[whereagles]

fred, on Sep 8 2008, 02:05 PM, said:

Whether or not such losses are enough to negate the gains of overcalling 1S is far from CLEAR to me. If it is still CLEAR to you then you are either truly a bridge genius or you are deluding yourself.

guess I'm deluding myself I think it's clear to butt-in 1♠.

However, I do agree it might not be clear to others.

[Lobowolf]

whereagles, on Sep 9 2008, 02:12 PM, said:

fred, on Sep 8 2008, 02:05 PM, said:

Whether or not such losses are enough to negate the gains of overcalling 1S is far from CLEAR to me. If it is still CLEAR to you then you are either truly a bridge genius or you are deluding yourself.

guess I'm deluding myself I think it's clear to butt-in 1♠.

However, I do agree it might not be clear to others.

What would your borderline 1♠ overcall look like?

[jdonn]

dburn, on Sep 8 2008, 08:20 PM, said:

No one plays penalty doubles any more, and despite what you may have heard, it is actually quite a bit harder for the opponents to catch you by playing penalty passes, and takeout doubles from opener, than by playing penalty doubles by third hand.

Indeed, the worse your contract is, the harder it is for them to catch you, for if you happen to have alighted in a 5-0 fit, your overcall will travel round to opener, who will not balance with three cards in your suit because he's only supposed to balance on a minimum with shortness in your suit - isn't he?

This is true but it's counterbalanced by something else. Sometimes the opponents RAISE the suit you were about to make a penalty pass of, and you get to double it a level higher. I have seen this especially a few times where I haven't raised partner's weak two bid on a hand where others might, and it goes P P X P P P.

[whereagles]

Lobowolf, on Sep 9 2008, 07:15 PM, said:

What would your borderline 1♠ overcall look like?

Hum.. good question. It would depend on non-technical factors (opps, pard, match status). At a neutral status (whatever that is), maybe something like

Axxxx
QJxx
x
xxx

I'd overcall on this one about 1/2 the time. Drop the jack, or put it elsewhere, and I wouldn't move; add a ♠J/T9 or ♥T and I would bid most of the time.

[mike777]

whereagles, on Sep 9 2008, 09:06 PM, said:

Lobowolf, on Sep 9 2008, 07:15 PM, said:

What would your borderline 1♠ overcall look like?

Hum.. good question. It would depend on non-technical factors (opps, pard, match status). At a neutral status (whatever that is), maybe something like

Axxxx
QJxx
x
xxx

I'd overcall on this one about 1/2 the time. Drop the jack, or put it elsewhere, and I wouldn't move; add a ♠J/T9 or ♥T and I would bid most of the time.

i pass

no problem.

[fred]

Recently I asked 5 of the my friends in Las Vegas the question that follows. All of these guys have won multiple North American Championships. All have significant international experience and some are World Champioships. Over the years, my many discussions regarding bidding with all of these players have always been stimulating and often enlightening.

Here is how I phrased the question:

- both sides are vulnerable and your RHO opens 1D
- you have 5 spades to the Ace. You may or may not have good spade spots
- you have a small singleton diamond
- you either have QJ10x of hearts and xxx of clubs or you have xxx of hearts and QJ10x of clubs (this is by far the most interesting part of the problem in my view)

Under which circumstances, if any, would you overcall?

I have ranked the answers from most to least aggressive. These should be seen as my attempt to remember/paraphrase my friends' opinions - they are not direct quotes. Sorry to any of them if I am putting the wrong words in their mouths.

Geoff Hampson: I would always overcall if my QJ10x was hearts. If my QJ10x was clubs it is close. I would probably overcall tend to overcall, but might Pass if my spade spots we weak.

Curtis Cheek: I agree with Geoff except I would tend to Pass if my QJ10x was clubs (unless perhaps my spade spots were spectacular).

Marc Jacobus: I would never overcall if my QJ10x was hearts. I would always overcall if my QJ10x was clubs.

Drew Casen: I would never overcall.

Fred Hamilton: I agree with Drew (facial expression suggests "obviously")

Apparently if you are looking for a CLEAR answer, you are not going to find it in Las Vegas

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[jdonn]

fred, on Sep 21 2008, 10:36 AM, said:

Apparently if you are looking for a CLEAR answer, you are not going to find it in Las Vegas

Isn't there a very strong correlation between the aggressiveness of the answers, and the age of the people? Maybe Drew is an outlier but that's it.

In fact, if I was really cynical I might suggest there is a correlation (not a perfect one, but it exists) between the aggressiveness of the answers, and how well the answerer has done lately in top-level bridge...

I find the distinctions being made between hearts and clubs very interesting, especially since people draw them in opposite directions. It's not the type of thing I would have ever considered on this hand.

[pclayton]

jdonn, on Sep 21 2008, 08:02 AM, said:

fred, on Sep 21 2008, 10:36 AM, said:

Apparently if you are looking for a CLEAR answer, you are not going to find it in Las Vegas

Isn't there a very strong correlation between the aggressiveness of the answers, and the age of the people? Maybe Drew is an outlier but that's it.

In fact, if I was really cynical I might suggest there is a correlation (not a perfect one, but it exists) between the aggressiveness of the answers, and how well the answerer has done lately in top-level bridge...

I find the distinctions being made between hearts and clubs very interesting, especially since people draw them in opposite directions. It's not the type of thing I would have ever considered on this hand.

We are talking a limited sample, but I would take the current records of Geoff and Curtis against the others. It's very interesting how the heart suit is a benefit to Geoff, and not a negative.

I'm pretty sure the entire Italian team would find this a no-brainer overcall.

I'll stop short of calling a 1♠ overcall 'evolutionary'

[kenrexford]

I'm in the Casen-Hamilton school, and I agree with Han that the main problem with light overcalls is when you have a sound hand. I'm not sure what partner is supposed to do after 1♦-1♠-3♦ when my range could be extremely broad and my heart length 0-4.

I agree, however, that there is an interesting problem if the clubs were QJ10x, but for a different reason. I think I might stick in a two spades overcall with body in spades, but never 1♠.

I think another interesting twist, however, would be if the colors were us-red-them-white, because of the availability of a 2♠ intermediate jump overcall. Obviously, this hand is not suitable for an intermediate jump overcall, but the presence of that option reduces or tightens the range for the simple overcall somewhat.

[fred]

fred, on Sep 21 2008, 03:36 PM, said:

Here is how I phrased the question:

- both sides are vulnerable and your RHO opens 1D
- you have 5 spades to the Ace. You may or may not have good spade spots
- you have a small singleton diamond
- you either have QJ10x of hearts and xxx of clubs or you have xxx of hearts and QJ10x of clubs (this is by far the most interesting part of the problem in my view)

Under which circumstances, if any, would you overcall?

Mike Passell: I would never overcall.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com