

Well Art, don't be surprised if I react to your first post when you only mention the exception to your rule in your second post. By the way, does a singleton qualify as "extremely short"? I'd think that would need to be at least a void.

Anyway, from now on I will tread warily!

[mikeh]

I'm an xxxx balancer myself, and I am with those who are not (overly) worried about double on my left. These guys are at favourable, and LHO didn't make a gametry. The odds of his having a 2 trick set of my balancing 3♥ opposite a white v red (and therefore potentially awful) 2♦ are very low.... compared to the chances that we have a game, they are insignificant. And it would be a brave (foolhardy?) opp who doubled me for a 1 trick set. If I'm getting doubled, it is probably after partner stretches to raise.. now the double is less costly when wrong, so more likely to be made for a 1 trick set.

Note to Keylime: hyperactivity in direct seat is a poor approach... but I suppose it depends on what you call hyperactivity When you come in with wide-range overcalls, as you must if your lower limit is 'hyperactive', you place far too much pressure on partner, who has limited bidding space in which to find out how weak you are. Better to be relatively conservative (Hannie posted a good low-end overcall hand earlier), so partner can participate meaningfully.

[keylime]

Mike,

Part of the reason for my involvement in this thread, was to examine whether the active style we have was optimal or not. With the frequency of preempts being high, I had thought that being active early would benefit partner - after this thread tho, I'm not so sure if this is the way to go. There's certain parallels to this as in let's say, handling weak NT openings where you tend to be more constructive in bidding versus the aggressive strong NT defenses. Hence my changing thoughts about whether this is really "sound" and "rational".

Both Phil, Han, and you have given me much food for thought.

[han]

I think I overcalled 3C over 2H with something like Qxx x xx AK10xxxx. I believe this was in the LMP, does anybody remember the exact hand? Anyway, another one that is quite light in HCP but with good offense and shortness in their suit. Thoughts?

[ArtK78]

Very tough hand. If you do not act, it could get passed out, although partner will probably do something intelligent in pass out seat. The greater fear, however, is what happens if it goes 3♥ on your left. Now partner will not act with a reasonable hand - he has some heart length and probably not enough to bid 3NT over 3♥.

If you bid 3♣ directly, you could easily get too high. However, you do have a very good suit, so there may be 9 tricks in notrump even if partner has only a reasonable hand.

All things considered, I would bid 3♣ and hope that it turns out right.

The seventh club is the aspect of this hand that makes me bid in direct seat. If the distribution were 3-1-3-6 I would pass and await developments.

[han]

ArtK78, on Aug 7 2007, 11:58 AM, said:

The seventh club is the aspect of this hand that makes me bid in direct seat. If the distribution were 3-1-3-6 I would pass and await developments.

Same for me.

[jdonn]

Hannie, on Aug 7 2007, 10:14 AM, said:

By the way, does a singleton qualify as "extremely short"? I'd think that would need to be at least a void.

Uh....at least!

[cherdano]

Hannie, on Aug 7 2007, 09:40 AM, said:

I think I overcalled 3C over 2H with something like Qxx x xx AK10xxxx. I believe this was in the LMP, does anybody remember the exact hand? Anyway, another one that is quite light in HCP but with good offense and shortness in their suit. Thoughts?

You had this hand on day 0 of Spingold, first match I believe but I could be wrong about that. My hand wasn't too bad but then opponents started slam tries...

[han]

I'm mixing up all the events. I've been slacking lately, thinking too much about math and too little about bridge.