[fred]

Fluffy, on Apr 8 2005, 01:44 PM, said:

1♥ for me at any form of scoring.

1NT overcall to me shows 16-18, do people here show 15-17?.

In the USA the most common range for 1NT overcalls on peoples' convention cards is "15+ to 18".

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[Free]

Fluffy, on Apr 8 2005, 02:44 PM, said:

1♥ for me at any form of scoring.

1NT overcall to me shows 16-18, do people here show 15-17?.

we play (14)15-18, most play 15+-18

[daswallow]

I go for 1nt, tho I am not thrilled to bid it. It just seems the best choice we have.
I play this as 15-18, so I am a point light, but the hand has some good features such as the 2 aces.
Bidding 1nt gives us the best chance of getting to a game (3NT or 4M) and a few times recently I have bid NT with similar hands, got x'd, and made it so I am sticking with it for now!

[hrothgar]

In an absolutely SHOCKING development, I agree with The Hog
I need to decide whether I should pass or overcall in Hearts

The hand looks too weak for a 15+-18 HCP 1NT overcall.
(K+R evaluate the hand as 13.55 HCP)

As Fred notes, if you pass with this ahnd, you are giving up on game. I lean towards a 1H overcall, but wouldn't fault pass..

FOr what its worth, I prefer to play methods that permit overcalls with decent 4 card majors in balanced hands to solve just this type of problem...

[fred]

hrothgar, on Apr 8 2005, 04:54 PM, said:

The hand looks too weak for a 15+-18 HCP 1NT overcall.
(K+R evaluate the hand as 13.55 HCP)

Does the K+R evaluation take into account the fact that East opened the bidding 1D? In my judgment that makes this hand worth more than 14 HCP, not less.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[hrothgar]

fred, on Apr 8 2005, 08:06 PM, said:

hrothgar, on Apr 8 2005, 04:54 PM, said:

The hand looks too weak for a 15+-18 HCP 1NT overcall.
(K+R evaluate the hand as 13.55 HCP)

Does the K+R evaluation take into account the fact that East opened the bidding 1D? In my judgment that makes this hand worth more than 14 HCP, not less.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

Good point that I hadn't considered...

The K+R evaluator considered hands in isolation.
It certainly seems reasonable that the QJxx is worth more sitting over Diamonds...

[fred]

hrothgar, on Apr 8 2005, 05:15 PM, said:

fred, on Apr 8 2005, 08:06 PM, said:

hrothgar, on Apr 8 2005, 04:54 PM, said:

The hand looks too weak for a 15+-18 HCP 1NT overcall.
(K+R evaluate the hand as 13.55 HCP)

Does the K+R evaluation take into account the fact that East opened the bidding 1D? In my judgment that makes this hand worth more than 14 HCP, not less.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

Good point that I hadn't considered...

The K+R evaluator considered hands in isolation.
It certainly seems reasonable that the QJxx is worth more sitting over Diamonds...

The 9 of diamonds is also a very strong card and both the heart and spade holdings have improved as a result of the 1D opening.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[han]

It seems to me that almost any time we have a nice balanced 14 count with some diamond honors, our hand is going to look better after the 1D opening. So should we overcall 1NT with all these hands? Fine, but than we shouldn't say that 1NT is 15+ to 18.

Overcalling 1H is not my style, but I have no problem with it. I think double is out of the question.

I pass, even though this will make it much harder to get to game.

[flytoox]

Chamaco, on Apr 8 2005, 12:39 PM, said:

Rebound, on Apr 8 2005, 11:49 AM, said:

The worst case scenario I can picture is if the auction were to proceed (1♦)-p-(3♦)-P-(P)-... I would be hard pressed to decide whether to double here. My thinking tho, as described above, is that I should pass, expecting that if we can't beat 3♦ we probably can't make anything at the 3-level either.

What about:

1D-p-1NT-p-p-?

What do you do now ?

Good time to dbl for blood. You know all cards are misplaced for the declarer.

[jdulmage]

nothing wrong with 1NT - but a lot will bid 1H here - not clear cut always

[HeartA]

fred, on Apr 8 2005, 12:19 PM, said:

The 9 of diamonds is also a very strong card and both the heart and spade holdings have improved as a result of the 1D opening.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

That is what I said . But I couldn't it it anywhere from this thread. Maybe I just talked to Mike last night on BBO (Mike, did I?) or the post was lost somehow.

[whereagles]

In life, like in bridge, the only clear-cut thing is there are no clear-cut things

[pclayton]

1N; QJ9x in RHO's suit is basically AKx, although lack of power may make higher contracts problematic, especially if pard has a club problem too.

[Rebound]

fred, on Apr 8 2005, 09:23 AM, said:

Rebound, on Apr 8 2005, 11:49 AM, said:

I've just re-read my own post and I've noticed it implies that I'm saying that on this hand any plus is a good plus. Now that I think about it, I believe it to be true, but what do you folks think?

Disagree.

Game for your side is a live possibility. If you pass you are essentially giving up on getting to game.

So +100 on defense may not be good (if your side can make +600 in 3NT for example).

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

Thanks Fred. Good Point. I would be interested to know what happened in the rest of the auction in the actual game.

[mcphee]

I make the choices pass or 1NT, this looks like the wrong time to overcall 1H. I think I would go aggressive and bid 1NT much of the time. I also do not think this is clear cut.

[cherdano]

Here is a hand with a somewhat similar topic, that I held recently in a team league match:

Scoring: IMP

RHO opens 1♣ (5-card majors) in 3rd seat.

---

What would the BBO panel bid?

Arend

[luke warm]

i'd have to pass this one... nothing else really stands out

[fred]

Agree with Luke. This one is a clear pass in my view.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[the hog]

Neither M is good enough to overcall, and you don't have the strength or pips to overcall 1NT.

[pclayton]

Maybe this is the hand in the other thread where the auction starts (1C) - dbl -( rdbl) -1D - (P) - pass - (dbl) - pass (pass) - rdbl.