[Phil]

Scoring - ? (specify if it matters to you)

One of the better local club players gave me this hand and I wanted to get your take:

♠K5x ♥xxx ♦AKTxx ♣Qx

1♦ - (1♠) - 2♥ - (2♠)
?

Bonus question - are we in a forcing pass here?

[gwnn]

3♥, support with support (I don't think my hand is all that bad in hearts)

bonus: it should be forcing since 2♥ is forcing to either 3♦ or 3♥ or something.

[bluecalm]

wtp ?
I would consider 3H opposite negative free bid let alone forcing 2H. I don't think we are in forcing pass situation here either. I don't like overusing the convention. Pass = nothing to say is my favorite treatment in bridge.

[Cascade]

I wouldn't dream of not raising with three card support.

PASS is probably forcing but it denies three card support.

It would be possible for PASS to be not forcing if it just shows a balancedish minimum. In which case we might judge that it is best to defend undoubled.

[Jlall]

pls bid 3H, kthxbai

[shevek]

Yet again I forgot to open 1NT and we were -500 in 4♥x. Partner had the expected

♠xx  ♥AKJ9x  ♦Jxx  ♣Axx

At least we right-side if I open 1NT (Rubensohl if required) and are less likely to get doubled. Will we ever learn?

[Little Kid]

I'll bid 3♥, not a forcing pass auction for me. Will you bid 2NT with 11-14 hands with 3-2-4-4 or 4-2-4-3? Pass seems like a very sane bid to make in those cases, happy to play 2♠.

[ArtK78]

shevek, on Dec 29 2009, 07:14 AM, said:

Yet again I forgot to open 1NT and we were -500 in 4♥x. Partner had the expected

♠xx  ♥AKJ9x  ♦Jxx  ♣Axx

At least we right-side if I open 1NT (Rubensohl if required) and are less likely to get doubled. Will we ever learn?

You have to be very unlucky to go down two or more tricks in 4♥ with these two hands, and to get doubled is truly unlucky.

I have been in worse games than this.

As for the original questions, raising to 3♥ is clear, and pass is forcing. Pass doesn't show anything, but since the 2♥ bidder guaranteed another call, he can't pass.

The raise to 3♥ is not forcing (I assume that everyone knows that, but no one mentioned it).

[andy_h]

3♥.

I think the auction is forcing, but not in terms of a sequence that you can use for a pass-then-bid type. Most of the time responder will just either bid 3x or double as he is short in spades. Or in other words, we should bid what we have now, given the competitive nature of the auction since LHO can still bid something. So there's probably a small case where opener has <3♥ and weak NT with responder having 5♥332 and an 11count where the auction will die out in 2♠. Ok, so it's technically not a 'forcing' auction.

[mike777]

Phil, on Dec 28 2009, 08:57 PM, said:

Scoring - ? (specify if it matters to you)

One of the better local club players gave me this hand and I wanted to get your take:

♠K5x ♥xxx ♦AKTxx ♣Qx

1♦ - (1♠) - 2♥ - (2♠)
?

Bonus question - are we in a forcing pass here?

Interesting hand

My first thought was what does 2nt mean here?


Many forum players play good/bad 2nt....is it on here, can I bid 2nt and then 3h...compared to a direct 3h... thinking out loud...good post.

[Phil]

Indeed - thanks all.

Nearly everyone passed except the guy that showed me the hand. I thought - yeah I hate my ♠K, but I kind of like the rest of my hand, so 3♥ for me.

[jdonn]

Don't downgrade an honor in a suit bid on your left too much! It was just a one level overcall, it was raised on your right too, partner has shown some strength, you may not even need the honor to be working, blah blah blah.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

3H.

And assuming that 2H was just a 1 round force, we are certainly not in
a forcing Pass.
Now it could be argued, that 2H forces our side to play at least 2NT,
and because of this, if they intervene below this level, we are in a
forcing Pass, but I would really doubt that this is mainstream thinking.

And the tricky question would be, upto which level did the 2H create a
force?

With kind regards
Marlowe

[jonottawa]

The combination of 3 bad hearts and the likely (albeit not guaranteed) prospect of no longer holding an opening hand got me to pass. I don't want a ♥ lead and I don't want to force pard into a pushy 4♥.

Partner is 95% sure to bid again (even if we're not in a forcing auction he's short in ♠) and now when I correct his 3-level bid to 3♥ he'll know I have something like this.

Did your friend get a top or a bottom?

[Phil]

jonottawa, on Dec 29 2009, 01:30 PM, said:

The combination of 3 bad hearts and the likely (albeit not guaranteed) prospect of no longer holding an opening hand got me to pass. I don't want a ♥ lead and I don't want to force pard into a pushy 4♥.

Partner is 95% sure to bid again (even if we're not in a forcing auction he's short in ♠) and now when I correct his 3-level bid to 3♥ he'll know I have something like this.

Did your friend get a top or a bottom?

I think the opponents felt like he made a 'lucky' decision by raising and getting a plus out of 3♠ down (3♥ is down too).

[gnasher]

If pass suggests a minimum without anything to say, I think it's a reasonable choice at IMPs. With this spade holding, I'm happy to slow things down a bit.

If I pass, partner acts, and I now bid 3♥, I've probably converted 4♥-1 into 3♥=. If 2♠ is passed out, I've probably just swapped -50 for -110.

At matchpoints I'd raise to 3♥ immediately, because I don't want to swap -50 for -110, and also because partner is less likely to bid a pushy game.

[nige1]

IMO

• Pass is forcing,
  
• 3♥ is a better bid
  
• JLall's "KTHXBAI" is one of the abbreviations that I didn't understand in a ms messenger quiz. Why not "OKTHXBYE"?

[MFA]

I don't understand not raising - strange bridge ...