[Flem72]

IMPS, both red

RHO opens gambling 3N as first to act. You hold:

Ax
AKQxxx
x
Kxxx

What u call?

Regards and Happy Trails,

Scott Needham
Boulder, Colorado, USA

[Free]

4♥?

[jillybean]

 Free, on 2011-July-11, 06:42, said:

4♥?

ditto

[han]

Yes, 4H leaves you much better placed than double in case the opponents compete to 5D.

[aguahombre]

I think I would want to know their definition of Gambling 3NT ---whether it shows or denies an outside ACE or King. Have never been one to assume it means the same thing to others that it used to mean to us when we played it.

[pooltuna]

Well his suit should be clear based on your specific high card holdings so to protect the ♣K you should call 6♦

EDIT: oops I thought partner opened 3NT. Having realized it is your call after RHOs 3NT call I think you are screwed into trying 4♥

[Tataie]

X.
If they are to bid 5♦ they will do it even if you x or bid 4♥.
The danger is to lose a slam since 4♥ is to be bid with hands not always strong but with a good quality ♥ suit.
You only need ♣Axxxx to have a chance in 6.With AQxxx♣ in front the slam gets almost cold.
If you bid 4♥ your pd will never know when you do it on this hand or with
♠xx ♥AQJxxxxx ♦x ♣xx. Beside that you conserve the chance to play 3ntx when his pd has a hand with who might stay in x.
X for me.

[CSGibson]

4♥. Double, the way I play it, promises tolerance for spades, and this hand is not strong enough to risk the 5 level - 4 may not be a picnic if we catch partner with the wrong hand, but I'm always going to bid it.

[Phil]

 aguahombre, on 2011-July-11, 08:52, said:

I think I would want to know their definition of Gambling 3NT ---whether it shows or denies an outside ACE or King. Have never been one to assume it means the same thing to others that it used to mean to us when we played it.

Doesn't matter does it?

[whereagles]

I have an easy 4♥ bid, so I do it. Not going to mess this up with a dbl.

[mtvesuvius]

 Phil, on 2011-July-11, 10:31, said:

Doesn't matter does it?

He probably wants to know if there is any chance of defending 3N... If it shows an outside A/K, then trying to defend 3N has some merit, especially if the opponents tend to sit these things out -- LHO will pass "hoping" partner has a heart card, and RHO will pass hoping the same thing. It isn't likely, but certainly a consideration if it shows an outside card. I don't see any reason to complicate our decision of a large number of diamonds though. I'd bid 4♥.

[Flem72]

OK, pretty quick and pretty decisive concensus.

Now I want to know: Do you 4H bidders think it is close? What kind of hand would be a min for the call? How do you evaluate the risk involved in this position? is it a matter of the normal 'now or forever hold my peace' theory over preempts? would you take the same action over 3S, or 4m (not namyattish)? what about 5m?

Most of us don't have much opportunity to think about high level preempts, or to act over them, and I'm looking to learn something....

Regards and Happy Trails,

Scott Needham
Boulder, Colorado, USA

[AlexJonson]

I didn't think 4H was close, which no doubt means I could go a few off on this or a slightly worse hand. This is not snap we are playing.

[dake501]

May I have Unu over Unu? Treat 3NT as if it were 2NTUnu.
4C -> 4H stronger than immediate 4H.
(Or if you will a Namyats in competition)

[Free]

I don't think it's close, it's all we can do actually. Dbl may put us in a bad place, passing is absurd (hoping to defend 3NT / letting opps bid their suit first / whatever reason). We have a good suit, an offensive hand, quite a lot of values and we are preempted. I'm afraid we might miss an easy ♣ slam, but the preempt takes away too much space to investigate properly. Without the ♥Q I'd probably bid 4♥ as well, you've got to do something.

[Phil]

 dake501, on 2011-July-11, 17:30, said:

May I have Unu over Unu? Treat 3NT as if it were 2NTUnu.
4C -> 4H stronger than immediate 4H.
(Or if you will a Namyats in competition)

Many play 'Brozel' here:

4♣ = both majors and better side clubs
4♦ = both majors and better side diamonds

I like the unusual / unusual / Namyats idea better.

[CSGibson]

 Phil, on 2011-July-12, 09:02, said:

Many play 'Brozel' here:

4♣ = both majors and better side clubs
4♦ = both majors and better side diamonds

I like the unusual / unusual / Namyats idea better.

We play 4♣ as a single suited hand too strong for a direct game bid (ie, 9-10 tricks in hand ish), and 4 diamonds as 5-5 in the majors, with double being general values with at least 3 cards in both majors. It's our same defense as over a 3m preempt.

[Zelandakh]

You can also play, inter alia, 4C as both majors with equal or better hearts and 4D as both majors with better spades.

[Flem72]

 Free, on 2011-July-12, 01:42, said:

I don't think it's close, it's all we can do actually.... you've got to do something.

I guess I wasn't clear earlier: Also should've asked what would be a max for the call. For me the posters with the slam exploration tools are answering my questions -- maybe the ones in my head that didn't make it into the post.

4H; double then 5H; 4m as stronger offensive hand than 4H? Since posting I've been looking around. I suppose double must be reserved for the more balanced, truer takeout hand type; consequently, I really like the idea of 4C = very good offensive hand in a M, 4D = takeout with both Ms and 4M = can't stand to pass over the preempt. This hand is beginning to look more like a 4C call than a 4H call--and maybe without the HQ, it is a 4H call.

Thanks for responses.

Regards and Happy Trails,

Scott Needham
Boulder, Colorado, USA

[han]

 Flem72, on 2011-July-11, 12:54, said:

Now I want to know: Do you 4H bidders think it is close?

No, I do not think it is close at all. RHO has a long solid suit, we have a good unbalanced hand with shortness in their suit and a strong suit of our own. These are the types of hands where the total number of tricks (the number of tricks they can make plus the number of tricks we can take) can be very large.

We do not know who can make what, but we definitely want to bid our hearts as quickly as possible.

I would bid 4H if the spade ace was a small one. That might be pushing it, I would be interested in the opinions of others.