[mikeh]

I'm not at all sure how to post about a hand that arose in the 1st round of last Saturday's Regional Open Pairs here in Victoria. It was Board One, at our table. We didn't hold the interesting hands....they were N-S and we were E-W.

On a high level, I am not sure that the hands give rise to a very difficult question, but they are, I think, interesting.

As dealer, both red, on the first board of the event, at our table anyway, S picks up an unusual hand:

void void AQJ98x AKJ10xxx

He opens a natural 2/1 style 1♣ and LHO bids Michaels. Your partner doubles, to announce hand ownership and a desire to penalize at least one of their suits.

RHO springs to life with a preemptive 3♥.

What do you bid now, and what (if any) plan do you have?

[PhantomSac]

I would start with 4D, I think it is hard to have a plan beyond that other than "hope to guess well." I think 4D is better than starting with something else though, it is straightforward and lets partner know about our second suit.

[masse24]

RHO's 3♥ has probably tipped off partner to the probability of my void. While I am tempted to get fancy to also show my ♠ shortness (and power) with 4♠, I too think a "straightforward" 4♦ conveys plenty of information.

[steve2005]

PhantomSac, on 2015-April-20, 11:27, said:

I would start with 4D, I think it is hard to have a plan beyond that other than "hope to guess well." I think 4D is better than starting with something else though, it is straightforward and lets partner know about our second suit.

Disagree, partner will think you have mostly long ♦ and 1-suiter preemptive.

If you open 1♦ that won't end the auction and you can rebid 5♣. Partner will know your strong and at least have a chance of bidding slam with minor suit King(s) and will correct to ♦ when right.

An unusual meaning for 4N would be just this sort of strong 2-suiter bidding better minors small slam with 1 minor honor, grand with 2. But I don't know anyone who uses this. nor is there a scientific way to bid this, knowing u probably get interference.

[mikeh]

steve2005, on 2015-April-20, 11:49, said:

Disagree, partner will think you have mostly long ♦ and 1-suiter preemptive.

If you open 1♦ that won't end the auction and you can rebid 5♣. Partner will know your strong and at least have a chance of bidding slam with minor suit King(s) and will correct to ♦ when right.

An unusual meaning for 4N would be just this sort of strong 2-suiter bidding better minors small slam with 1 minor honor, grand with 2. But I don't know anyone who uses this. nor is there a scientific way to bid this, knowing u probably get interference.

I think you misunderstood Justin....he was speaking of what he would do after opening 1♣ and having the auction at 3♥ when it came back to him, not about opening 4♦

[nige1]

mikeh, on 2015-April-20, 10:57, said:

I'm not at all sure how to post about a hand that arose in the 1st round of last Saturday's Regional Open Pairs here in Victoria. It was Board One, at our table. We didn't hold the interesting hands....they were N-S and we were E-W.
On a high level, I am not sure that the hands give rise to a very difficult question, but they are, I think, interesting.
As dealer, both red, on the first board of the event, at our table anyway, S picks up an unusual hand:
♠- ♥- ♦ A Q J 9 8 x ♣ A K J 10 x x x
He opens a natural 2/1 style 1♣ and LHO bids Michaels. Your partner doubles, to announce hand ownership and a desire to penalize at least one of their suits.. RHO springs to life with a preemptive 3♥. What do you bid now, and what (if any) plan do you have?

IMO 5♦ = 10, 4♦ = 8. Opening 1♣ and rebidding 5♦ seems to get the hand off your chest. Pass thereafter.

[mikeh]

I am far from sure that the hand has much interest beyond being a freak but fwiw, here is the entire hand:

---

I thought about posting the hands as 'how to reach 7N' but I dislike those threads because so many people claim that for them and their partnerships it would be trivial....either refusing or failing to acknowledge how much better their bidding becomes when they see all the hands.

Now, this wasn't exactly the Blue Ribbon Pairs we were in, and there were only two pairs in the entire field that I would consider to be real expert pairs, but one had to have at least 1,000 mps to enter. With that in mind, on a top of 17, what would one expect to score for +2140?

[PhantomSac]

mikeh, on 2015-April-20, 17:59, said:

With that in mind, on a top of 17, what would one expect to score for +2140?

14

[gszes]

last as usual 4d

Not only does it show the 2 suited nature of your hand but it also clues responder in to the fact you intended to reverse. I feel this is a stronger sequence than 5d (which should be quite strong but potentially more losers (x void AKQJx AQxxxx) a hand willing to gamble on 6c if p prefers that suit. If responder cannot envision 7n after a 4d bid there is something wrong.

2140 MP is probably worth 15 in a normal field (too much fear about bidding at 7 level) but rates about 4 in a stronger field. I doubt I will often lose a match for 2140 vs 2220 at IMPS.

[Cyberyeti]

I think I'd have bid 5N at the table and committed to a slam, it's not difficult for partner to bid 7N, looking at both aces and the minor K/Q his only question about my hand would be whether I was 7-6 or 8-5.

[akwoo]

mikeh, on 2015-April-20, 17:59, said:

Now, this wasn't exactly the Blue Ribbon Pairs we were in, and there were only two pairs in the entire field that I would consider to be real expert pairs, but one had to have at least 1,000 mps to enter. With that in mind, on a top of 17, what would one expect to score for +2140?

I find this depends a good deal on the local culture. Some places lots of good but not expert players are happy to bid 7 without being able to count to 13 tricks when they have a hunch there is some reasonable chance it might work out. Other places are much more conservative on this. Keep in mind that for good but not expert pairs who are hurt by variance, MP scoring is an incentive to follow the herd (even if one doesn't explicitly realize it).

In many places, I'd be expecting 16/17 for +2140. In other places, I'd be expecting only 13 for +2140. But in places I'm expecting 13/17 for +2140, I'm also expecting 3/17 for -50 if I somehow get to 7N without the K♦ and find it offside and not squeezable.

On BBO, I expect 12/17 for +2140 but 7/17 for the corresponding -50.

[shellsnail]

What about 4NT?