[AL78]

♠AKQ3
♥6
♦KQT54
♣AK7

MPs. System is 5CM, strong NT, 2♥/♠ is weak, 2♣ is Acol 2 hand in a suit or 22-23 bal, 2♦ is GF hand (i.e. equivalent to Acol 2♣), 2NT is 20-21 bal.

You are dealer. What do you open?

[smerriman]

1♦. Maybe there are rare hands where that gets passed out and we have game, but I'd rather take that risk in order to drastically simplify being able to describe my hand.

[eagles123]

yeah normal 1D opening.

[Tramticket]

1D

The traditional benchmark for a Benji 2C opening is a strong hand with 8+ playing tricks in a major, or 9+ playing tricks in a minor. This hand falls a long way short.

[Cyberyeti]

1♦.

If you play a traditional 2♣ opener I have less of a problem opening 2♣, having the 2 opening bids I think one would overstate the diamonds, the other the strength.

All you need for game is Jxxx, xxxx, Jx, xxx so there is the risk of a pass of 1♦ missing a game, but not sure that can be helped.

[AL78]

I opened 1♦ preparing to bid 2♠ next round. The next round never came, it went 1♦ - P - P - P.

Partner put down:

♠T9864
♥953
♦92
♣J3

I managed to make 1♦ with an overtrick despite the 5-1 diamond break, but 4♠ is there.

Comment from LHO: "I had eight points and ♥QJTxx but didn't feel like bidding"

RHO held ♥AKxx and five diamonds so didn't feel like bidding either.

I despair at this game. 18 HCP and nine hearts between them with all the honors and they can't find a bid over 1♦. What are the odds? This is the second time this has happened this year.

[pescetom]

1♦.

In one more eccentric partnership, we would risk 2NT.

[apollo1201]

1D and too bad for this rare occurrence. Furthermore, you lack at least 1 trick to be a GF hand on your own. So there aren’t really much choices.

Keep also in mind that if you start with some artificial 2-level opening, you’d end up showing your S at the 3 level and partner doesn’t know whether if is a real suit or a stopper to find 3NT. Or even at the 4 level and partner doesn’t know if it is a real suit or a cue agreeing their suit as trump.

[HardVector]

 AL78, on 2022-July-24, 06:59, said:

I opened 1♦ preparing to bid 2♠ next round. The next round never came, it went 1♦ - P - P - P.

Partner put down:

♠T9864
♥953
♦92
♣J3

I managed to make 1♦ with an overtrick despite the 5-1 diamond break, but 4♠ is there.

Comment from LHO: "I had eight points and ♥QJTxx but didn't feel like bidding"

RHO held ♥AKxx and five diamonds so didn't feel like bidding either.

I despair at this game. 18 HCP and nine hearts between them with all the honors and they can't find a bid over 1♦. What are the odds? This is the second time this has happened this year.

If these hands frustrate you, then you should learn a strong club system.

[bluenikki]

 AL78, on 2022-July-24, 06:59, said:

I opened 1♦ preparing to bid 2♠ next round. The next round never came, it went 1♦ - P - P - P.

Partner put down:

♠T9864
♥953
♦92
♣J3

I managed to make 1♦ with an overtrick despite the 5-1 diamond break, but 4♠ is there.

Comment from LHO: "I had eight points and ♥QJTxx but didn't feel like bidding"

RHO held ♥AKxx and five diamonds so didn't feel like bidding either.

I despair at this game. 18 HCP and nine hearts between them with all the honors and they can't find a bid over 1♦. What are the odds? This is the second time this has happened this year.

Opponents have learned how strong your openings can be and will not re-open aggressively. Mike Lawrence's first book on balancing argued for aggressive re-opening. His later book argued for extreme caution when you are short in an unbid major.

