[bluejak]

---

Pairs, I believe a Sim Pairs, South is a poor player. You bid 5♣? Most do, but this South did not. She passed, and partner made an overtrick.

Turns out that 3♦, natural and game forcing without an alert, is weak. East said he had been told it was not alertable.

South says she would have bid 5♣ if East had alerted.

Do you adjust?

[WellSpyder]

I will ask South why she didn't bid 5♣ on the actual auction. But assuming she says something like she thought LHO had lots of high cards so there might be too many losers then yes, I would adjust. The failure to alert is MI (I am assuming this took place in England although I can't see this anywhere despite constant pleas to posters to state where they are posting from), and I find it quite plausible that a poor player would bid 5♣ if told that LHO was weak but not when assuming LHO is strong.

Edit: I see the original subtitle does indeed state England. For some reason this does not appear to be visible when replying to a post .

[blackshoe]

That's one reason I tend to use fast reply. You can still see the "description" line in the original post.

Failure to alert (or announce) is MI everywhere (see Law 21).

[nige1]

WellSpyder, on 2010-November-18, 12:02, said:

... assuming she says something like she thought LHO had lots of high cards so there might be too many losers then yes, I would adjust.

Seems reasonable, whether or not she is a weak player.

[mycroft]

I'm bidding 5C, and I'd be *more likely* to bid 5C if 3D is strong (make 'em decide game/slam and diamonds/spades at the 5 level) than if weak (where 5 could easily be a phantom). Yes, if 3D is weak, partner is more likely to be stronger (he wouldn't be bidding on AQxxxxxx and out, trying for a lead-director and "can't bid 3NT now"), but that doesn't mean that there's enough here for 11 tricks unless partner's short/AQ or better in hearts.

But I'm as good as I am, and I know many poor players who would pass 4C and then bid 5 over West's 4S, and think she's brilliant. For those people, I do believe that they think that if West doesn't have the points, partner must, and that 5C is makeable. I also think that while it is conveeeenient that South gets to/has to wait until the end of the hand to say she'd bid 5H, it's not like she did anything wrong, and clearly (even if non-obviously) East did.

If South wasn't poor, however, sorry. You were misinformed, but 5C is obvious with the explanation you were given.

[bluejak]

I agreed with the TD who phoned me to consult that we should adjust.