[Apollo81]

MPs, none vul

♠J
♥J1097
♦J963
♣Q1084

pass-(pass)-1♠*-(3♦)
pass-(pass)-Dbl-(pass)
???

* 11-15

[whereagles]

pull. obvious to me

[Gerben42]

3♥, not a close decision in my opinion.

[kenrexford]

Thank God this is MP. We could be in for a number otherwise.

Some of the field will not have a 3♦ preempt. Some will not reopen with a double when holding less than 16 HCP. So, if we cannot make 3♥, we are in trouble.

However, we are not vulnerable. We might go set but still win out if 3♦ makes.

If we were vulnerable, I'd pass and pray. I think that would be a strong option.

White, however, I think I can do all right in 3♥. I'll try.

[Codo]

As all agree to pull, I must be wrong, but I pass at mps.

The lott is with me, so is my shortness in Pds first suit.
I will never do this at imps, but here...

And there is one more upside: Partner has a problem to judge my overall strength, so he may sometimes bid 4 Heart when it is wrong. He cannot do anything stupid anymore after I passed.
(Maybe I already did this for him, but this won´t be the first time... nor the last)

[ArtK78]

Partner asked you to bid. You have 4 hearts. Is there a problem here??? Of course you bid.

Now, if I had AJxx of diamonds and four small hearts, I could pass. But J9xx? I don't think so.

[karlson]

I think the fact that partner is limited makes a difference -- even opposite a standard 1s I'd be thinking of -50 or -100 vs -470, not +100 vs +140, but I think the chance that this is their hand is even higher here. Then again, I don't have much experience with strong club systems.

So I pull, but it would sure be easier without the D9.

[jdonn]

ArtK78, on Nov 9 2007, 03:16 PM, said:

Partner asked you to bid.

I hate when people say that. He didn't ask us to do anything in particular. He did his best to describe his hand and asked us to do whatever is right.

Probably I would have bid 3♥. But pass is fine, in fact I sort of admire it.

[Halo]

Pull.

[MFA]

I'd pass.
It's not like I'm licking my lips or anything, but I feel quite strongly that pass is the percentage action here.

[kenrexford]

jdonn, on Nov 9 2007, 05:41 PM, said:

ArtK78, on Nov 9 2007, 03:16 PM, said:

Partner asked you to bid.

I hate when people say that. He didn't ask us to do anything in particular. He did his best to describe his hand and asked us to do whatever is right.

Probably I would have bid 3♥. But double is fine, in fact I sort of admire it.

I cannot agree more with this. The single most troubling auction in bridge is when you open something, hear a direct overcall and two passes, and then are semi-forced to double on relative garbage.

Partner did not ask you to bid. Partner cursed the fact that he pretty much had to double with this stupid hand and hopes like hell that you guess what to do right.

[joker_gib]

Partner is more or less forced to re-open if short in ♦ so I don't have the courage to sit for it...

3♥

Alain

[Apollo81]

I considered this a close decision when I had this at the table. If my ♦J9 were the ♦Qx I would have insta passed, but since I didn't think a ruff would help me, I thought I did not have enough defense to sit and pulled to 3♥.

This turned out to be wrong. 3♥ failed, partner had ♠K109xx ♥AQxx ♦Ax ♣Jx. Diamonds were 6-1 with the singleton ♦K in my LHO's hand.

I'm not sure I would have reopened with his hand, but it's hard to fault it since it could have led to a top if I had done the right thing.

[cherdano]

Clear pass against this opponent.

[mike777]

Apollo81, on Nov 10 2007, 01:18 PM, said:

I considered this a close decision when I had this at the table.  If my ♦J9 were the ♦Qx I would have insta passed, but since I didn't think a ruff would help me, I thought I did not have enough defense to sit and pulled to 3♥.

This turned out to be wrong.  3♥ failed, partner had ♠K109xx ♥AQxx ♦Ax ♣Jx.  Diamonds were 6-1 with the singleton ♦K in my LHO's hand. 

I'm not sure I would have reopened with his hand, but it's hard to fault it since it could have led to a top if I had done the right thing.

well partner may have just passed 3D and not reopened. We are a passed hand, we did not make a neg double and partner does have Ax of D.

[jdonn]

Clear pass with this partner. Top available or not, his double was terrible and got what it deserved when a plus was turned into a minus.

[whereagles]

Apollo, pard is limited. Pass is very risky. If this were 2/1, pass is probably ok, but here it's a total gamble.

[pclayton]

Apollo81, on Nov 10 2007, 10:18 AM, said:

I considered this a close decision when I had this at the table. If my ♦J9 were the ♦Qx I would have insta passed, but since I didn't think a ruff would help me, I thought I did not have enough defense to sit and pulled to 3♥.

Yes, but you have the opportunity with this trump holding to get an initial ruff, and then get the J promoted later.