[hrothgar]

White on Red (we're White, they're Red)
IMPs

Partner passes and RHO opens 1♥

You hold

♠ AKQT9853
♥ 64
♦ Void
♣ A64

Choose your poison...

[Free]

Dbl

[Fluffy]

white on red emans we are vulnerable?

if so it is we are way too strong for 4♠, I would bid 1♠, double may be passed out and anyway we dont have defensive values for that.

[whereagles]

1♥ 4♠

[Flame]

I bid 4S.
If we are nv vs vul , you might consider double and look for a slam.

[luke warm]

1♠ but i do like double then spades

[cnszsun]

I wish it's time to make a pressure bid, so i bid 4S to make everybody's life difficult including myself.

[the hog]

4S. Double is totally off with the faeries and deserves high level D bids from partner - not even worth discussing.

This is interesting opposite a non passed hand. I would try 3H - Californian cue, and pull partner's 3NT to 4S to show this sort of hand.

[bearmum]

4♠ - P has passed so give OPPS the choice at 5 level

[HeartA]

Definitely 4S.

[sceptic]

odd dist you x and your partner passes with 6 low hearts for penalty, no thanks, I would bid 4 spades direct

[hrothgar]

For what its worth, here's what happened at the table:

I'm firmly in the pressure bidder's camp. I also decided that I'd be completely miserable if I bid 4♠ and heard RHO compete in Diamonds. So, being the obstinate sort that I am, I decided to get the hand off my chest and overcalled 5♠.

I was curious whether anyone else would feel the same way...
This drew a double from LHO, which RHO passed after a very long tank.
Oh well...

[the hog]

No 5S is too unilateral for me, Richard. I think it is neither a "fish nor fowl bid". Mind you anything is better than a double.

[whereagles]

It's not a bad thing if it goes

1D 4S 5D pass

Your opponents had to guess to bid 5D, and that might have been the wrong guess.

[pclayton]

I have a LOT of sympathy for 5♠ myself.

If you assume that opponents have hearts (reasonable); and have values / shape to bid and make at 5 level (perhaps); then 5♠ is fine.

If you had one less spade (and tried 4♠) with the same hand then I'd crack 5♥ to show a good preempt and an outside trick.

I'm this close to converting to NAMYATS overcalls for this type of headache.

[mikestar]

Let's look at this from a LOTT perspective. Your side figures to have 10 spades, they figure to have 9 diamonds. This is 19 total tricks, but you have a void, no soft values and a long suit--plus they might have a double fit in the red suits. A trick total of 21 is not unlikely.

21 total tricks is enough to bid 5 over 5 (at least one 5 level contract will make).

The question then is, are they going to bid it, especially if their fit is in diamonds.

I bid 4S and double their 5 level bid to show extras if this is our agreement: partner will leave in with some defense and bid 5S without defense.

However, many player will bid 4S with long spades and substantial high cards as a trap in this position, giving up on slam but hoping to double the enemy--if partner expects this type of hand and treats the double as pure penalty, he will leave it in without defense. So without the above agreement I bid 5S over 5 of a red suit.

I have much sympathy for 5S: it is indicated by the advice given in Kit Woolsey's Matchpoints: bid to the level where you don't know what their correct bid is--odds are they won't know, either.

But I think there is too much chance we can buy it for 4S--they can't be certain that I have an eight card suit and a void, and their estimate of the trick total will be lower than mine. On a lucky day they might even double 4S (their fit is 5-4 in diamonds) then the result ranges from -1 against a laydown game to making overtricks. So this may be a hand where they don't know their correct action even though I do.

[Flame]

Imo too much diffenence for 5S, i will feel ok to double 5D showing what i have, a long spade and a good hand.

[hrothgar]

Flame, on Dec 22 2004, 06:33 PM, said:

Imo too much diffenence for 5S, i will feel ok to double 5D showing what i have, a long spade and a good hand.

For anyone who cares, here are the complete hands

---

5SX actually worked pretty well after a trump lead...

[Flame]

hrothgar, on Dec 22 2004, 10:45 AM, said:

5SX actually worked pretty well after a trump lead...

Nice
And i have the feeling it would work for you on the next time too.(but not for me)