[hrothgar]

Here's is an interesting hand from a team game yesterday evening...
I think that its worth posting because it illustrates a useful principle:

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At out table North opened 1♠ and the opponents bid up to 6♠.

You're sitting East and need to determine whether or not to double the final contract...

Thoughts? Comments?

[bid_em_up]

It is my belief on suit contract slam hands that it does not pay to double holding a trump stack, unless I am certain I can also beat 6N. That is not the case here. Indeed, doubling 6S loses here when the opps convert to 6N making, turning my plus 50/100/200, into minus 990/1440. Doubling cannot gain enough to offset that kind of loss.

[pclayton]

We've all been taught (I hope) not to double on hands like this. You have no guarantee of beating 6N.

OTOH, this concept can be overdone. We've all seen hands where 6♠ goes down about 4, but 6N is -2 or -3. A double still should be considered in the context of the auction, and the rest of your hand.

A double can be correct, if you know they don't have a prayer at 12 tricks in NT, because of a lack of another trick source, poor splits in their other key suits, or you think they lack sufficient strength.

However, a knee-jerk pass is certainly better than a knee-jerk double if its close.

[Free]

No dbl for sure, I'm 'quite' sure I have 2 tricks defeating 2♠, but no guarantee that I'll beat 6NT as well. Only double contracts where partner needs to know some special lead is needed, or when it doesn't matter at all

[Trumpace]

From the hands, it looks like N/S would know that they have all the aces when 6S gets doubled. Since a double (either lightener or just on plain trump stack) points to bad breaks in _some_ suit, 6NT could/will be bid by them and they will end up making it. (East is not sure that 6NT is going down)

If the bidding points to a suit contract then a double might be ok.

[joshs]

If partner was silent the whole time, I would never x. Thinking about xing deserves a -5 imp penalty (since a good player might read you for a trump stack). This hand is case in point. 6N is cold and 6S has no play.

This falls into the plus good, minus bad category...