[Echognome]

Scoring: MP

(3♦) - P - (P)(H) - ?

---

East thinks for a long time before passing.

Does this affect your bidding?

What is your call now?

[mike777]

Echognome, on Aug 11 2005, 03:21 AM, said:

Scoring: MP

(3♦) - P - (P)(H) - ?

---

East thinks for a long time before passing.

Does this affect your bidding?

What is your call now?

ok, 3nt

thank goodness MP, next board.

[flytoox]

I think you should pass no matter what RHO does. This hand has no trick source. 3N may go down a lot.

[coyot]

I pass, acting on the opp's hesitation. This is authorized information - and it is most likely that he either has pretty good spades or a hand that considers 3NT. Without his hesitation, I would have to bid 3NT, source of tricks or not, 17HCP is simply too much.

[Fluffy]

Pass??, come o no!.

its an easy 3NT, will take a note of RHO's name as he is probably trying to cheat me out of the bidding with his thinking.

[P_Marlowe]

3 NT.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[inquiry]

Many will disagree, but call the director, bid 3NT....

Your 3NT bid after the long hesitation will make it clear to his partner

1) he wasn't considering 3NT
2) he wasn't considering raising
3) he wasn't considering bidding clubs

So his partner, if he has something in hearts will also figure he wasn't considering hearts. So he might "guess" to lead a spade. Maybe a spade lead will be right from opener's hand, but get the hesitation on record before the lead.

[Free]

3NT

[luis]

AT MPs I would first call the Td, after all it is my turn and let him know about the hesitation, he will instruct the play to continue, then I will bid 3NT.
Then it just depends on what east did have and he might have a problem unless he can explain what was he thinking.

Luis

[coyot]

luis, on Aug 11 2005, 08:52 AM, said:

AT MPs I would first call the Td, after all it is my turn and let him know about the hesitation, he will instruct the play to continue, then I will bid 3NT.
Then it just depends on what east did have and he might have a problem unless he can explain what was he thinking.

Luis

Why would you call the TD? I see absolutely no reason for that, unless you're expecting your LHO to lead something strange BASED on his partner's hesitation. But, a spade lead in this case would be nothing strange - you're bidding 3NT so you don't seem to be interested in majors...

[inquiry]

coyot, on Aug 11 2005, 10:53 AM, said:

luis, on Aug 11 2005, 08:52 AM, said:

AT MPs I would first call the Td, after all it is my turn and let him know about the hesitation, he will instruct the play to continue, then I will bid 3NT.
Then it just depends on what east did have and he might have a problem unless he can explain what was he thinking.

Luis

Why would you call the TD? I see absolutely no reason for that, unless you're expecting your LHO to lead something strange BASED on his partner's hesitation. But, a spade lead in this case would be nothing strange - you're bidding 3NT so you don't seem to be interested in majors...

You call the director to report the hesitation. A spade lead might be automatic, in which case, no problem. But there are hands, say where WEST has one or two spades, and three hearts to the Queen, where if he didn't want to lead a diamond, a spade lead would not be so automatic. WEST gets to guess right without the hesitation (remember, your partner presumably took his normal "required" hesitation over 3D... so this hesitation is in addition to that. After your 3NT bid, the hesitation makes the lead in the shorter major more likely to turn to gold.

Calling the director just puts the hesitation on record. You can, like Matt, take advantage of the "authorized information" (draw whatever inference you want from it at your own risk). But the same info that was authrorized to you when making your bid was "unauthorized" to opener. He can not been seen to take advantage of it. In the ACBL the directors don't question openers etihics ("Mr West would NEVER take advantage of the hesitation to lead a spade, so if he leads one that would be his natural lead without it"). Instead they apply a standard of what the average player of Mr. West's ability have lead on that auction if there had been no hesitiation.

The actual law is Law 16A which states that in cases of unauthorized information (UI) obtained from partner, one may not choose from "among logical alternative actions one that could reasonably have been suggested over another by the extraneous information." Let the director decide if a spade lead would be "logical alternative to" any other lead, should it happen.

BTW, while some countries allow you to "reserver the right" to call the director, in the ACBL you are to call the director Immediatlely in these situations.

