[MattieShoe]

Scoring: IMP

1♠ ?

---

I bid 2♠ michaels here on the theory that it tells my partner the most information, that I have two 5+ card suits, hearts and a minor, and since they have spades, I don't have a strong preference for hearts or clubs -- we'd probably have to go to 5 anyway. And without the middle honors in hearts and strong club honors, I figured a club fit would be just as good. Partner says I should have just bid hearts here which makes sense too, given the 7 card suit. Given that I was the only person to use michaels there, I guess I was probably wrong, but could anybody perhaps explain why?

Incidentally, partner compounded my error by bidding 3♦ when he had 4 card heart support. I passed out 3♠, perhaps another error, because I figured they could make 4 and I assumed they must have KQJ♥. They made 3♠+1, but we could have made 5♥, or even 6 with an exceptionally unlikely diamond or heart lead.

Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated. :-)

[Jlall]

2S michaels is totally fine with this kind of suit quality. I think overcalling 4H is reasonable also, and would say it was clear if you had KQJxxxx and ATxxx.

[MattieShoe]

That's good to hear. It seemed a bit unorthodox to bid michaels with a 7 card suit but in this specific situation it made sense to me. Glad to know I'm not totally crazy anyway... :-)

[vuroth]

Only an intermediate, but I like michaels. I would also bid 4♥ over 3♠.

I just love the distribution FAR too much to not be aggressive on this hand.

V

[Phil]

I like 4♥ and then 5♣.

I'm not sure I'd even Michaels with a 7M-5m TBH.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

I prefer 4H followed by 5C, if 4S comes back, but 2S is not bad either.
The only minus I see is, that 2S followed by 5C sounds more like 6-5,
7-5, but given the suit quality 6-5 is not to bad.

The other downside is, that partner may or may not understand 2S.
Since you play a lot strangers, you should prefer bids, where the suit
bid matches the suit shown.

With kin regards
Marlowe

[jdonn]

I prefer 2♥ to Michaels. I anticipate it being at 4♠ when it comes back and think it will be easy to show clubs then, whereas if I Michaels now then it's harder to show extra heart length over 4♠. But I can't be too critical of any reasonable action on a hand like this.

[hanp]

I also prefer heart bids to Michaels, on many auctions where they bid 4S it will be impossible to show my preference for hearts.

[Jlall]

hanp, on Sep 22 2009, 12:40 AM, said:

I also prefer heart bids to Michaels, on many auctions where they bid 4S it will be impossible to show my preference for hearts.

What? 2S then 4N shows a preference for hearts...

[Flameous]

I think this is funny hand in that every bid you use will get you there. You are always going to the 5 lvl with this hand so only if you are pre empted to 5S before your second bid, Michael's would have been much better. (It might be clear to take a bid at the 6 lvl too, but I'm not going to that)
By bidding differently here on your first bid, you achieve different goals. If you go with somewhat lame 2H, you are likely played for bit more in high cards and not nearly this wild distribution. Against weak players who count high cards, trust their opponents and don't bid their hands that well, it's a great choice. It can even fool good players quite easily here.
4H is a simple pre empt in a sense. We also have moderate defence (could have 2 tricks), so if p hits 4S, we mostly have our hand of the chest and can sit. (Tough spot though) It at least applies the most pressure on opps so if it's a slam deal on their part, they are guessing most.
2S gives partner most information right away, but it also tells it to opps. (Even better if you have 3C here for this specific two suiter)
Then it all depends on the hand who can make the most use of this information. Here it also makes difference if you have some weak/super strong version of Michael's in use. Then I think this hand is more like direct overcall.

[mike777]

MattieShoe, on Sep 20 2009, 06:10 PM, said:

Dealer: East Vul: None Scoring: IMP

♠ 8 ♥ AT98752 ♦   ♣ KQJ72

1♠ ?

I bid 2♠ michaels here on the theory that it tells my partner the most information, that I have two 5+ card suits, hearts and a minor, and since they have spades, I don't have a strong preference for hearts or clubs -- we'd probably have to go to 5 anyway. And without the middle honors in hearts and strong club honors, I figured a club fit would be just as good.  Partner says I should have just bid hearts here which makes sense too, given the 7 card suit.  Given that I was the only person to use michaels there, I guess I was probably wrong, but could anybody perhaps explain why? 

Incidentally, partner compounded my error by bidding 3♦ when he had 4 card heart support.  I passed out 3♠, perhaps another error, because I figured they could make 4 and I assumed they must have KQJ♥.  They made 3♠+1, but we could have made 5♥, or even 6 with an exceptionally unlikely diamond or heart lead. 

Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated. :-)

2h and then 5c

KISS

[mtvesuvius]

4♥ seems good to begin with, but starting with 2♠ certainly has some merit. I think I'd probably bid 4♥ then 5♣, which seems like a good description. It's worth noting that with 7♣ and 5♥, then Michaels is correct, followed by 5♣.

[jdonn]

mtvesuvius, on Sep 22 2009, 02:02 PM, said:

It's worth noting that with 7♣ and 5♥, then Michaels is correct, followed by 5♣.

It may be debatable but I disagree, I would bid 2♣ then either 4♥ if available or 4NT over 4♠. Michaels then bid the minor sounds like 5-6 or 6-6 to me, not 5-7.

[neilkaz]

To me this is a decent 7 card suit and a freakish hand. Michaels could work out best, but I the bidding will come back to me at 4♠ and then when I bid 5♣ PD won't expect 7-5.

2♥ then 5♣ could work, but my slight prefernce is 4♥ then 5♣ over the opp 4♠ if they bid it.

[pooltuna]

neilkaz, on Sep 22 2009, 08:18 PM, said:

To me this is a decent 7 card suit and a freakish hand. Michaels could work out best, but I the bidding will come back to me at 4♠ and then when I bid 5♣ PD won't expect 7-5.

2♥ then 5♣ could work, but my slight prefernce is 4♥ then 5♣ over the opp 4♠ if they bid it.

agree. This looks like the best shot to me

[CSGibson]

There are many reasonable ways to bid this hand, many of which have already been stated. I would probably bid this hand slowly (2 hearts or 4 hearts, depending on the circumstances, followed by club bids), but michaels is certainly something I'd think about also.

As fun as these hands are, I wouldn't worry too much about getting too scientific. Freaks are a problem for everyone, concentrating on bread and butter sequences like follow ups to stayman are more likely to improve your score because of the relative frequency of the auctions.