[dickiegera]

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Can this be Western Cue to bid 3NT if you East have a Heart stopper?

[ggwhiz]

Not on my card.

If it's not thoroughly discussed (and even if it is) how is partner to know they need a spade and diamond stopper as well?

[steve2005]

Making 3N might have a play for 6C do some exploring.

Two possible standard meanings for 3H is a really good hand or good hand 5S and 5 minor.

[Stephen Tu]

It's pretty common, bordering on std, when using leaping Michaels (4m showing 5+m, 5+OM= spades here) to have the 3 level cue ask for stopper, yes. Normally one would have something resembling stoppers in the other suits though, 8-ish tricks not just 7.

[Tramticket]

We play that 3H asks partner to bid 3NT with a heart stopper.

But maybe not on this hand - too much of a gamble. Good players tend to lead aces against this auction and find the right switch.

[Cyberyeti]

Tramticket, on 2018-May-09, 16:20, said:

But maybe not on this hand - too much of a gamble. Good players tend to lead aces against this auction and find the right switch.

Particularly when partner coughs a few times

[helene_t]

This is just a 3♣ overcall. If you belong in 3NT, partner will bid it.

But yes, playing Western Cue here is a good agreement.

[dsLawsd]

It cannot ever be a Western Cue- although it would ask partner to bid three no with a stopper (and shows a solid side suit)-
But Not with a void.

[nekthen]

Another ambiguous question. Sort out your English people!

Q. 1 is the bidding sequence asking for a heart stop? A. 1 Yes
Q. 2 Am I certifiably insane for using that sequence with the hand shown? A. 2 Yes

[PhilG007]

dickiegera, on 2018-May-09, 08:42, said:

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Can this be Western Cue to bid 3NT if you East have a Heart stopper?

I would just bid 3♣ showing my long powerful suit and leave the rest to partner. As a corollary,what would be the
situation if the club suit were spades? Bid 4♠ direct?

[Joe_Old]

PhilG007, on 2018-May-10, 01:25, said:

I would just bid 3♣ showing my long powerful suit and leave the rest to partner. As a corollary,what would be the
situation if the club suit were spades? Bid 4♠ direct?

No, the correct call would be a choice between pass and 3♠. You don't pre-empt over a pre-empt. 4♠ shows a strong hand. Something like AKQxxx AKxx x Kxx.

Edit - in a hurry, many errors. See correction below.

[msjennifer]

Joe_Old, on 2018-May-10, 21:08, said:

No, the correct call would be a choice between pass and 3♠. You don't pre-empt over a pre-empt. 4♠ shows a strong hand. Something like AKQxxx AKxx x Kxx.

14 cards in the hand quoted.

[msjennifer]

No! You expect partner to have stoppers In all the three remaining suits! Bidding 3H is stretching the imagination TOO FAR even In a regular partnership.2H is normally a weak hand.If one bids 3 H then the meaning will have to be very well defined even with an expert partner beforehand.

[nekthen]

Although we have a fabulous club suit, we are too weak to bid over 2 ♦. The old don’t preempt a preempt rule applies. If we hear partner freely bid a major we can bid game. If he bids 2N, we can bid 3 and if he doubles we can bid 5♣.
Of course, opps might raise the ante with 4♦, but I’d still feel more confident about my bidding on the next round if I pass first time.

[thawp66]

Joe_Old, on 2018-May-10, 21:08, said:

No, the correct call would be a choice between pass and 3♠. You don't pre-empt over a pre-empt. 4♠ shows a strong hand. Something like AKQxxx AKxx x Kxx.

Agreeing with the “you don’t preempt a preempt” hypotheses leads to the question, why isn’t 2S a better call than 3S?

[Joe_Old]

thawp66, on 2018-May-11, 02:18, said:

Agreeing with the “you don’t preempt a preempt” hypotheses leads to the question, why isn’t 2S a better call than 3S?

Sorry all - was in a hurry.

The hand I meant to suggest was AKQxxx AKxx x Kx - 13 cards. This hand would bid 3♠.

I also intended to suggest that the choice presented by PhilG (a ♠ suit of AKQJ987) would be described by a call of Pass or 2♠. A call of 4♠ should show a NAMYATS hand type; 8 good trump and some outside honors that is slightly too weak to open a strong 2♣.

You might also ask, "why not double, then bid ♠?" with the hand I suggested. IMO X is best reserved for more balanced hands that can stand a penalty pass (or truly huge hands where you're hoping for slam), as opposed to unbalanced hands where you have a suit that can play comfortably opposite two small cards.