[Hilver]

Your partnership plays a Big Club system.
Opening 1♣ implies:
a. a strong balanced 21+ HCP, or
b. any 16+ HCP unbalanced one or two suiter, or
c. 16+ HCP 4-4-4-1.

Sitting East in an IMP-match, all white, the auction starts:

West North East South
1♣       3♥     ?

3♥ = preemptive

A. Sitting East you hold:
♠ 9 8 6 5 2
♥ K
♦ 10 7 6 4
♣ Q 7 5

What is your bid? And why?

B. Now you hold:
♠ J 9 7 5
♥ K 8
♦ K J 8 3
♣ Q 7 5

Again your bid, please? And most of all why?


Thx

Jan

[nigel_k]

A. Double. You have to act with shortness in the opponents suit and you have close to a classic takeout double. It could be right to play spades when partner has only three but I doubt it and the double caters better to other possibilities.

B. Double. This is a choice between double and 3NT. Since you only have Kx in hearts, RHO can knock out your stopper while retaining an entry even if LHO has only a doubleton. And your tricks are slow. If partner has something like Ax xx Axx AKJxxx you want to be in 3NT but I'd rather double to make sure we reach a 4-4 (or 5-4) spade fit. If partner doesn't have spades and 5 of a minor fails, maybe 3NT will fail as well.

[akhare]

#1 seems like an easy P (unless playing X over 3-level bids as not-GF takeout)

Edit: Now that meaning of X has been clarified, P is a standout

#2 is a toss up between X (takeout) and 3N. Since this 1♣ opening is more likely to have unbalanced hands, the X seems to have the edge.

[shevek]

Double on both.

On first, pd might have
♠AKxxx  ♥Axx   ♦x   ♣KJxx

That's perfecto but note it's 11 tricks. If you pass, is opener obliged to bid 3♠ with that?
Happy enough if partner passes, since ♥K looks better.

On 2nd, 3NT looks too committal. Too many hands where a suit game makes while 3NT has no play.

[the hog]

Pass on the first, x on the second. Both look obvious to me.

[jdonn]

The_Hog, on Sep 28 2009, 02:35 AM, said:

Pass on the first, x on the second. Both look obvious to me.

I agree.

[Jlall]

jdonn, on Sep 28 2009, 02:36 AM, said:

The_Hog, on Sep 28 2009, 02:35 AM, said:

Pass on the first, x on the second. Both look obvious to me.

I agree.

yep

[whereagles]

Dbl on second (rather obvious).

Pass on first, on grounds that if pard is 21+ balanced he's gonna bid 3NT anyway, and if he's 16+ unbalanced, he's likely to have heart length and will be able to infer that if responder, marked with heart shortness, didn't act, it's because he's weakish (as the hand, in fact, is).

[shevek]

Jlall, on Sep 28 2009, 05:30 AM, said:

jdonn, on Sep 28 2009, 02:36 AM, said:

The_Hog, on Sep 28 2009, 02:35 AM, said:

Pass on the first, x on the second. Both look obvious to me.

I agree.

yep

As you guys wish but the fact that opener denies 16-19 balanced makes action safer. If you pass, opener may not bid 3NT on his 20-count with ♥-Qxx or Jxx.
♥K is in the wrong suit but it increases the chance of no wastage opposite.
You might assume that double is GF, that responder can't pass 4♣/♦ but that is unstated. Guess I'll raise anyway.

[andy_h]

shevek, on Sep 29 2009, 12:20 AM, said:

Jlall, on Sep 28 2009, 05:30 AM, said:

jdonn, on Sep 28 2009, 02:36 AM, said:

The_Hog, on Sep 28 2009, 02:35 AM, said:

Pass on the first, x on the second. Both look obvious to me.

I agree.

yep

As you guys wish but the fact that opener denies 16-19 balanced makes action safer. If you pass, opener may not bid 3NT on his 20-count with ♥-Qxx or Jxx.
♥K is in the wrong suit but it increases the chance of no wastage opposite.
You might assume that double is GF, that responder can't pass 4♣/♦ but that is unstated. Guess I'll raise anyway.

