[mike777]

3NT 17-19

However point well taken. I do have a system gap elsewhere that calls for creativity.

Opponents do love over calling 2+ one club openings, so one gets lots of practice in..

[WasWinM]

I think there is a reasonable argument for a reverse into 2H rather than 2D. Partner will not raise without 4-card support, so his weak 5/4 or 5/5 hand finds a nice resting place. A 3C bid boxes him in to a pass with a weak hand. I don't know what he or she would do over 2D. Regardless, it is worth considering to bid 2H.

[mikeh]

I agree with David.

Standard methods aren’t great for handling these hands My clubs are a bit light for the 3C rebid and my red suits too strong…partner may have problems over 3C even with enough hcp to reach game because he may have a weak holding in a red suit (there are ways to cope with that…a new suit by responder is a probe for 3N)


But every method has flaws or gaps. It’s inevitable because we simply can’t have enough bids to describe every holding.

I see a tendency here to invent bids or to otherwise distort one’s hand as if that’s the way to deal with gaps. In one sense it is: indeed when one holds a hand that cannot be well described, one should look for the least harmful/most useful distortion,

But when a hand does fall into a standard bid, one should be very careful before one distorts one’s hand. Here, 3C is not a wonderful bid for the reasons I set out above: but it is by far the most accurate description of one’s hand.

It’s important to understand that if you bid anything other than 3C partner will forever, on this hand, assume that you DO NOT hold a decent 6 card club suit with around 16 hcp and no other 4 card suit. From his perspective, you’d bid 3C with such a hand. You bid something else, ergo you have a different hand.

It’s always tempting to try to control an auction, especially when one has extra values. But partner is unlimited and you are having an uncontested constructive auction, so you should focus on exchanging information rather than masterminding by telling partner some lie about your hand.

If any partner of mine reversed in this hand, I’d consider ending the partnership. I do not play with people who mastermind.

That’s not to say that there are not hands on which I think it reasonable (or even ‘best’) to do something unilateral. But NEVER in the early stages of an uncontested constructive auction. Do you people hate your partner that much?

Bridge is a hard game. Bidding well on a consistent basis is a partnership skill or attribute. By distorting hands when there is no bridge reason to do so…and the distortion is significant…makes partner’s task anywhere from more difficult than it need be to impossible. Why do it? My take is that many posters here think they need to be in charge. Get over it or forget ever forming a solid partnership with a good player.

[HardVector]

I don't get the problem. 1c-3c shows a hand that is 16-18, 6+ clubs and tends to deny a second suit. 3n should show a very different hand. I usually do it with a "gambling nt" hand that has an outside stopper. So, something like x Axx xx AKQJxxx. You have 8 tricks and hope that partner being able to respond will get you the 9th, or partner may have the hand that can bid 6c.

[pescetom]

 DavidKok, on 2026-September-24, 05:52, said:

You are all technically correct, but are choosing to phrase this in confusing ways.

It is standard to include single-suited clubs, too strong for a jump to 3♣ (so approximately 18+), into a fake reverse. This makes the 2♦ rebid two-way - either a clubs-diamonds reverse (with 4(+)♦5(+)♣), or a single-suited very strong clubs hand (with 6(+)♣ and 18(+) hcp or so). This hand fails the first conditions on diamond length and the second on strength. Do not mix and match these requirements, this causes confusion.

This fake reverse is not considered 'semi artificial' - there is simply no standard rebid on 1♣-1♥ with, say, ♠x, ♥AK, ♦AJx, ♣AQJxxxx. People might invent 2NT or 3NT, but the default is 2♦.

Just to be clear, by 'semi-artificial' I did not mean a simple fake reverse, or even a fake reverse that was semi-conventionalized to be two-way. I was referring to a convention whereby the reverse was either natural or an artificial well defined set of strong hands that open 1m, including the single suiter, 3 card support, various 4 card supports.

I agree that the hand is not strong enough for this bid either.

[pescetom]

 DavidKok, on 2026-September-24, 06:36, said:

Personally I think these system gaps are a lot of fun. For example, let me deal you ♠AQx, ♥KQx, ♦Axx, ♣Qxxx. Nice hand, right? But you're in third, and partner just opened 1♣. Now what?

We have plenty of gaps, but I don't see this one.
With our agreements that is an automatic 2♣ GF (denying a 4cM, not promising a clubs fit).

This is fun, but also way OT, so if my reply is contentious then please open another thread

[pescetom]

Getting back to the grindstone, even those who would have contemplated 2♦ decided to follow system.
MP

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Your call now?

[akwoo]

If I was opposite a weak declarer (which might include me!) and was trying to maximize results for today - 3N. Otherwise, 4H. (This looks like a good hand to play in a Moysian, but not if partner isn't good at declaring Moysians.)

[mikeh]

akwoo, on 2026-September-24, 15:46, said:

If I was opposite a weak declarer (which might include me!) and was trying to maximize results for today - 3N. Otherwise, 4H. (This looks like a good hand to play in a Moysian, but not if partner isn't good at declaring Moysians.)

I wouldn’t expect partner to be promising 4 hearts here. What would you bid with Qxxxx AQx xx Jxx? Bear in mind that partner could have 3 spades

3H is initially, imo, one of:

1. 5=5 or better in the majors, probably pulling 3N to 4H, but maybe not

2. A probe for 3N, showing values in hearts and denying values in diamonds

It is extremely unlikeky that opener has 4 hearts. I used to play that a reverse had a higher lower limit than does 3C, but I was persuaded, by discussions in here, that such is not a good agreement. Playing ingberman or lebensohl over reverses still gives us a chance of playing 3C opposite a weak hand. Imperfect, but few things are perfect, in bridge or life.