[sailoranch]

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Both vulnerable at IMPs. Balancing seems clear to me, but which action should I take?

Thanks for your suggestions.

[ArtK78]

Double.

I am sure that it will be easy to come up with layouts on which 3♥ would be the winning action, but double is clearly the most flexible action.

[mike777]

ArtK78, on 2012-May-22, 11:44, said:

Double.

I am sure that it will be easy to come up with layouts on which 3♥ would be the winning action, but double is clearly the most flexible action.

ditto

I would have doubled over 1s, prefer to get in and out early in auction not later.

[Quantumcat]

Double - if partner has 4-4 in two suits, he should bid 2NT, over which you bid 3♦.

[SteveMoe]

At IMPs, a positive score is the focus. Doubling is flexible. At Match Points I would likely choose 3♥.

[Yu18772]

At any form of scoring, if i balance it would be a dbl. At IMP vulnerable I seriously consider pass.
Yu

[Quantumcat]

Yu18772, on 2012-May-22, 23:25, said:

At any form of scoring, if i balance it would be a dbl. At IMP vulnerable I seriously consider pass.
Yu

Don't be scared of doubling - unless you are playing against real beginners who don't know how to count to 25 HCP, then your partner must have some strength, and there is absolutely no danger in coming in. The fact that they have a fit means your side must also have a fit (but beware if they are playing Acol where they could be playing in a 4-3 spade fit). Just make sure your partner knows to bid 2NT with 2 places to play, and doesn't lazily bid 3♣ with four clubs and four diamonds, or four clubs and four hearts.

[Yu18772]

Quantumcat, on 2012-May-22, 23:34, said:

Don't be scared of doubling - unless you are playing against real beginners who don't know how to count to 25 HCP, then your partner must have some strength, and there is absolutely no danger in coming in. The fact that they have a fit means your side must also have a fit (but beware if they are playing Acol where they could be playing in a 4-3 spade fit). Just make sure your partner knows to bid 2NT with 2 places to play, and doesn't lazily bid 3♣ with four clubs and four diamonds, or four clubs and four hearts.

Hi Quantumcat
I am not scared of doubling....(actually most people I played with consider me pretty aggressive bidder) and yes partner has to have the 10 HCP...but at IMP vul I also risk more than just +-100 each way. Partner is almost sure to have 4 spades, them having an 8 card fit does not guarantee one for us - 4234 is a very possible shape for him. A one that likely to convert +100 into a serious minus. Actually I would be more inclined to dbl against bad opponents than good ones, good ones will choose wisely between doubling us or competing to 3♠ or passing. Bad ones will not doube us. At MP I would dbl without a question, non vulnerable also, but -500 is a very expensive price for -110, and -100 versus +100 is also not pretty.
At IMP vulnerable I dont risk a balanced few IMPs result of a partscore, just as at IMPs I dont double vulnerable partscores unless they surely go for -2 or more - the math makes it not worth it.

Yu

[sailoranch]

Thanks for everyone's help. I chose double for its flexibility as all of you have suggested. These were the hands:

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It ended up not mattering which action I chose, as long as I did something to push them a level higher. Well, 4♥ actually makes, but I imagine if we landed there and made it, someone would call the cops.

I really don't think pass is an alternative on these cards. My values are prime, and there's a good chance I'm turning a -110 into a plus score (for 5 or 6 IMPs), which seems much more likely than going for 500 when we are likely to find a fit and they may have trouble penalizing.

[SteveMoe]

The actual hand illustrates the weakenss of the double - we will miss our best play anytime partner had 3♥s, and we might do OK if s/he has Hx.

[Statto]

Yu18772, on 2012-May-22, 23:59, said:

At IMP vulnerable I dont risk a balanced few IMPs result of a partscore ...

At IMPs those 4-6 IMPs can be valuable. Competing the partscore at IMPs is just as important as at MPs, though you have to be more careful to avoid a big penalty against, not that there is much danger of that on this hand.