Do you balance over a preempt?

Do you balance over a preempt? Balanced crap in the balancing seat

#1 ArcLight

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 1,341
Joined: 2004-July-02
Location:Millburn, New Jersey
Interests:Rowing. Wargaming. Military history.

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:00

IMPS all white
Pard is a decent player, not some random pick up

LHO opens 2♦ (weak 2) - pass - pass - ?

♠Q x x x
♥ Q x
♦Q x x
♣ K Q x x

In the balancing seat do you:

1. pass
2. bid 2NT
3. bid 2 Spades
4. double
5. other

In the balancing seat, what would it take for you to bid or pass in this auction?

#2 helene_t

The Abbess

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 17,397
Joined: 2004-April-22
Gender:Female
Location:Odense, Denmark
Interests:History, languages

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:10

Pass, I think I need a decent 13-count or such for bidding 2N. It is possible that 2N should show 15 or such and that I would have to dbl with this shape and 13-14. I don't know the theory for this situation so I'm looking forward to the reactions from the experts.

The world would be such a happy place, if only everyone played Acol :) --- TramTicket

#3 Guest_Jlall_*

Group: Guests

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:11

easiest pass ever.

edit: sorry I'll try and say something helpful for once...

Partner is marked with some values, but doesn't need that much (as RHO can pass with significant HCP and a misfit). If he has say, 12 points, he must have diamond length else he would have bid directly. If partner has points and some diamond length passing out 2D is fine as we also have diamond length. The worst thing offensively is to have a 3-3 fit in the opponents suit. WIth a majority of the HCP and the opps not having a fit your most likely plus will be defending. If partner has diamond shortness which we must be hoping for when we bid (as we are trying to turn a minus on defense into a plus), he won't have much in the way of values. Now it's possible he has like, a 9 count with short diamonds and we can make something like 2S, but in that case we will get to at least 3 spades by bidding.

We also have no plausible bid. 2N shows at least a good 14, 2S shows 5 spades and partner will feel compelled to raise way too often, double with a doubleton heart and a terrible hand is asking for trouble, etc.

So basically there is no upside to bidding, and there is no bid that we can make that even remotely describes our hand. And what are the risks? Other than turning a plus on a partscore deal into a minus, we could simply go for a number. Remember RHO could easily have something like AKJx KJxx x Axxx for his pass.

#4 Gerben42

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 5,577
Joined: 2005-March-01
Gender:Male
Location:Erlangen, Germany
Interests:Astronomy, Mathematics
Nuclear power

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:13

Pass. Duh!

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do!
My Bridge Systems Page

BC Kultcamp Rieneck

#5 david_c

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 1,178
Joined: 2004-November-14
Location:England
Interests:Mathematics;<br>20th century classical music;<br>Composing.

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:17

Pass. I'd need an ace more than this before I even consider bidding 2NT. Double is not an option unless you can find some more hearts amongst your diamonds, and even then the high-card strength isn't really there.

#6 jikl

Group: Full Members
Posts: 558
Joined: 2004-October-08
Location:Victoria, Australia

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:22

Quote

1. pass
2. bid 2NT
3. bid 2 Spades
4. double
5. other

Let's go through the options apart from pass:

1. We'll skip this for now.

2. Did not even enter my mind, partner made no move, no preemptive raise from RHO etc.

3. Partner didn't find a takeout double despite your length in ♦, and we want to introduce a 4 card major? My personal guess is partner has 3♦, RHO has 1. Not looking good and I need to take more intoxicating substances to consider this bid with Qxxx.

4. Yes, I really want to play in a 4-2 ♥ fit at the 2 level, or a 5-2 ♥ fit at the 3 level

5. No

Back to 1. It would seem everything else has been ruled out.

Sean

#7 skjaeran

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 3,727
Joined: 2006-June-05
Location:Oslo, Norway
Interests:Bridge, sports, Sci-fi, fantasy

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:23

Pass - clearcut.
I haven't got the values to bid, partner most possibly haven't got a fitting hand and I've got no bid to describe this hand (other than pass

Kind regards,
Harald

#8 hrothgar

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 15,724
Joined: 2003-February-13
Gender:Male
Location:Natick, MA
Interests:Travel
Cooking
Brewing
Hiking

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:28

ArcLight, on Aug 7 2007, 03:00 PM, said:

In the balancing seat, what would it take for you to bid or pass in this auction?

1. A much better hand
2. A partner who I wanted to punish
3. About half a bottle of tequila

Alderaan delenda est

#9 han

Under bidder

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 11,797
Joined: 2004-July-25
Gender:Male
Location:Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Posted 2007-August-07, 06:51

Or:

4. Shorter diamonds.

5. A better suit.

Please note: I am interested in boring, bog standard, 2/1.

- hrothgar

#10 bid_em_up

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 2,351
Joined: 2006-March-21
Location:North Carolina

Posted 2007-August-07, 08:44

hrothgar, on Aug 7 2007, 07:28 AM, said:

ArcLight, on Aug 7 2007, 03:00 PM, said:

In the balancing seat, what would it take for you to bid or pass in this auction?

1. A much better hand
2. A partner who I wanted to punish
3. About half a bottle of tequila

hehe.

Well said.

Is the word "pass" not in your vocabulary?
So many experts, not enough X cards.

#11 pclayton

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 9,151
Joined: 2003-June-11
Location:Southern California

Posted 2007-August-07, 08:57

Pass. This is an entirely different kettle of fish than Arend's balancing question.

"Phil" on BBO

#12 keylime

Group: FD TEAM
Posts: 2,735
Joined: 2003-February-13
Gender:Male
Location:Nashville, TN
Interests:Motorsports, cricket, disc golf, and of course - bridge. :-)

Posted 2007-August-07, 09:00

Pass for me, followed by a gulp of my rum and coke.

"Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. " - M. Ali

#13 neilkaz

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 3,568
Joined: 2006-June-28
Gender:Male
Location:Barrington IL USA
Interests:Backgammon, Bridge, Hockey

Posted 2007-August-07, 09:22

Auto PASS ... 4 Queens ..LOL ..

#14 mikeh

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 13,657
Joined: 2005-June-15
Gender:Male
Location:Canada
Interests:Bridge, golf, wine (red), cooking, reading eclectically but insatiably, travelling, making bad posts.

Posted 2007-August-07, 09:59

while I agree that pass is the best call, by a wide margin, I don't feel as happy with is as most posters seem to. I don't like pass at all: it is just that, as Justin pointed out, pass is the only logical call.

We may well end up -90 or +50 when we could be +120 or +110 or +140.

But we have no safety in bidding and the odds are high that we have no plus in bidding: again, see Justin's post.

If we lost imps by passing, chalk it up to the effectiveness of the weak 2♦ (I always smile when I hear players say that the weak 2♦ is a meaningless bid).

BTW, trying to get to the best spot on every hand is a sure path to poor bridge: stay fixed.

'one of the great markers of the advance of human kindness is the howls you will hear from the Men of God' Johann Hari

#15 P_Marlowe

Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 10,909
Joined: 2005-March-18
Gender:Male

Posted 2007-August-09, 16:10

Pass, wtp?

With kind regards
Marlowe

PS: As was already mentioned, pass is obvious
due to a lack of alternatives.

With kind regards
Uwe Gebhardt (P_Marlowe)

Page 1 of 1

You cannot start a new topic
You cannot reply to this topic

BBO Discussion Forums: Do you balance over a preempt? - BBO Discussion Forums