[jillybean]

V vs N
lho opens 3S you hold A8 AQJ AT83 AKT9

your bid

[Mbodell]

jillybean, on 2013-March-20, 22:59, said:

V vs N
lho opens 3S you hold A8 AQJ AT83 AKT9

your bid

I double (which my opponent also did). I think partner should pass this double but at my table they bid 4♣ which was raised to 5.

[Codo]

X

[the_clown]

I would try 3N

[Cascade]

Double for me

[jillybean]

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This is where we played. Hey Michael, why do you say West should pass a double?

[Mbodell]

jillybean, on 2013-March-26, 08:51, said:

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This is where we played. Hey Michael, why do you say West should pass a double?

Hmm, I remembered their hand as 3=3=3=4 with ♦Q and ♣J and no other HCP. But basically if you have a flat hand and don't expect to make it (like my remembered hand for sure, and maybe the actual hand) pass an hope partner can set it isn't too bad. Especially at MP. If you go down 2 or 3 doubled red you are looking at -500 or -800, partner might be able to set them, and they might misplay it thinking you have a trump stack. The actual hand partner has a better hand than you'd expect, and you still go down in 4♣. While you set 3♠ 2 tricks with proper defense, set them 1 most of the time. If they were stronger and were making then partner would be a couple of tricks weaker and you'd rate to go down 3.

[Vampyr]

This is about the third or fourth thread with a similar title. OP, get the "O" on your keyboard repaired!

[kenberg]

Thinking out loud

I am pretty sure that I would double sitting East. Maybe I should rethink this. It makes 3NT as the cards lie, and if you switch South and West (and there is no reason from East's point of view that this would not be the case) then West would bid and make 4♥ but it makes just as many tricks in NT. Of course it's a whole different story of South has three spades.

Anyway, I think I would double but 3NT works out better. Better even than 3♠X passed out.

The reasoning for passing out the double seems sound to me. It's not so much that you have confidence that you will beat it but rather with most East hands where you cannot beat it you can imagine going for quite a number in whatever you bid. Sort of a matter of picking your poison. Here, for example, you can beat 3♠ by two tricks (lucky, of course) but you are still off one in 4♣, Shift some values from East to South and he will hit 4♣ and it will be a matchpoint disaster.

I'll have to give the 3NT call some thought. East holds the aces and can be reasonably confident that North has no side entry to his spades, so if holding up once will shut North out, he can probably establish nine tricks. Maybe it's right to go for nine.