[Fluffy]

NS Vul, dealer west

♠AKxx
♥AKxx
♦xx
♣xxx

ps -ps- ps-1♣
2NT-3♠-5♦-??

EDIT: west has the reds

[jjbrr]

eh. saw it off.

[karlson]

Double seems kind of nuts to me -- I think there's a great chance righty has stiff heart and we have all of two tricks.

I would pass, though the r/w save (or two-way shot) is almost tempting.

[aguahombre]

and are we sure we know whether 2NT showed the minors or the reds?

[Codo]

I bid 5 ♠. My passed partner had a reason to introduce a 5 card suit with at most QJTxx vul. at the 3. level.
I give him a good club fit, maybe he looks at QJxxx,xx,x,Akxxx?
Anyway, this is a three way shoot: It may make, they may bid 6 or they had make 5... Of course that 5 ♠ is selfsuicide is possible too..

[gwnn]

I don't believe my partner's non-preempts so I just pass.

[Hanoi5]

I double and lead...a diamond?

[Fluffy]

west has the reds

[Fluffy]

double was the correct thing to do, it scores 500, spades produce 10 tricks due to some mirror in the minors.

partner has

♠J10xxxx
♥Jx
♦Kx
♣Axx

[aguahombre]

Yep, that looks like a 3S bid on the auction after not perpetrating a spade preempt the first time. Pretty much what opener should expect, hence a good double by opener.

[phil_20686]

Fluffy, on Mar 16 2010, 04:55 PM, said:

double was the correct thing to do, it scores 500, spades produce 10 tricks due to some mirror in the minors.

partner has

♠J10xxxx
♥Jx
♦Kx
♣Axx

Sorry, but as a passed hand, why didnt this hand go through unusual? it has close to the maximum HCP of a passed hand and is quite defensive? I would have shown a "good" 3s bid rather than a non-constructive one, that is more likely to help partner make the right decision. I was expecting partner to hold more like:

QJTxxx
xx
x
KQxx

[Fluffy]

it was a pick up partnership, we had no agreements, he was an expert who seemed like beginner on my mind, but on this board a vulnerable 3 spades as a passed hand seemed quite accurate to me.

your example hands look like clear 2♠ openers, maybe 3♠

[phil_20686]

Fluffy, on Mar 18 2010, 11:21 AM, said:

and the reason why he didn't open 2 or 3♠ is?

it was a pick up partnership, we had no agreements, he was an expert who seemed like beginner on my mind, but on this board a vulnerable 3 spades as a passed hand seemed quite accurate to me.

You are right of course that i didnt really think through my example hand, i woudl definately have made a preempt with that. Still, the point is that with Poor suit, Hx in *both* of RHO suits and a bullet, I have a lot of defence. With 3 card spades it could even be right to defend 4dx. When partner is strong bal with 3 card spades. Its hard to imagine a hand that could be more defensive and yet passed?

I'm just saying that i expected a higher ODR for 3s - a shortaage, or some honour concentration. Not a hand with two defensive tricks and poor spades....

What on earth would you show a "good" 3s bid with if not this?

[Fluffy]

it was hard to predict what he had really, but from my previous impressions of him, I was right that he had a maximum weak 2 opening hand with a flaw.

I though the flaw was that he felt too strong for 2♠ (the in the middle hand), it turned out that the flaw was an awful suit instead, well ♠Q didn't matter anyway.

you are right that 3♥ might be a good alternative, however undiscussed it would show club support.

[aguahombre]

Fluffy, on Mar 18 2010, 10:38 AM, said:

it was hard to predict what he had really, but from my previous impressions of him, I was right that he had a maximum weak 2 opening hand with a flaw.

I though the flaw was that he felt too strong for 2♠ (the in the middle hand), it turned out that the flaw was an awful suit instead, well ♠Q didn't matter anyway.

you are right that 3♥ might be a good alternative, however undiscussed it would show club support.

I hope your impressions of him improved. IMHO, it is too hard to thread a needle.

1)Too strong for a weak two spades? Wouldn't he open a weak 1S? A bad 6+ sp is expected.
2)As a passed hand, bidding at all at the 3-level needs to show a decent hand. (maybe not 3c).
3)Perhaps as a passed hand, 3 of one of their suits should show only 5 spades, and differing amounts of club support (d=less club support than H?) ---the strength of a 3-level bid is fairly closely established already, so the numbers of black-suit cards becomes the issue.