[aguahombre]

I hope the OP at least takes for future reference that his chosen advance to the double was, if not everyone's choice, at least "o.k.".

Although not everyone agrees on what a double of 1H always looks like, here are some basic thoughts appropriate for a b/i forum:

--balanced hands which double with less than 4-card support for spades will not be hands that would pass or overcall 1NT. So, if spades is not your correct strain, partner will bid again after doubling --either NT showing a mountain balanced, or another suit showing a hand too big to overcall. This means you are fine after having chosen 2S.

--The fact that your partner did double on the given hand does make for a lot of contentious replies, but that wasn't your problem at the table....let them rant, you already knew it was a crappy double when you posted.

--Please continue to pose issues which you might think are of interest to other b/i's in the b/i forum. Accept that some people might try to be helpful and that others might have a different agenda, and that sometimes neither of those factions succeed.

BTW: we don't all mean well

[paulg]

aguahombre, on 2011-July-08, 13:12, said:

I hope the OP at least takes for future reference that his chosen advance to the double was, if not everyone's choice, at least "o.k.".

I must admit that the problem of what to respond to the take-out double looked more like an MSC (Master Solver's Club) problem from the Bridge World than a B/I question. It would be even more difficult if you were sitting opposite a B/I player and unsure about the meaning of the cue bid and continuations.

[Bbradley62]

Bbradley62, on 2011-July-07, 19:39, said:

In another thread, there was a discussion as to whether GIB plays better than "the average BBOer". Most frequent Forum posters don't play with "the average BBOer"; they're high-level tournament players who would probably be surprised to hear that probably 10% (yes, that's a guesstimate) of players in the Free Express Fun games, for example, think that OP's partner made a perfectly reasonable double and would do it themselves.

After someone express doubt that anyone would actually be on BBO without knowing what a takeout double is supposed to look like...

Bbradley62, on 2011-July-07, 22:14, said:

The first similar hand I found was not actually from FEF, but rather from one of those "private clubs" called BBO Fans. ... Of the 53 Norths calling after 1♠, 43 passed, 7 doubled, 2 bid 1N and 1 bid 2♦. Small sample size, but not surprising.

ArtK78, on 2011-July-08, 12:45, said:

What Bbradley62 documented was that on one particular hand in BBO Fans, a private club, 7 out of 53 players, given the opportunity, doubled with a similar type of hand to the one that you posted.

I don't know for sure what the experience level of the players in BBO Fans might be in general, but I would take a guess that they are predominantly newcomers to bridge. A serious player with any experience would know not to make a takeout double with length in the suit being doubled.

After not easily finding a hand similar to OP's in my recent FEF hands, I found on in BBO Fans. Players there have a wide range of skill level, from absolute beginners to a few stars. I think that group is a reasonable approximation for those who play FEF.