[jillybean]

I'm putting together a card with a new partner — he's given me free rein to put anything I like on the card. I know what I want in most of the boxes, but the box at the top, "NT overcalls," is always a bit of a mystery.

I want to play a 14-16 NT, so a direct 1NT overcall would be 15-18 (or let me know if that range looks off).

For the conventional 1NT overcall, (1x) P (1y) 1nt I have played natural (15-17), sandwich on, and sandwich on by passed hand only. Is there a consensus on what's best at pairs vs. teams?

Balancing seat 10-14, and I assume systems off?

[DavidKok]

I like most of these ranges but prefer 15-18 in the sandwich as well, and 13-16 in balancing seat. More nuanced ranges are possible, especially variable ones, but in my opinion are not essential.
I would not play new ranges for passed hands and pairs vs. teams unless you really want to. I understand this may leave some bids idle.

[akwoo]

Re: Sandwich. You might as well play it on by passed hand - they'll never have a natural NT overcall. If almost all of your opponents need 12 to open and 6 to respond, play sandwich always as natural will never usefully come up; if you've got more properly aggressive opponents, natural is useful.

Re: balancing. I would say 10-14 - do you really want to forced to pass out a balanced 10 count just because you have a doubleton in an unbid major? And systems off.

[mycroft]

Decide how hard you want things to be when it goes (1x)-1NT-(X). I don't actually care what my opening NT range is, my direct overcall is *good* 15-18. Because, rare though it is, when it happens, it's bad - worse than weak NT-X by far. But if you're more comfortable with slipping half a point or so, or if your opponents don't double, go for it.

Nobody plays Raptor/Polish NT overcalls any more, because as JM said "the natural NT overcall is too useful a call to lose"; but the whole reason behind it was that the players were pushing up the lower bound of their NT overcalls so much that it never happened, so they decided to use it for the "Flannery Overcall" hand - a 4 card Major and a longer minor, and not enough strength to reverse. JM is right, but I'd still play Raptor if partner wanted, because that hand is such a pain, and it comes up more often.

[mikeh]

I think 15-18 is a sensible direct range. As for sandwich, if I’m unpassed, it’s 15-18 but, especially if vul, it’s a very, very good 15 when it’s 15.

As a passed hand it’s takeout but one should know the difference between a 2 suited 1N and a double. Consider P (1D) P (1H). Do we really want to bid 1N with the black suits? Ensuring that, as two passed hands possibly with nowhere safe to play, we force partner to bid spades, if he that’s his best black suit, at the 2 level rather than the 1 level


As for balancing, as an unpassed hand, 10-14 is fine after 1m p p ? But I’d suggest 11-15 after 1M p p. It’s too much to have to double then bid notrump at the 2 level with 15, imo.