[DenisO]

MP both Vul Dealer W who opens 1♦

What do you bid with ♠94 ♥A ♦AKJT6 ♣KJT65

[pbleighton]

2C, reluctantly.

You are just too strong to pass. Pd will never believe you have this hand if you pass and come in later.

Peter

[Free]

Double, since I play power doubles (15+HCP any hand)

[whereagles]

2♣ seems fair. I just hope pard doesn't "valorize" his 55 majors and keeps on bidding

[mikestar]

OK, so partner won't believe me--so what? this hand is a misfit unless partner has clubs, then they will outbid us in a major. I pass and stay out of trouble--and if they happen to blunder into 3m, I'll x and collect enough blood to feed a whole coven of vampires.

By the way, I've passed 20 counts in positions like this and came out right--the opponents will not belive you either. More than once, if gotten something like down 2 doubled vulnerable with no game our way when declarer could have made or held it to down 1 if he knew I had all the cards.

Can trap passes go wrong? Sure. But so can bidding.


Playing Power Doubles, I like double--partner won't assume I have the majors and knowing I have lots of HCP may let him nail them if they have the majors but are getting bad splits.

[Winstonm]

I risk 2 clubs here. On expectancy, both LHO and partner rate to have 6 HCP each, so I don't anticpate being doubled although it is a risk. Game is not out of the picture opposite a big club fit - even a double game swing. And the 2C overcall of 1D takes a level away from the opponents.

My plan is to overcall 2C, then if it goes pass, pass, double, I will bid 2D. This should be natural and if I'm going to play a contract doubled I'd prefer the better of my suits.

I would not fault a pass, though. The two things that sway me to bid are the 10 of clubs and the J10 of diamonds. A little bit of a safety net.

Winston

[luke warm]

ok, i'm ready to duck and weave... how much trouble would you expect if you bid 1NT?

[han]

2C for me, makes life hard for the opponents, and keeps 3NT in the picture for us. I would definitely not act when the bidding goes 1D-2C-pass-pass-Double.

If partner bids 2H or 2S I will bid 3NT.

1NT is not attractive imo Jimmy. Partner is very likely to have stuff in the majors. I don't like to bid 1NT with 2-2 in the majors (but sometimes you have to), but 2-1? If 1NT get's doubled then partner will certainly run to a major. It could work out fine, but not likely I think.

Pass gives up on 3NT.

[DenisO]

Thanks for replies - poll was conclusive in favour of 2 clubs - which seems OK as it just satisfies Klinger's SQ test of 8 for a 2- level overcall.

Power doubles and the Overcall Structure look an interesting read .

The full hand was - bidding sequences welcome

Scoring: MP

---

[helene_t]

2♣-2♠* (unfortunately non-forcing, wish we played Rubin transfers)
3NT-4♥
4♠-pass

[Fluffy]

1♦-pass-pass-4♦
pass-4♠

is an option.

[han]

I like both of these auctions. Either way you should get to 4S. However, I think that partner will have serious slam interest after you make a power double or a 1NT overcall.

Helene, I think that these transfers are named after Rubens, not Rubin.

[pclayton]

This hand doesn't qualify for a power double, the way most practioners of overcall structure play it.

Double is 15+, usually balanced. If the hand is unbalanced, the hand is an absolute monster.

[Chamaco]

I am really surprised: as much as I like the in-quick/out quick principle,
is really 2 clubs the "expert bid" holding KJT65 in a suit, when our best suit is the suit bid by opps ?

[Double !]

My initial response to this hand was to pass initially and then back in with 2NT to show a strong minor 2-suiter unless something in the bidding indicated that this hand is a total misfit. Playing SAYC or 2/1, the 1D opener could have been a 3-card suit or "better minor". Granted, this approach would not have been without risk. I usually try to avoid overcalling at the 2-level on 5-card suits, especially when I don't have a plausible rebid should partner respond. After reading this discussion, I am still not sure whether or not this tactic or a simple 2 club overcall is the percentage way to handle this type of hand. Overcalling 2Clubs gets me into the bidding but what then? What would I have rebid had partner responded 2M? 2NT? (Where are the tricks coming from?) 3D? (P will take that as some sort of support bid or looking for a diamond stopper.) Any action after 1D-2C-?-2M would be a distortion IMO. And, despite the opening bid, this hand might belong in diamonds!

Partner certainly would have let me know about 6-6 in majors, and with all likelihood, we would've played 4S. But one example (N = 1 for you math peoples) does not support or refute much.
Perhaps I would've needed more distribution to handle this hand as initially planned and I would've lost had the bidding been at 3 or 4M when it came back to me.

Conclusion: I hate this hand and this problem! lol

[whereagles]

This confirms something I've been noticing for sometime now. Be wary when you hold extreme lenght in a suit AND in opps' suit. In this case pard is very, very likely to hold a 55 (or more) in the other suits and we can't make squat

[Al_U_Card]

luke warm, on Aug 28 2005, 12:07 PM, said:

ok, i'm ready to duck and weave... how much trouble would you expect if you bid 1NT?

Me too, much as I don't like the off-shape, the stiff is an ace and my pard can easily estimate our chances for play or defense.

[Al_U_Card]

And the bidding after 1NT is 2H* 2S 4H 4S and does LHO lead a D? Then there goes the fast C loser and here comes the game.