[Walddk]

Scoring: IMP

W: 1S - N: 2S (Michaels) - E: 2NT (limit or better with spade support) - S:??

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Which action do you take now?

1. PASS. I am too weak to act.

2. 3♦. Lead directing against a high spade contract.

3. 4♥. Maybe they will miss the slam if they have one.

4. 5♥. Let them make the last guess.

If you think any other bid is better than one of the above, I have given you an "Other" option too.

Roland

[Gerben42]

I vote for 4♥, partner can still be strong.

[P_Marlowe]

3H.

If partner feels like sacrifing, that is ok with me,
but I like to have a safety net.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[mr1303]

4H. Partner shouldn't take this as a strong bid on the auction. I'll now leave the last move up to him. I'd be very surprised to get doubled here and it be a bad score

[hotShot]

I'll bid 4♥.
This is to high, but if i bid 5♥ opps will know that i think, they might have a slam. I know lots of players who would start thinking about slam at once, just because of that.
If by any chance partner is strong or we have a perfect double fit, we might make 4, but hardly 5.
Opps 4♠ is a "sticky" bid, they might stick to it even if they can make 6+.

[flytoox]

I pass. I have no mood for sacrifice with equal vul.

[guggie]

5♥
pass is an alternative. 4spades is a certainty. My hand is weak but I have support for both minors. As I play solid Michaels cuebids qua playing strenght, it should not cost nore than 500. 3♥ or 3♦ give opps plenty room to tell their strong and weak points, 5♥ puts a lot of pressure on them. Also I like spectacular actions;-)

Replied first read other answers later: hotspot surely has a point. On the other hand, cuing possibilities on the 4 level are cut off, so its guesswork now.

[mike777]

Pass, well done P. Let them sort it out now.

[Echognome]

I think this one is awfully close. I'll carry through the alternatives.

Pass - This may work if they end up overreaching to a slam they shouldn't be in. If I pass, I conceal my heart fit and they both might overrate their heart shortage. However, I haven't take up any space either and they can now paint their hands out to a fuller description will most likely find the right spot, so I reject this bid.

3♦ - I reject this one easily as I don't know if I want partner leading a diamond. I can imagine it's right the ace is on my right and partner's short, but it's too contrived that it's better if I let partner carry on with his normal lead.

4♥ - seems about at the right level to me. At favourable I might be braver, but if partner turns up with hearts and diamonds (as the odds seem he might), then I may be too high and go for a bundle.

5♥ - I think this is a pushy bid and one I might make if I wanted to put on the maximum pressure on opponents and only in certain states of the match. Remember also that partner is still there and you will be awfully unhappy if he goes on.

[Free]

Imo bidding 4♥ is absolutely useless, since they'll bid 4♠ anyway... 5♥ might be better, but if they don't have slam you'll probably go down too much.

I pass.

[olegru]

3♠ - "Partner I wish to play 4♥ and willing to sacrifice on a fifth level. Up to you."

[pclayton]

5♥. Yes I'd like a 5th trump, but the double fit either way makes up for it.

I assume 2♠ can be weak or strong. There's just enough room - barely - for pard to have the strong variety, but he probably has under 10. If thats the case, you can throw 4♠ against the wall.

Most likely, pard has diamonds. A lot of really neat things could be going on: pard could be 3550. Now with some decent minimums, 5♥ is making - perhaps on a diamond guess. Even if pard has the likely 2551, 5♥ looks real cheap.

[pbleighton]

5H.

2nd choice pass.

I'm assuming that Michaels is either weak or very strong (possible but unlikely, in view of the opps bidding).

Peter

[luis]

4♥, if they bid 4spI will bid 5♥ looking like an idiot, maybe they will decide to double. If I bid 5♥ directly I will force them to bid 5♠ which I think is a make.
I think we lose 1 spade, 1 club and either 1 heart or 1 diamond. The advantage of 4♥ and then 5♥ is that they have two chances to make a wrong decision. The other advantage is that if Lefty bids 4s pd can double with Ax, QJTxx, Axxxx, x he will lead a club I will play the lowest one and they will be down 1 in 4sp when we were also down 1 in 4♥.

[Chamaco]

I chose 4H but not too happy about it.

The reason is not so much that we may go down too much, nor that maybe 5H puts real pressure.

What I dislike of the bid is that when opps have a clear established fit higher ranking, and it is clear they are going to bid even over our raise, quite often the knowledge of our raise helps them to reevaluate their combined hcp: when one preempts and the other raises, often the strong side has nothing wasted.

It would not be the first nor the last time that even very good pairs miss a slam if the preemptor pard does NOT raise whereas they bid it confidently even with 26 hcp because they know nothing is wasted.

[luke warm]

5♥ for me

[Fluffy]

You guys are bidding too much, if partner is strong you are getting 500 against nothing, or maybe -790, thre isn't much to gain bidding when both vulnerable.

[pbleighton]

"You guys are bidding too much, if partner is strong you are getting 500 against nothing, or maybe -790, thre isn't much to gain bidding when both vulnerable."

There is if the opps have slam.

Peter

[flytoox]

pbleighton, on Apr 16 2005, 10:09 AM, said:

"You guys are bidding too much, if partner is strong you are getting 500 against nothing, or maybe -790, thre isn't much to gain bidding when both vulnerable."

There is if the opps have slam.

Peter

So you put all eggs in one basket.