[VM1973]

Holding
♠ very few
♥ QTxxx
♦ QJTx
♣ AKxx

Partner deals and opens 1NT, RHO bids 2♠ and I bid 3♥
LHO passes, partner bids 4♥, and RHO bids 4♠

What's the right call?

[pooltuna]

colors and type of game may be relevant here!! Certainly playing IMPS how you handle this, NV vs V, is different than V vs NV altho who your opps are plays into it as well.

[billw55]

I would pass and let partner figure all that out. Assuming we are playing lebensohl, he knows I have a good hand.

Also, some play double of 2♠ as takeout in this sequence, which would be useful on this hand.

[VM1973]

Ok, I was playing with someone I'd never played with before and there was no pregame discussion - only what showed on his BBO profile, which was the normal 5cm, 15-17NT, transfers, 3014, weak 2s, 2♣ strong. So there was no Lebensohl agreement.

Secondly, everyone was red.

[billw55]

VM1973, on 2011-May-26, 08:40, said:

Ok, I was playing with someone I'd never played with before and there was no pregame discussion - only what showed on his BBO profile, which was the normal 5cm, 15-17NT, transfers, 3014, weak 2s, 2♣ strong. So there was no Lebensohl agreement.

Secondly, everyone was red.

Bridge with random partners and ops can be trickier. But under this condition ...

If this is IMPs, then I suspect the only really bad result would be defending 4♠ undoubled. To avoid that, I guess I double. I can live with whatever partner does next.

[nige1]

VM1973, on 2011-May-26, 08:11, said:

Holding ♠ very few ♥ QTxxx ♦ QJTx ♣ AKxx
Partner deals and opens 1NT, RHO bids 2♠ and I bid 3♥. LHO passes, partner bids 4♥, and RHO bids 4♠ What's the right call?

IMO:

• On the previous round, perhaps it might have beeen better to have cue-bid 3♠ rather than bid 3♥.
• Now, at equal vulnerability, IMO 6♥ = 10, 5♥ = 8, X = 5, P = 1. Pass would be OK, if you were sure that partner would treat it as forcing -- but you cannot be certain with a stranger.

[karlson]

Good problem I think. I would bid 5♣ without agreements about what pass/pull shows.

Agree 100% with 3♥ on the last round. Too much offense to double and no reason to bury the 5-3 heart fit with 3♠.

[nige1]

On reflection, I prefer 4N to 6♥ and 5♣ to 5♥

[VM1973]

nige1, on 2011-May-26, 12:30, said:

On reflection, I prefer 4N to 6♥ and 5♣ to 5♥

Well, I counted my losers and figured that 6♥ had a good shot so I bid 6 and got doubled to find partner with:

♠AKxx
♥Axx
♦Ax
♣Jxxx

Hearts were 5-0 behind me. Bad luck? Bad system? My fault? My partner's fault?

[nige1]

duplicate post sorry

[nige1]

nige1, on 2011-May-26, 12:30, said:

On reflection, I prefer 4N to 6♥ and 5♣ to 5♥

VM1973, on 2011-May-27, 08:45, said:

Well, I counted my losers and figured that 6♥ had a good shot so I bid 6 and got doubled to find partner with: ♠ AKxx ♥ Axx ♦ Ax ♣ Jxxx Hearts were 5-0 behind me. Bad luck? Bad system? My fault? My partner's fault?

I would bid 6♥ but I suppose, with hindsight, it is bullish. Bad breaks are likely. We hoped that partner had less wasted in ♠ but his actual holding is not completely unexpected. IMO the verdict on our actions is more bad-judgement than bad-luck

[hrothgar]

VM1973, on 2011-May-27, 08:45, said:

Well, I counted my losers and figured that 6♥ had a good shot so I bid 6 and got doubled to find partner with:

♠AKxx
♥Axx
♦Ax
♣Jxxx

Hearts were 5-0 behind me. Bad luck? Bad system? My fault? My partner's fault?

I'd chalk this one up to bad luck:

When I was trying to work out the hand, one of my basic assumptions was that I had a Spade void and partner shouldn't have much wasted in Spades.

RHO started with a 2♠ bid and then rebid 4♠.
Yes, we've shown a heart fit, but he still very much needs to worry that we're going to double him at the four level.
His four Spade bid suggests a pretty solid suit.

I don't think partner's 4♥ bid was unreasonable.
Arguably, 3NT might have been a better bid (double stop in Spades, scores better at MP). However, with three aces, Heart support, and a ruffing value in Diamonds, 4♥ seems fine

I also don't think 6♥ was that bad. (However, I am prone to blast to slams so take anythign I say with a grain of salt)

From my perspective, the main take away is that you'll get random results playing against random people...

[han]

2S followed by 4S just shows RHO is an inexperienced player imo. I would be hesitant to draw any other conclusions.