[jillybean]

We had a decent 2nd game last night, 52.88% for another fraction of a monster point.

Scoring: MP

P (1♦) P (1N)
?

---

Your bid


And the second hand, which I am embarrassed to post but I hope by doing so will eventualy cure me of this horrible habit.

Scoring: MP

P (1♦) P (1N)
?

---

[helene_t]

dbl, you have to be aggressive at w/w IMPs.

1♥, I have one point in reserve for the rule of 20 and I have the T in both of my long suits, I think this compensate for the bad honor structure.

[gwnn]

I refuse to answer, you promised to post no more hands.

just kidding.

Agreee with Helene, what she said is exactly right.

[mikeh]

You posted the 2nd hand but were too embarrassed, it seems, to post the auction or the situation you want to discuss. BTW, Kathryn, I applaud you posting your bad boards: it reflects a great attitude: we all learn form our (and others') mistakes far more than we learn from good results.

For the first one, double is pretty clear at mps, where we are competing for the partscore and have strong reason to hope for a 4-4 major suit fit. I'm not so sure if it were imps, tho white v red I'd do it as well.

(I don't like the rule of 20 so that metric plays no role in my decision here)

[jillybean]

On the first hand I doubled and gave partner a tough decision, he held
AK64, 7652, T93, T4

He played in 2♥ for a top board. Surprisingly, all the other tables let the opps play in 1N.

The second board, I listened to that little voice and opened 1♥, I'm not convinced this is an opening hand. My partner would happily open this in 3rd seat. We got to 2♥ and I misplayed it for -1 and a bottom board.

[neilkaz]

Hand 1 ..I double, since competing for a part score seems to be the best way to score well on this board.

Hand 2 .. While I don't care so much for the honor structure, I do have two aces and a good ♦ suit. Perhaps my AJ♠ can provide a winning finesse. This hand isn't all that bad, I open 1♥.

[mikeh]

I love it!! The rule of 20 gets what it so justly deserves!

It is a fatuous rule foisted on so many players eager to improve their judgement.

Ok...most of the time I would open hands that meet the rule of 20, but not because I robotically added up suit lengths and total hcp. I open because my judgement, which consciously and subconsciously uses other metrics that, imo, more accurately reflect the likely playing (offensive and defensive) strength of the hand, such as hcp, shape, controls, location of high cards, balance of Aces and Kings compared to Queens and Jacks, losing trick count, rebid issues etc, all applied with an intangible feel that each player develops for himself or herself, according to preferences for aggressive, medium or conservative approaches to constructive bidding. Obviously, some of these metrics overlap to a degree...indeed, since they are all tools to measure approximately the same thing, they are bound to overlap.

I have no problem with opening 10 counts when they are shapely AND the points are in the long suits AND I have at least 3 controls. AQJxxx Kxx x xxx is a 1♠ opening for me and, I suspect, most. xxxxxx Kxx J AQx is not. Yet the mighty rule of 20 describes these two hands as having the same strength. What a joke.

Sorry for the rant

[jjbrr]

agree with mikeh.

I would still open 1♥ on the second one, but it's close. A famous bridge player once said something like "if you have a choice between bidding and passing, you should bid."

[kfay]

Frankly I'm pretty tempted to open the first hand (1♥). Didn't we have a thread about this recently with 4-4 majors at matchpoints? Double is automatic.

I'd also open the 2nd hand.

[ggwhiz]

Count me in for double on the first but I would not open the 2nd unless you reversed my red suits.

I do use the rule of twenty but the part that most people don't read or quickly forget is that when you have it, you MAY open the bidding.

Two jacks (overvalued cards at best) in short suits and putrid ♥ quality..... I'm out. The stiff ♣ instead of a stiff ♠ gives me a better than average fighting chance to come in later.

Maybe p - p - p - 1♣
2nt?

p - p - p - 1♠
dbl? (I'm allowed to do this and correct pards ♣ bid to ♦ in our style)

p - 1♣ - p - 1♠
dbl?

Too many ways to land on my feet after passing where I think I have to take any blame if I open 1♥ and it goes wrong.

[pooltuna]

Double
If you are dealer I pass.

[nigel_k]

As a passed hand NV at matchpoints, IMO you have a very easy double on the first one. I would do it vul at IMPS too, or with an unpassed hand at MP, but those are harder choices.

The second one is close. Certainly with red suits reversed it is much more attractive. But it is not going to be easy to enter the auction later. If they bid spades you'll probably have to choose between coming in with 2NT so pushing the bidding to the three level vulnerable, or not taking a bid with a decent 5-5 hand. Both of these could be bad. OTOH, opening 1♥ will be bad if partner leads them or you get preference on a doubleton.