[jonottawa]

Favorable at IMPs, Dealer

♠873 ♥- ♦JT74 ♣AKQ854

P - 2♠ - 2N - 3♠
4♣ - P - 4♥ - P - ?

Yes, you probably should have opened. What now? Are any of the listed choices awful?

Edit: 2♠ is a weak 2. 2N is normal, ostensibly 15-18ish balancedish with a ♠ stopper.

[helene_t]

Not sure which bids mean what here.

I will assume that 4♥ is an offer to play, p should have five of them.

4NT could be natural or maybe it is keycards for hearts. Not that that make much sense since I am a passed hand and we can't have a better fit than 5-3 on this auction I think.

Maybe better to play 4♠ as last train for clubs.

I try 4NT, hoping that p takes it as natural. Since it could be important to let p have a spade tenance protected. With a suitable hand he can still bid 6♣.

[georgeac]

i bid 5c. it would probably help to know what 2nt is.

[bonxie]

Hate the 4♣ bid. Assuming 2NT is natural then this is surely a 3NT bid Speculating on a perfect cards (p weak in hearts) club slam over a pre-empt just seems too much.

If 2NT is something else then you need to tell us.

As it went; 5♣ now. For me 4♥ is a cue for clubs, which means we have (at least) two losing diamonds. I expect p to be something like

AQ
AKQx
xx
Jxxxx

at worst he has

AQ
AQxx
Qxx
Jxxxx

but I think this hand just bids 5!c

Most hands that want to bid hearts naturally now should surely have bid 3 or 4 ♥ on the previous round

[jdeegan]

Yikes! 25+HCP, lottsa ♣ tricks and a ♠ stop. Why are we not in 3NT?

[aguahombre]

Something is wrong. Others have questioned what 2NT is. Also was 2S something?

My 3rd spade, heart void, and the auction make me wonder. Most constructions for Partner would have doubled the first time.

[Hanoi5]

I chose 4♠ as it might get 5♦ from partner. I'm aiming at a slam here.

[jonottawa]

K, so I was playing with a friend (a Flight C player) when this hand came up. She passed. After the set I explained to her that pass is a horrible choice because she's consigning us to a 5-0 fit (if you take 4♥ as an offer to play, as Helene did, and as I think most would play it, certainly if playing with a less experienced player.)

She asked me to post the hand on forums so I have.

(Pass worked exceptionally well, as I held - AQJT9xxx Qx xxx but it's always sketchy when it looks like pard has fielded your psych. (I'd never psyched with her before this hand fwiw.))

[gwnn]

Wow that looks like a terrible psyche (no offence ).

[jdonn]

Something was definitely fishy. The opponent's bidding suggests partner has a singleton spade, but ok say he has a doubleton. Would he overcall 2NT with a doubleton spade and 5 hearts? If he does his hand is so notrumpy and hearts so lousy that he wouldn't be interested in a 5-3 heart fit and wouldn't bid them now. And there's no reason for him to introduce a 4 card suit here (or 5 card suit he is treating like a 4 card suit). You can almost work out from the hand it's a psych...