[jillybean]

Having a good, fun day at the club, I pickup this hand and I am immediately concerned about my rebid.

---

You've got a good but infrequent partner, not sure of style here.

[mike777]

1D, willing to rebid 2C

Pass on your auction now

[TMorris]

Playing a weak nt I open 1♣ intending to raise partner if she bids one of my suits or rebid 1nt if she bids spades. When the opponents bid spades either I can bid hearts if partner has shown them or make a takeout double if she has not.

[pescetom]

hope the explanation offered at table if asked would not be "Leb"
Is 2NT weak, or invitational plus?
What would 2H or 3C have been?
But anyway you're stuck now, pass.

[jillybean]

1D, 2C just doesn't seem to do this hand justice.
I gave full explanation of 2nt bid and did not use the L word
I don't know what 2nt is yet, it could be weak or inv+
I guessed partner has hearts and bid 5, will post the hand soon

[mike777]

4441 hands tend to not play that great.
Stiff Ace not great for NT but
Understand opening 1NT

[jillybean]

---

This would have been a normal auction, and the 4441 played very well, this time.
These hands are difficult!

[DavidKok]

East-West missed out on a double game swing, 4♠ seems to make as the cards lie! Very timid of them to not raise to the 4-level with 10 trumps, though the actual result is particularly unfortunate.
I know some people demand a ruffing value for raising preemptively with 5 trumps, and downgrade by one level with 5332 (or even 5422). Personally I think this is risky, and this hand shows an extreme example of the risk this strategy runs.

[Huibertus]

jillybean, on 2026-January-17, 14:30, said:

---

This would have been a normal auction, and the 4441 played very well, this time.
These hands are difficult!

This is a perfectly fine auction. It also is a perfect explanation of why I dislike 1NT thoroughly on this hand. Not sure why it's perceived difficult.

[jillybean]

Surprisingly, only one other E/W bid 4S, the rest of the room were in some number of hearts.
It's a difficult auction the way I bid it however I am not sure we would have got to 5 in a more normal auction. edit I did make 5HX
I am testing the boundaries of 1nt openings and quickly finding that I do not like opening 1nt with a stiff.

[pescetom]

jillybean, on 2026-January-18, 12:49, said:

Surprisingly, only one other E/W bid 4S, the rest of the room were in some number of hearts.
It's a difficult auction the way I bid it however I am not sure we would have got to 5 in a more normal auction.
I am testing the boundaries of 1nt openings and quickly finding that I do not like opening 1nt with a stiff.

I played it systematically with one partner for a few years and think that overall it is a slight winner, but it costs so much in terms of agreements, disclosure and partnership trust that it is probably better avoided unless you enjoy such stuff or are really seeking marginal gains.
It also works better when the stiff can be a spot card, which IIRC is not the case if you are playing ACBL rules.

Having said that, in the same partnership 4S by W would have been automatic NV over X, let alone next round over 4H.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

Pass.

On the 4H auction, east can make an action X, but it is hard, ..., I have no idea,
what I would bid with West hand, ... 3S is ok red, but E/W are green.
Ask me at the table, if you bid 4S, you always can hide behind Larry Cohen 4H is a
xfer to 4S.

The scoring matters, ..., 3S is ok playing MP, may even be percentage.

With kind regards
Marlowe

PS: I dont mind the 1 NT opening, althouh I would not do it.

[mycroft]

So, a player willing to bid to the 3 level on a 5-card suit with no help from partner (opposite a strong NT and "willing to play 3 somewhere") is going to chicken out over 4♥ after partner supports? And a player willing to raise that 2♣ then 3♠ to 4 with 5 spades and flat (not needing to compete) isn't going to do that if you don't open 1NT and you do find your fit?

I think you congratulate your opponents for their competitive instincts, not blame your opening bid (or system) for the rest of the field not finding it.

I would not bid 1NT, because *my* partners have the spades and my next decision is what to play from dummy in 4♠ on the 6-A. But those who do bid with a singleton major - well, this is a good hand for it.

[blackshoe]

When the ACBL first allowed opening 1NT with a singleton A, K, or Q my then partner, without discussion, tried it. The uncontested auction was 1NT-4♦*-4♥-all pass. Her singleton was the ♥K. She went down one, and commented after the hand "I heard that it's legal now. I'm never doing it again." :-)

* Announced "Hearts"

[mycroft]

Heh, opened 9754 863 A AK932 1NT yesterday. Played very well in 4♥ on a diamond lead.

Still won't do it with a major singleton :-).

[pescetom]

blackshoe, on 2026-January-19, 14:04, said:

When the ACBL first allowed opening 1NT with a singleton A, K, or Q my then partner, without discussion, tried it. The uncontested auction was 1NT-4♦*-4♥-all pass. Her singleton was the ♥K. She went down one, and commented after the hand "I heard that it's legal now. I'm never doing it again." :-)

* Announced "Hearts"

BBO nuked the version of Dealer that could calculate number of tricks and after a recent offer to replace it exploiting the new AI replacement for DD calculation are now backtracking, bringing up unlikely arguments about thousands ( ) of users running simulations in the obscure Script language.
But I find it hard to imagine that 4♥ with that opening hand would be an overall loser, assuming responder had the appropriate hand to bid Texas.
Maybe someone can simulate in some other way.