[gwnn]

x
Q9xxx
x
KQxxxx

favorable 1st seat you pass (sorry) and then

p-2♦-2♠-3♦
?

[pclayton]

I hate it but I'll pass. A responsive double is possible, but it may go PPP.

Pard probably has some three diamonds so our chances of finding a round fit are diminished.

[P_Marlowe]

I pass again.

with kind regards
Marlowe

[Free]

Dbl

[akhare]

X is tempting, but the likely retreat to 3♠ (or even worse, P) isn't going to be much fun.

P in tempo and hope that pard has a hand that can re-open (unlikely, but it's better than acting now)...

[Echognome]

I have seen these doubles with 5-5 in the off suits work out so poorly. I can understand that if you can only take one call and you have enough values that you can stand partner to pass, but not enough values to bid your suits naturally, then so be it. Here, I just find there is too much danger in the auction going swoosh.

[rogerclee]

When did people start thinking so hard that they don't double on this hand?

[Echognome]

rogerclee, on Oct 13 2008, 09:59 AM, said:

When did people start thinking so hard that they don't double on this hand?

Maybe when we looked up the scoring table and noticed that 3♦X making is game?

[han]

I just looked and noticed that 4H and 5C are games as well.

[rogerclee]

han, on Oct 13 2008, 11:20 AM, said:

I just looked and noticed that 4H and 5C are games as well.

Damn, on the one hand, they might make 3♦x (I looked this up, it is 670 points!!), but on the other hand, we have two shots at making either 5♣ (400 points!!) or 4♥ (even BETTER, 420 POINTS!!).

Bridge is such a complicated game sometimes .

[Echognome]

han, on Oct 13 2008, 10:20 AM, said:

I just looked and noticed that 4H and 5C are games as well.

I understand the point and if partner has something resembling a two-suiter (perhaps a 5-4 or 6-4) then we will potentially be quite happy.

I just don't find double to be automatic in the slightest and believe the odds of ending up on defense are quite real. It may not be a bad thing, mind you, but I wouldn't feel happy about it.

[han]

Yep, agree with that Matt, I didn't find it so clear myself either. I was the 3D bidder and I knew what I preferred this time: pass. We played in our 10-card diamond fit and the opponents never bid their 10-card club fit. 3D was down 1, 5C makes easily.

[ArtK78]

gwnn, on Oct 12 2008, 02:27 PM, said:

x
Q9xxx
x
KQxxxx

favorable 1st seat you pass (sorry) and then

p-2♦-2♠-3♦
?

Why are you sorry that you passed? Do you really think that this hand should do something else?

In any event, I would have passed throughout and gotten the same rotten result that Han's opponent's got.

The most likely result of a double is that you wind up playing some number of spades going down. Partner may have a fit in one of your suits, or he may not. Even if he has a partial fit (3 cards) he is more likely to bid his own strong suit than bid a fragment.

Sometimes, when partner has a fit in one of your suits, he will take an action other than rebidding spades. But the preempt may prevent him from acting - especially when his second suit is clubs.

As for playing in 3♦x, that is a possibility, but I don't think it is very likely.

[gwnn]

sorry wanted to mean "sorry but pass is non negotiable". probably nobody wanted to negotiate anyway, so it was sort of a stupid remark.

[gwnn]

We can make 5♣, they can make 2♦.

[the hog]

Bridge is a game of probabilities. They likely don't have a 10 card D fit or one of the opponents bid like Caspar Milquetoast. So pd has 3Ds. Add this to his likely 6 cards in S and that doesn't leave much of a rounded suit fit for you.
I can understand the temptation to X, but I think pass is the correct call in the long term.

[han]

The_Hog, on Oct 13 2008, 07:44 PM, said:

They likely don't have a 10 card D fit or one of the opponents bid like Caspar Milquetoast.

Right, 10 trumps -> 4-level, don't look at the vulnerability! Don't be afraid, it can go for 500 but the opponents never double you. Don't mind that if you would bid 3D you would actually be allowed to play there against poor Autralian bridge players who reason that partner must have 3 diamonds!

[the hog]

han, on Oct 14 2008, 08:21 AM, said:

The_Hog, on Oct 13 2008, 07:44 PM, said:

They likely don't have a 10 card D fit or one of the opponents bid like Caspar Milquetoast.

Right, 10 trumps -> 4-level, don't look at the vulnerability! Don't be afraid, it can go for 500 but the opponents never double you. Don't mind that if you would bid 3D you would actually be allowed to play there against poor Autralian bridge players who reason that partner must have 3 diamonds!

I said "likely", Caspar Han.

[joker_gib]

The_Hog, on Oct 14 2008, 01:44 AM, said:

Bridge is a game of probabilities. They likely don't have a 10 card D fit or one of the opponents bid like Caspar Milquetoast. So pd has 3Ds. Add this to his likely 6 cards in S and that doesn't leave much of a rounded suit fit for you.
I can understand the temptation to X, but I think pass is the correct call in the long term.

Agree with Ron and I pass