I think opener should bid 3NT with the 21+bal hand because not all 4-7 hands should we be acting over the preempt. And with the 16+unbal hands opener may have good enough suits to act himself.

Otherwise, I'm with the 1) pass and 2) double camp.

[jdonn]

shevek, on Sep 28 2009, 08:20 AM, said:

Jlall, on Sep 28 2009, 05:30 AM, said:

jdonn, on Sep 28 2009, 02:36 AM, said:

The_Hog, on Sep 28 2009, 02:35 AM, said:

Pass on the first, x on the second. Both look obvious to me.

I agree.

yep

As you guys wish but the fact that opener denies 16-19 balanced makes action safer. If you pass, opener may not bid 3NT on his 20-count with ♥-Qxx or Jxx.
♥K is in the wrong suit but it increases the chance of no wastage opposite.
You might assume that double is GF, that responder can't pass 4♣/♦ but that is unstated. Guess I'll raise anyway.

That's quite the logic. We have so many wasted values that partner probably doesn't have wasted values, therefore we should bid!

Partner should in general bid 3NT with his 21+ balanced. If his heart stopper is so lousy that he doesn't want to then who says 3NT was making anyway?

Have you also considered that partner will think we have a better hand than this and try for or bid a hopeless slam? I mean acting is lose lose unless partner has spades he can bid or has like exactly a 19 or 20 count that can bid 3NT. Either he is 21+ balanced (or unbalanced) and makes a push toward slam, or he is weaker and will bid 3NT with 1444, long minor, etc and we just go down.

[Hilver]

shevek, on Sep 28 2009, 08:20 AM, said:

Jlall, on Sep 28 2009, 05:30 AM, said:

jdonn, on Sep 28 2009, 02:36 AM, said:

The_Hog, on Sep 28 2009, 02:35 AM, said:

Pass on the first, x on the second. Both look obvious to me.

I agree.

yep

As you guys wish but the fact that opener denies 16-19 balanced makes action safer. If you pass, opener may not bid 3NT on his 20-count with ♥-Qxx or Jxx.
♥K is in the wrong suit but it increases the chance of no wastage opposite.
You might assume that double is GF, that responder can't pass 4♣/♦ but that is unstated. Guess I'll raise anyway.

Double is limit plus not GF.

[Free]

If Dbl is limit plus, then it's quite obvious imo: pass and Dbl.

[shevek]

jdonn, on Sep 28 2009, 10:39 AM, said:

shevek, on Sep 28 2009, 08:20 AM, said:

Jlall, on Sep 28 2009, 05:30 AM, said:

jdonn, on Sep 28 2009, 02:36 AM, said:

The_Hog, on Sep 28 2009, 02:35 AM, said:

Pass on the first, x on the second. Both look obvious to me.

I agree.

yep

As you guys wish but the fact that opener denies 16-19 balanced makes action safer. If you pass, opener may not bid 3NT on his 20-count with ♥-Qxx or Jxx.
♥K is in the wrong suit but it increases the chance of no wastage opposite.
You might assume that double is GF, that responder can't pass 4♣/♦ but that is unstated. Guess I'll raise anyway.

That's quite the logic. We have so many wasted values that partner probably doesn't have wasted values, therefore we should bid!

Partner should in general bid 3NT with his 21+ balanced. If his heart stopper is so lousy that he doesn't want to then who says 3NT was making anyway?

Have you also considered that partner will think we have a better hand than this and try for or bid a hopeless slam? I mean acting is lose lose unless partner has spades he can bid or has like exactly a 19 or 20 count that can bid 3NT. Either he is 21+ balanced (or unbalanced) and makes a push toward slam, or he is weaker and will bid 3NT with 1444, long minor, etc and we just go down.

Okay I'm wrong. I did a crude simul (basically thowing out 16-20 bal without 5♠s).
I found a few good hands, such as
♠x   ♥Jxx   AKQxx   AKTx
I figured opener would pass out 3♥ with that. Even then, 5♦ is marginal.
Many other hands seemed to get us overboard or jeopardised a 5-3 spade fit