[luis]

coyot, on Aug 11 2005, 02:53 PM, said:

luis, on Aug 11 2005, 08:52 AM, said:

AT MPs I would first call the Td, after all it is my turn and let him know about the hesitation, he will instruct the play to continue, then I will bid 3NT.
Then it just depends on what east did have and he might have a problem unless he can explain what was he thinking.

Luis

Why would you call the TD? I see absolutely no reason for that, unless you're expecting your LHO to lead something strange BASED on his partner's hesitation. But, a spade lead in this case would be nothing strange - you're bidding 3NT so you don't seem to be interested in majors...

Whenever there is a marked hesitation I call the TD, in my local rules you need to do that when it is your turn inmediately after the hesitation occurred. In 80% of the cases nothing happens. The TD arrives you let him know what happened he instructs the play to proceed and after the hand he asks if you feel you were damaged in some way. doing this automtically is for me ethical and clean since I'm not accusing the opponents of anything I just call the TD and stablish the facts and nobody feels bad about it.
If you play against some "bad guys" this is also important since you are stablishing the hesitation before knowing the result after getting a good result some players will deny there was a hesitation and then the TD will have a problem since it's your word against theirs.

[han]

3NT seems absolutely clear without the hesitation, I woud still bid it.

Calling the director now to protect yourself is a very good idea.

[Double !]

inquiry, on Aug 11 2005, 08:04 AM, said:

Many will disagree, but call the director, bid 3NT....

Your 3NT bid after the long hesitation will make it clear to his partner

1) he wasn't considering 3NT
2) he wasn't considering raising
3) he wasn't considering bidding clubs

So his partner, if he has something in hearts will also figure he wasn't considering hearts. So he might "guess" to lead a spade. Maybe a spade lead will be right from opener's hand, but get the hesitation on record before the lead.

10-4
Absolutely an immediate director call: don't risk losing any rights due to failure to call director. You had a noticeable break in tempo followed by a pass? Protect yourself. You might have a viable appeal based on possible UI to opener, or you might have a normal result.
You take whatever inferences you dare from the hesitation pass (caveat emptor) at your own risk.
3NT for me, too, with the director present and supervising all proceedings.

[Echognome]

Scoring: MP

(3♦) - P - (P)(H) - 3NT
(P) - P - (X) - All Pass

---

This one burned me a bit. I didn't call the director although I'm not sure what that would have accomplished. I should have probably asked their preempting style as if it could be this light and partner hasn't acted, then RHO is marked with a big hand. I couldn't get out for less than 800 as it turned out.

Partner insisted I should have doubled rather than bid 3NT. At least noone considered doubled as an action.

As Mike says, at least it was MPs.

[han]

Double is crazy, without the hesitation 3NT would be automatic.

[pclayton]

Well I guess you were warned with the hitch. Even then I'd bid 3N too (double is silly).

When 3N gets whacked, your pard should make a doubt showing xx. Letting pard struggle in 3N when you have 2 unbid 4 card suits and a weak hand isn't nice.

[Double !]

coyot, on Aug 11 2005, 04:58 AM, said:

I pass, acting on the opp's hesitation. This is authorized information - and it is most likely that he either has pretty good spades or a hand that considers 3NT. Without his hesitation, I would have to bid 3NT, source of tricks or not, 17HCP is simply too much.

Congrats on your astute table feel.
On this occasion you would have deservedly received a very good matchpoint score, I suspect.

But, hypothetically, what would your response(s) have been should it have turned out that rho had nothing per se to think about, that the BIT had been about, perhaps, whether or not to raise the ante on the pre-emptive, and you had been frigid for game (be it 3NT, 4M, whatever)? Even had rho had nothing, in your opinion, to think about (the proverbial "coffee-house" break), the break in tempo did create a theoretical difference in the overall action that occurred at your table when compared to other tables. Yet the rules (as far as I know) says that you take any inferences from the BIT at your own risk. Although your result might stand, would the opposing pair be subject to any procedural sanctions?

[awm]

It's stated pretty specifically in the laws that you're not allowed to hesitate for the purpose of deceiving the opponents. So you really need a legitimate bridge decision. If RHO is coffee-housing and his break in tempo convinces you to pass, you can in fact ask a director to adjust the result.

Now if RHO has a diamond fit, he could easily have a legitimate bridge problem (i.e. should I raise to 4♦, or would this push opponents into a thin but making game). In this case you're not due any protection.