[haver]

1.

K,8,2
9,2
A,J,5,4
K,Q,5,4

all vuln. bidding goes (inverted minors agreed)

1 dia - p - 2 dia - p - ?

2.

A,Q, J, 8,6,2
K,J
7,4
K,J,8

all nonvuln. bidding goes

p - 1 sp - p - 2 dia - p - ?

[the hog]

How do you play your inverted minors? GF or invit? Can it have a 4 card M as some play, (not a good treatment imho).

Problem 1
2S showing a S stopper

Problem 2
What system are you playing, 2/1, sayc, Acol?
If 2/1, I might content myself with 2S, but would not criticise 3S. Good 6 card suit, why not?
Sayc, Acol, 3S.

[inquiry]

hand 1. 2♠ is automatic. Places the concern for 3NT on ♥'s firmly. This is not a reverse, this does not promise 4♠s.

hand 2.
in 2/1 I have no problem. I rebid 2♠. In other systems, you have to ask is 2♠ forcing. If not, I will bid 2NT to show extra values. If it is forcing, I will rebid 2♠ planing to rebid 3NT next time. If 2♠ is not forcing, and 2NT denies extra values, then I bid 3♠. Each of these depend upon your agreement over 2♦.

[WGF_Flame]

1. the normal bid is 2sp, but i have another thory about inv, there is a prob with this kind of hands playing inv atleast in matchpoint , u check out stopers usually ending in 3nt when u gave ur opps extra information about ur hands , thats fine with hands who have a good alternative to 3nt (usually 5 of a minor) but with balanced hands this alternative isnt too good, and for that resson i prefer to bid 3nt directly on balanced and show stopers only when i feel there is a good chance that 5d will make and 3nt not, this doesnt come without cost cause p might have a nice unbalanced hand, but still i feel its better to bid NT on most balanced hands.
2. id bid 3sp on sayc, unhappy with it cause there is a good chance that 3nt should be played from my side, and all those KJ arent making the hand too good, but still its a bit too strong for 2sp or 2nt.

[Trpltrbl]

1) and 2) I will bid 2 ♠, in first one to show spade card(s) and in second one to show 6 card suit.

Mike

[Free]

I don't see much trouble here:
1) 2♠ stopper, standard inverted minors answer
2) 2♠ in 2/1, 3♠ in sayc or something similar

[luis]

1) 2NT, balanced hand. Now if pd is worried about stoppers he can show stoppers with 3x or bid 3N directly without giving away information. I really don't like 2s with 3 cards and a balanced hand.

2) 2s maybe a missprint? Where is the problem?

[inquiry]

luis, on Feb 24 2004, 09:40 AM, said:

1) 2NT, balanced hand. Now if pd is worried about stoppers he can show stoppers with 3x or bid 3N directly without giving away information. I really don't like 2s with 3 cards and a balanced hand.

While Luis's option of showing balanced hands as balanced has a lot to be said for it, and it clearly simplifies subsequent bidding, there is a school of thought, I first learned while playing KS, that says after an inverted minor raise, you bid the suits you have stopped for notrump up line (this is independent of legnth). So a 2♠ bid here focus the need for a ♥ stopper in partners hand like a laser. And this way, when parnter has a ♥ stopper, the lead will come up to it rather than through it (and since they have at least 9 ♥s on most auctions since we have 2 and we expect partner at 3 or less himself).

However, on this hand this lead up to the ♥ stopper is not big of a deal, because if the ♠K is our only ♠ stopper, a lead through our ♠K would not be all that useful either. So I tend to want better cards for this stopper showing bid. I use 2NT to show stoppers in both majors, so the other bid I considered is 3♣ to show where my values really are located.

Ben