[bluecalm]

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IMPs.
And here we go. I bid 4♥ my partner didn't like it. I have my doubts but I am very unsure.
Thoughts ?

[CSGibson]

I hate 4♥. I think I'd prefer 2N, personally, but a 2♣ cue-bid might be best, even if I have no idea what it means.

[bluecalm]

Our means are very limited here. 2N is just natural, 2C is also natural. 1N is a bit more solid than normal, say (7)8-11 hcp.
Probably 2C should be a cuebid but as we play vs polish club our whole life we don't treat clubs as their suit after 1C opening even if they play some other 1C (like bm or 2+).

[Phil]

CSGibson, on 2012-September-27, 16:46, said:

I hate 4♥. I think I'd prefer 2N, personally, but a 2♣ cue-bid might be best, even if I have no idea what it means.

2♣ shows clubs.

I think 3♥ is plenty.

[gszes]

my hand is pretty good but the mere fact p bid 1n means they have a fair
amount of wasted values in clubs. I am torn between a forcing 3d* (our best
shot at 3n) and a invitational 3h bid (at least letting p know i have decent hearts).

*I would not hazard a 3d bid unless I was sure p would take it as forcing however.

at imps I would try 3d* since game is more important then strain.

[bluecalm]

3d is not an optino for us we play it as 5+-5+ in red suits.
It's just judgement. 3H/4H/2N please forget about fancy options suitable for your pet system but too complicated for us

[gnasher]

3♥ seems normal. It's not worth 4♥, and 3♥ describes the hand-type whilst keeping open the possibility of playing in notrumps.

I think there's a thread where Justin made persuasive arguments that 2♣ is artificial, showing a good hand, but not creating a game-force.

[rmnka447]

Partner should be showing 7-10 with a ♣ stopper.

Even if partner is void in ♥, you can still contribute 7 tricks at NT by giving up a trick to the ♥ K. The hand might play well in either ♥s or in NT if partner's stoppers are good enough. You can't tell what partner has so maybe the best course is to tell pard more about your hand.

So this is the time to describe your hand with a 3 ♥ call. It should show about 16-18 and a good heart suit. Pard can pass with a minimum or chose between 3 NT and 4 ♥ with maximum values.

[the hog]

I would bid 3H. This appears to be the most flexible option. It keeps 3NT and 4H in the picture or pd can pass with an unsuitable hand. 4H is an overbid.

[Fluffy]

4♥ is an overbid because we have singleton on partner's suit. 3♥ looks pretty normal to me

[MrAce]

I think huge majority of hands if not all that makes 4, pd will raise to 4 anyway, and as Andy pointed out, 3♥ keeps the 3NT in picture. I would be more delighted to hear 3NT from pd than 4♥ tbh.

And thats what i would do at MP. 3♥

However this may not be the case for 3NT. There are a lot of hands in my mind where 3NT has a decent shot and pd will pass 3♥. But there are also a lot of hands that we wont even take 7 tricks when pd has a textbook 1 NT bid.

Nobody mentioned but i would rather bid 3NT than 4♥ if i was really willing to play game. After all if pd has only one entry to hand it seems like we are cold with Kx onside, and if more entries we are cold if opener has K of ♥ not more than 3 pieces. But this assumes pd holds 2 card hearts which is not always true. A pusher card in ♥ (♥8) can be as vital as an Ace also. 3NT would be my #1 choice in IMPS especially if we were red, because it really doesnt require much and will have a much better play than most games we routinely play in imps or teamgames when red imho.

[bluecalm]

So there are following groups of hands we are concerned with:
ahands which pass 3H but we make 4H
b)hands which pass 3H and we don't make 4H
c)hands which bid 3N after 3H and it's better contract than 4H

I neglected c) when making my decision and I thought a) is significant % of hands hence my bid.
I am still not convinced we really should be hunting for c). Anyway, the answers suggest I was wrong about both factors.

[jogs]

With distributional patterns it is a guessing game. 2♥, 4♥ and 3NT can all be the winning bid on this board. It depends on the location of the unseen cards among the other three players.