[thepossum]

Dear all

What the considerations for deciding whether to preempt or pass and hope to show your hand later, either as a response or overcall

Suppose you have a hand like below in second seat after a pass. Is it too strong for a weak 2. I know some people would even consider a 1 bid in certain circumstances. Many would probably pass

In general how do you weigh up the advantage of a preempt versus the risk of preempting partner or missing out on a better contract

regards P

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[Stephen Tu]

I think nearly everyone does not consider this example hand even close to "too strong for a weak 2".
Nearly everyone buys into the concept of that there is no gap between weak 2 openers and 1 openers; that is with a good suit there is no hand that is too strong for 2 but not good enough for 1. You open one or the other. The only time you might pass is with poor suit relative to vul and position, and maybe because holding side 4-cd major

One might choose not to open a weak 2 based on the number of flaws in the hand.
Possible flaws include:

• very bad main suit, low "ODR". Bad main suits are susceptible to large penalties. Especially bad when holding defensive tricks outside which might make it a phantom sac.
• holding side 4 cd major. Preempting may cause you to miss good contract in that major. Also decreases chance opps have game in that major
• unfavorable vulnerability. Higher risk of penalty being more than their game, and getting -200 at MP.
• being in 2nd seat. Less incentive to preempt in 2nd seat because partner might have good hand and less chance opps have game since one already passed.

Most players these days tend to open pretty freely, as they think giving the opponents problems very frequently wins more net points than the occasional self-own when opening flawed preempts, and are willing to shrug off the bad boards. More disciplined preempts, partner can sac more accurately, but you don't disrupt the opponents as often.

[hrothgar]

If you'd like to be able to open this sort of hand with a one level opening bid, you'll probably want to shift to a strong club system.

[thepossum]

hrothgar, on 2019-February-16, 04:38, said:

If you'd like to be able to open this sort of hand with a one level opening bid, you'll probably want to shift to a strong club system.

I have been investigating precision if I find anyone to play it with. I've had many recommendations on its benefits

I opened this one 2S. I would either do a weak 2 or pass obviously at the moment. A point or two extra in hcps and I would open 1S I suppose

I used to open fairly light in Acol but not this light except maybe non vulnerable in last seat but this one is pushing it too much.

I never am totally sure in terms of 2/1 how much you can distort hcps with distribution to get a 1 bid

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

Given that you are in 2nd position, your w2 should be a max.
A preempt is meant to shut out the oppoenents, but also has constructive
elements, it describes the hand to partner
- 6+ spades, reasonable suit, a fair share of your high cards in your long suit
- less than opening strength, i.e. less than 10/11HCP
- ... no interest in the searching for a fit in another major, some deny
4 (even 3 cards) in the other major

How close dose the description match with your hand?
How good is the picture partner has, given you spoke only once?
I would say pretty good.

With kind regards
Marlowe