[pilowsky]

This hand came up in Speedball Tourney.
When the dust settled, I decided to cop most of the blame,
My question is: What's your call as North in this auction?

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[nullve]

3♠: 6(+)S4-D4-C, a bit too strong for a 2♠ overcall

[mw64ahw]

nullve, on 2021-May-13, 05:52, said:

3♠: 6(+)S4-D4-C, a bit too strong for a 2♠ overcall

X followed by 3♠ regardless of whether this is a weak 2♥ or an Ekren style 2♥
Too strong for 2♠
A direct 3♠ would show a stronger suit for me

[eagles123]

I would put the stop card out and then bid 2S, thus signalling a max 2S bid.

[mw64ahw]

eagles123, on 2021-May-13, 06:14, said:

I would put the stop card out and then bid 2S, thus signalling a max 2S bid.

And get penalised?

[LBengtsson]

3♠ also like nullve. yes suit could be stronger but is headed by AK plus two more aces. hand is over 18 on kaplan/rubens and as the opponents have preempted I will assume partner will have 7-8 high card points. X followed by 3♠ is also an option, depending on partnership agreements but I would take this bid as this sort of hand also. one where a immediate 2♠ overcall shows a weaker hand than this. game will probably depend on no more than a finesse against the stronger ops hand. give your partner ♠xx ♥xxxx ♦kxxx ♣KJx and as long as trumps are 3-2 game is more than 50/50

[nige1]

Pilowski 'This hand came up in Speedball Tourney.
When the dust settled, I decided to cop most of the blame,
My question is: What's your call as North in this auction?'
++++++++++++++++++++
I rate
1. Double = T/O. If partner passes ♥Q should prove useful.
2, 3♠ = NAT Good hand good suit. Nullve is usually right but I'd like better intermediates.
3. 2♠ = NAT Undebid.

---

[hrothgar]

nige1, on 2021-May-13, 06:57, said:

Pilowski 'This hand came up in Speedball Tourney.
When the dust settled, I decided to cop most of the blame,
My question is: What's your call as North in this auction?'
++++++++++++++++++++
I rate
1. Double = T/O. If partner passes ♥Q should prove useful.
2, 3♠ = NAT Good hand good suit. Nullve is usually right but I'd like better intermediates.
3. 2♠ = NAT Undebid.

---

2♠

Not tempted by anything else

The queen of Hearts isn't carrying any weight.
The spade suit is to weak to consider a jump bid.

[Douglas43]

nige1, on 2021-May-13, 06:57, said:

Pilowski 'This hand came up in Speedball Tourney.
When the dust settled, I decided to cop most of the blame,
My question is: What's your call as North in this auction?'
++++++++++++++++++++
I rate
1. Double = T/O. If partner passes ♥Q should prove useful.
2, 3♠ = NAT Good hand good suit. Nullve is usually right but I'd like better intermediates.
3. 2♠ = NAT Undebid.

---

I was a Spade bidder, but double is interesting. Assuming no penalty pass, what would be your planned follow-up Nige1? Would you bid Spades over a Lebensohl response or go with partner's choice of suit?

[nige1]

Douglas43, on 2021-May-13, 09:22, said:

I was a Spade bidder, but double is interesting. Assuming no penalty pass, what would be your planned follow-up Nige1? Would you bid Spades over a Lebensohl response or go with partner's choice of suit?

If partner bids 2N (Lebensohl) I guess would bid 3♠, (assuming that to be constructive but N/F). I hope this suggests tolerance for alternative strains. Unfortunately Partner will probably judge this to be stronger than Nullve's direct 3♠ overcall. Oh Well. Anything could be right. Pilowsky posed a hard and interesting problem

[pescetom]

For me it's a clear 3♠: 6-card is no problem, 7432 is, but the two side aces make up for that.

[TylerE]

I'll content myself with 2♠.

I like the hand, but not THAT much. The spots and lack of intemediates is BAD.

If we're making anything, partner has to find a raise somehow.

Opposite a couple of nasty splits and a broke dummy I might struggle to make even 2.

[johnu]

2♠ - WTP? A good 6 loser hand for a 2 level overcall.

[pescetom]

TylerE, on 2021-May-13, 12:29, said:

Opposite a couple of nasty splits and a broke dummy I might struggle to make even 2.

And opposite Qxx xxxx KQJxx x you might struggle to go down in slam, as cyberyeti is bound to point out

[johnu]

TylerE, on 2021-May-13, 12:29, said:

Opposite a couple of nasty splits and a broke dummy I might struggle to make even 2.

Or maybe even struggle to make 1.

[johnu]

pescetom, on 2021-May-13, 12:39, said:

And opposite Qxx xxxx KQJxx x you might struggle to go down in slam, as cyberyeti is bound to point out

I would immediately get another partner if they passed 2♠ with that hand. Apologies in advance if I boot you from the table if you do something like this

[Winstonm]

2S - a slight underbid - not because of the 6 spades but because of the prime cards. If partner can't find a raise I doubt we've missed anything.

[jillybean]

Winstonm, on 2021-May-13, 13:19, said:

2S - a slight underbid - not because of the 6 spades but because of the prime cards. If partner can't find a raise I doubt we've missed anything.

2♠, for this reason.

[eagles123]

mw64ahw, on 2021-May-13, 06:31, said:

And get penalised?

[pilowsky]

Here's the entire hand and auction. Matchpoints btw.
Earlier that day, my partner sent me a message saying a friend had 'dropped' for tea, so Lebensohl was on my mind.
I thought that the double meant she had a strong hand with no decent 5-card suit to overcall with.
One of the lines that I took away from Lawrence on Takeout Doubles was "a five-card suit is gold".
I know there were 300+ more pages to the book and even stuff not covered, but with that in mind, I assumed my partner lacked a 5-card suit and had lots of points.
The 3♠ bid surprised me, and I assumed North had a strong hand with four chunky spades - so I left it.

Double-dummy suggests 3NT is optimal, but the top 6 pairs were in 4♠+1.
The bidding on the 4♠ tables reflects the results of the poll:
On five tables, West opened 2♥. One person overcalled 3♠, Three people overcalled 2♠, and one person doubled (followed by 3♦ 3♠ 4♠)
West opened 1♥ at two tables, making it easier for NS to reach 4♠.
Afterwards, I decided that since EW and I were all weak, I should have taken my partner to be much stronger than I imagined.

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