[bluenikki]

 AL78, on 2022-July-24, 03:21, said:

♠AKQ3
♥6
♦KQT54
♣AK7

MPs. System is 5CM, strong NT, 2♥/♠ is weak, 2♣ is Acol 2 hand in a suit or 22-23 bal, 2♦ is GF hand (i.e. equivalent to Acol 2♣), 2NT is 20-21 bal.

You are dealer. What do you open?

Also, when your main suit is diamonds, you can safely open with a game-forcing artificial bid only if it is OK for your busted *partner* to declare 3NT.

[mw64ahw]

 Tramticket, on 2022-July-24, 05:38, said:

1D

The traditional benchmark for a Benji 2C opening is a strong hand with 8+ playing tricks in a major, or 9+ playing tricks in a minor. This hand falls a long way short.

So how many playing tricks does the above hand have?

[bluenikki]

 mw64ahw, on 2022-July-24, 10:16, said:

So how many playing tricks does the above hand have?

I don't know the structure of Benji auctions. But bidding 2♣ followed by 3♦ will bury a possible club fit and maybe also a spade fit.

Really, good 5431 hands require special treatments that system builders aren't willing to address. 5440 even more so.

Notice that opening 1♦ then bidding 2♠ will likewise bury the club suit.

[P_Marlowe]

1D

[AL78]

 bluenikki, on 2022-July-24, 09:36, said:

Opponents have learned how strong your openings can be and will not re-open aggressively. Mike Lawrence's first book on balancing argued for aggressive re-opening. His later book argued for extreme caution when you are short in an unbid major.

These opponents don't know me that well, this hand was at a club I have only played at a few times, and I very rarely pick up hands this strong, but in any case, LHO had enough to overcall 1♥ in second seat, so balancing in fourth seat isn't relevant here.

[mikeh]

We all get ‘fixed’ from time to time. It can be difficult to remain objective when that happens. The other day, in a friendly team game, a player well known for aggression chose to make a very strange pass over 1D with QJ9xx Qxx xx KQx. All was well when the vulnerable opps stretched to 3S on their 4=4 fit, -200 while at the other table they overcalled and we ended up in 1N making two.

Sometimes bad actions lead to good results. Don’t let tat persuade you to take your own bad actions.

Fixes tend to balance out…indeed, when the opponents make bad decisions they will give you good results (so long as you don’t give the board back through your own poor choices) much more often than you get fixed.

We do tend to remember the fixes more than the good boards, which is why one must not lose focus.

[LBengtsson]

This 5431 hand with 5m always presents problems whether playing normal 2♣ opening or Benjamin Acol, I feel. Either you lie and open 2♣ rebidding 2NT with a stiff ♥,or open 2NT here, or you gamble 1♦ hoping partner has enough to respond. 'Resulting' with hand like this do not help. Even Precision would have difficulty to end in 4♠ here imo. The only system that might get here is something like Blue Club combined with canape, but that is a guess as I do not know Blue Club well enough myself..

[Tramticket]

 mw64ahw, on 2022-July-24, 10:16, said:

So how many playing tricks does the above hand have?

A fair question. I would assess as three playing tricks in diamonds + five outside diamonds, giving a total of eight. But different sources gives differing definitions.

[bluenikki]

 LBengtsson, on 2022-July-24, 13:33, said:

This 5431 hand with 5m always presents problems whether playing normal 2♣ opening or Benjamin Acol, I feel. Either you lie and open 2♣ rebidding 2NT with a stiff ♥,or open 2NT here, or you gamble 1♦ hoping partner has enough to respond. 'Resulting' with hand like this do not help. Even Precision would have difficulty to end in 4♠ here imo. The only system that might get here is something like Blue Club combined with canape, but that is a guess as I do not know Blue Club well enough myself..

When the 5-card is clubs, it's not so bad. The second neg after 2♣ - 2♦ ; 3♣ - ? can be 3♦.

After 2♣ - 2♦ ; 3♦ - ? it's 3NT.

[pescetom]

I strongly prefer that a minor after two clubs shows 6+card. 5 cards will take it's chances in 1m or some level of 2NT.