[jillybean]

(P) (1♦) 1♠ (P)
4♥ : 4♠

---

I was watching Zia/Welland play in the EC open teams when this hand came up.
In 1st position a surprising pass by Welland. Obviously, I would not hesitate to open this. What came next was more of a surprise, splinter of the stiff Ace?

The pass was cautious but the splinter was very odd. Perhaps they have methods to allow splinters with an Ace. What do you think?

The commentators were saying that there was a lot of tension at the table, the director had been called a few times previously. Maybe these guys are just human after all

[han]

Yeah, I believe that they are human.

The pass is a matter of style, it is not my style though. I don't care for the splinter.

[skjaeran]

I was watching this too. Passing in 1st seat was a big surprise. But some insist on a very sound opening style. I disagree with the splinter, though I think Zia was very pessimistic to rebid 4♠. But I'd strongly prefer a 2♦ cuebid by Welland first, and 5♥ over Zia's presumed jump to 4♠.

[helene_t]

The pass is fine with me.

The splinter is an enigma. Maybe Welland thought he'd like a heart lead against a minor suit contract. In that case it's more like a flawed fitbid than a flawed splinter. But S's minor suit holdings suggest that EW are not going to play in a minor, and if they are, S may himself be on lead against 5♣.

The 4♥ bids makes it much easier for EW to decide if they belong in 5♥ since W can double 4♥.

I would just bid 4♠ as S.

[Fluffy]

Downgrading a stiff honnor is pretty normal.

[gwnn]

South has a pretty bad hand....

He might have felt a little guilty though and tried to "catch up". But this is only my silly interpretation.

[skjaeran]

gwnn, on Jun 25 2007, 11:32 AM, said:

South has a pretty bad hand....

He might have felt a little guilty though and tried to "catch up". But this is only my silly interpretation.

Pretty bad hand - are you joking?
5431, two quick tricks, 7 losers and slam opposite Kxxxx-xxx-x-AKQx is quite good IMO - far better than most balanced 13 counts.

[Codo]

skaeran, on Jun 25 2007, 07:54 PM, said:

gwnn, on Jun 25 2007, 11:32 AM, said:

South has a pretty bad hand....

He might have felt a little guilty though and tried to "catch up". But this is only my silly interpretation.

Pretty bad hand - are you joking?
5431, two quick tricks, 7 losers and slam opposite Kxxxx-xxx-x-AKQx is quite good IMO - far better than most balanced 13 counts.

He has a pretty bad hand in the context of a forcing pass system, where pass shows 13+

[Fluffy]

He also has slam opposite Kxxxx xxx AKQx x.... or 7 opposite xxxxxxx xxxxx - A

But when playing slams it doesn't matter that mcuh if you ahve your aces in the stiffs or in the long suits. When it coems to part scores, games, or defending contracts, stiff aces are very bad.

[gwnn]

skaeran, on Jun 25 2007, 12:54 PM, said:

Pretty bad hand - are you joking?
5431, two quick tricks, 7 losers and slam opposite Kxxxx-xxx-x-AKQx is quite good IMO - far better than most balanced 13 counts.

It will have trouble with many low level partscores opposite

xx
QJxxxx
KJx
QJ

What does this prove? I don't know. But neither do I know what your dream-hand proved....

[han]

I think you two are talking about different things. Clearly this is a very strong passed hand after partner has opened 1S.

[ochinko]

I wouldn't pass initially, but you don't have a rebid if partner bids 1NT (NF), and 2♠ from you would show a 6 cards suit.

Having passed the opening I don't see anything wrong in 4♥ because I couldn't have a stronger hand that would not open. The only other bid you have is 4♠, but it puts opps in a better place to consider competing, as you obviously have 5 spades and not much aside.

[helene_t]

ochinko, on Jun 25 2007, 04:51 PM, said:

Having passed the opening I don't see anything wrong in 4♥ because I couldn't have a stronger hand that would not open. The only other bid you have is 4♠, but it puts opps in a better place to consider competing, as you obviously have 5 spades and not much aside.

The problem with 4♥ is that it may cause p to misevaluate his hand because he expects a small singleton. If the hand is too strong for 4♠, South must bid 3♦ or whatever the constructive raise to the 3-level is in their methods.

Describing your hand accurately makes it easier for p to make the right decision. It doesn't make anything much easier for opps since partner's hand has a wide range so they still don't know what the combined partnership assets are. Maybe a jump to 4♠ suggests 10 combined trumps so that opps can calculate each other's spade length, but that's not certain.

[gwnn]

Han's right, I meant pretty bad hand as in "pretty bad to open". Of course, it's a super hand after partner opened in my longest and strongest suit.

[skjaeran]

Hannie, on Jun 25 2007, 04:38 PM, said:

I think you two are talking about different things. Clearly this is a very strong passed hand after partner has opened 1S.

No we weren't. I meant it regarding opening it or not. (Sure, I was joking slightly, but the serious taing was supposed to be stronger than the joking taint.) Anyone can see it's a monster hand after passing and getting 1♠ from partner.