[whereagles]

Matchpoints, strong field, expert pard. At all vuln you hold:

♠ KQx
♥ x
♦ AK98x
♣ T98x

LHO pard RHO you
1♠. pass 2♠ ..??

Options are:
- pass
- 2NT (minors)
- 3♦ (natural)

Whatever you bid, pard will not necessarily play you for full values. It's an OBAR situation, and you have that agreed.

So, prebalance or wait for developments?

[hrothgar]

I am (regretfully) going to pass. I understand that defending 2♠ is usually a bad thing, but this doesn't look like the right hand to bid.

I consider the suit disparity between Diamonds and Clubs too great for 2NT. If partner is 3-3 in the minors we need to be able to find Diamonds. Note the quality of my club suit. Partner is much more liekly to have club honors than Diamonds and is likely to prefer clubs with 3-3 in the minors.

At the same, time, I don't consider the hand or the Diamond suit strong enough for and immediate 3♦

A lot of my strength is wasted in Spades

If partner balances with short Spades he won't bid 3♥. I'm well prepared for anything else.

If the opponents bid on, I won't have telegraphed the defense...

[brianshark]

I don't feel a pressing need to get involved here. I'll pass.

[Free]

I'll bid 2NT

[Apollo81]

I consider this close between 2NT and 3♦. I would probably bid 2NT.

[ArtK78]

I also do not see a pressing need to act here.

My club suit is almost non-existent, so prebalancing with 2NT is overemphasizing the club suit.

My diamond suit is OK for balancing purposes, but it is the three-level and partner is likely to be long in hearts, so if I do balance with 3♦ he may bid 3♥.

And I have too much in spades to make it likely that we will make 9 tricks in our suit (assuming we have one).

Just too many negatives to act.

[kenrexford]

If partner will ALWAYS act, you might want to protect partner from bidding 3♥ unilaterally. That said, I think I pass anyway.

[the hog]

Pass. 2NT is obscene - see Richard's comment.

[whereagles]

Thx all. Hands were

♠ Tx
♥ Q9x
♦ QTxxx
♣ AJx

♠ KQx
♥ x
♦ AK98x
♣ T98x

All vuln
(1♠) pass (2♠) all pass

If South acts, it's easy to get to the making 3/4♦. If he passes, North has a close call over 2♠ whether to balance or not. At table 2♠ was passed and our side's silence led to declarer misguessing the hearts, ending up with 8 tricks for a 67% score for our side. Of course, anyone bidding would have led to a near-top.

[jtfanclub]

ArtK78, on Apr 22 2008, 09:44 AM, said:

My diamond suit is OK for balancing purposes, but it is the three-level and partner is likely to be long in hearts, so if I do balance with 3♦ he may bid 3♥.

If I pre-balance with 3♦, my partner can safely interpret that as "I have no interest in hearts".

[skjaeran]

whereagles, on Apr 22 2008, 02:29 PM, said:

Matchpoints, strong field, expert pard. At all vuln you hold:

♠ KQx
♥ x
♦ AK98x
♣ T98x

LHO pard RHO you
1♠. pass 2♠ ..??

Options are:
- pass
- 2NT (minors)
- 3♦ (natural)

Whatever you bid, pard will not necessarily play you for full values. It's an OBAR situation, and you have that agreed.

So, prebalance or wait for developments?

Partner, holding short spades himself (max 2) will expect you to be full strength for any action here. At least, that's how I'd expect if we routinely prebalance in OBAR situations.

IMO this is a clear pass, and north has a close decision - I'd double, but only just.

[jdeegan]

Pass, too much in spades.

[whereagles]

Thx for the late interest. Opps are experienced but not too good. For instance, 4 cards from the end declarer didn't even manage to guess the ♥Q

So I guess that counts as a 3♦ from you.