[Hanoi5]

♠xx
♥JTxx
♦AKx
♣KTxx

All white, it goes:

1NT 2♣* Pa ???

*Landy

♠QT
♥xx
♦QJxxx
♣KTxx

All red, it goes:

Pa 1♠ 2♦ 4♠
???

One more for the road:

♠ATxx
♥AQ9
♦Txx
♣Txx

Red vs White, it goes

Pa 1♥ Pa ???

How do you rate your hand?

[Jlall]

3H 5D 1S

[Phil]

Jlall, on Jun 3 2009, 10:16 PM, said:

3H 5D 1S

ditto except on #1 unless a direct 3♥ is weak and we invite through 2♦.

[the hog]

2D enquiry
5D
1S - unless playing 2NT specifically as a 3 card invite, which some do.

[whereagles]

1. how low do you go? If very low, I invite. If not too low, I bid game.

2. 5♦ seems canonical. May go -800, but oh well.

3. Strange hand. I prefer 2♥, since if I reply

1♥ 1♠
2m

I'll now bid 2♥ and that would sound very discouraging.

[helene_t]

1: 2♥, I need something more exceptional than this to explore game over opps' strong 1NT
2: 5♦
3: 2♥ is playing constructive raises, otherwise 1♠ followed by 3♥.

[NickRW]

whereagles, on Jun 5 2009, 12:03 PM, said:

1. how low do you go? If very low, I invite. If not too low, I bid game.

For sure it depends on how low do you go - but white vs white I think it should go quite low. Therefore a straight game bid is out of the question for me. But a straight 3♥ seems OK. The trouble with 2♦ to my mind comes with a 2♠ reply - we didn't want to hear that and will be in 3♥ anyhow - maybe you play that that sequence shows this hand anyway...

As to the second one, 5♦.

The exact bid you make on the 3rd depends on the raises you're playing - but in the context of very simple limit raises - well I normally don't like raising to 3 on totally flat 10 counts - but this is a nice one - so I'll go however we've agreed for a hand in that sort of strength/length category. In any event 1♠ seems OK for now anyway.

Nick

[mtvesuvius]

2♦, then invite
5♦
1♠, then 3♥ over 2m by Partner

[Apollo81]

1. 3♥, invitational

2. 5♦, assuming partner has a singleton spade and believing the Law of Total Tricks

3. 1♠, planning on following up with 3♥ invitational over most continuations

[hanp]

What's the advantage of bidding 2D first?

To me 2D then 3H would suggest more or less equal length in the majors, while a direct 3H would show only length in hearts. This is useful for partner.

Also, I would think the extra information is not useful to our side so it can only hurt us.

[mtvesuvius]

hanp, on Jun 5 2009, 01:25 PM, said:

What's the advantage of bidding 2D first?

To me 2D then 3H would suggest more or less equal length in the majors, while a direct 3H would show only length in hearts. This is useful for partner.

Also, I would think the extra information is not useful to our side so it can only hurt us.

Many people play 3♥ as pre-emptive. If it was not pre-emptive, then I certainly agree with your point.

[Jlall]

mtvesuvius, on Jun 5 2009, 01:29 PM, said:

hanp, on Jun 5 2009, 01:25 PM, said:

What's the advantage of bidding 2D first?

To me 2D then 3H would suggest more or less equal length in the majors, while a direct 3H would show only length in hearts. This is useful for partner.

Also, I would think the extra information is not useful to our side so it can only hurt us.

Many people play 3♥ as pre-emptive. If it was not pre-emptive, then I certainly agree with your point.

What is the advantage of preempting when your opps have opened 1N and passed. There's no one to preempt anymore. If worst comes to worst and they balance or bid you can bid 3H later. You have lost nothing then unless they now successfully bid FOUR of a minor. This is extremely unlikely since they are both limited.

Playing 3H as mixed with some shape and trumps is useful since it gets you to game sometimes. That is how I like to play it with 4 card invites starting with 2N and 3 card invites starting with 2D.

If you are playing 3H as preemptive you should rethink the logic of that agreement.

[mtvesuvius]

Jlall, on Jun 5 2009, 02:29 PM, said:

mtvesuvius, on Jun 5 2009, 01:29 PM, said:

hanp, on Jun 5 2009, 01:25 PM, said:

What's the advantage of bidding 2D first?

To me 2D then 3H would suggest more or less equal length in the majors, while a direct 3H would show only length in hearts. This is useful for partner.

Also, I would think the extra information is not useful to our side so it can only hurt us.

Many people play 3♥ as pre-emptive. If it was not pre-emptive, then I certainly agree with your point.

What is the advantage of preempting when your opps have opened 1N and passed. There's no one to preempt anymore. If worst comes to worst and they balance or bid you can bid 3H later. You have lost nothing then unless they now successfully bid FOUR of a minor. This is extremely unlikely since they are both limited.

Playing 3H as mixed with some shape and trumps is useful since it gets you to game sometimes. That is how I like to play it with 4 card invites starting with 2N and 3 card invites starting with 2D.

If you are playing 3H as preemptive you should rethink the logic of that agreement.

I am not personally, however I have seen many people play it that way.