[mr1303]

And the final hand of this series

8. IMPs, love all. As South, West deals and opens 3♣, partner overcalls 3♥ and East passes. You hold:

♠ AJ97
♥ 53
♦ A862
♣ Q104

Your call?

1st in at imps, East could well have Ax or Kx of clubs, and the hand could well play better in a heart or spade contract. However, partner does not promise more than a 5 card heart suit, and if partner has some club help then 3NT would be superior. How to choose...?

[Echognome]

I "choose" by guessing now. I don't think 3♠ helps in any way and that's my only intervening bid. I'm going to guess 4♥, but I can see 3NT working as well.

[P_Marlowe]

3NT

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Gerben42]

I don't see why I shouldn't bid 3NT. Because it doesn't make? Bad luck!

[Foxx]

Three notrump. A shot in the dark, and yes, we could easily be off seven club tricks. But what else can I say? No other move I make is guaranteed to get us to a good spot either. Jammed in the bidding yet again, all we can do is go with the odds.

[mikeh]

3N. Toughest problem of the set. 4♥ may fail on bad trump breaks, and/or ruffs while, of course, 3N may be down on a club lead. I can kid myself that partner is still there over 3N, but 3N will end the auction.

[skjaeran]

This is the real problem hand here.
It's far from clear what will be the winning bid in the long run.
Pass, 3NT and 4♥ are all possible.
I doubt I'd ever pass at the table, but it might often be the winning bid.
I'd try 3NT. Unless opps can run the ♣'s, I think 3NT will make most of the time 4♥ can be made, and also on some hands where 4♥ is unmakeable.

[mike777]

3nt
expect unanimous.

Must be missing something here, wtp?

[pclayton]

3N. I feel endplayed into it.

Preempts work.

[Dwingo]

4H: I will bite the bullet and bid 4H. 3NT and 4H, both are risky. 4H seems less riskier than 3NT

[jdonn]

The responses are amazing me. I would have never thought there was any possible bid but 3NT. Even after reading what people said I still can't believe it. If 4♥ is right then partner may still bid it. Even if they can set you on a club lead to the Hx on your right, they still have to lead it.

[Echognome]

jdonn, on Jul 15 2007, 08:32 PM, said:

The responses are amazing me. I would have never thought there was any possible bid but 3NT. Even after reading what people said I still can't believe it. If 4♥ is right then partner may still bid it. Even if they can set you on a club lead to the Hx on your right, they still have to lead it.

7 out of 9 people bid 3NT with the other two saying they bid 4♥ but are just guessing that it is better than 3NT and this amazingly different from what you thought?

[jdonn]

Echognome, on Jul 16 2007, 12:10 AM, said:

jdonn, on Jul 15 2007, 08:32 PM, said:

The responses are amazing me. I would have never thought there was any possible bid but 3NT. Even after reading what people said I still can't believe it. If 4♥ is right then partner may still bid it. Even if they can set you on a club lead to the Hx on your right, they still have to lead it.

7 out of 9 people bid 3NT with the other two saying they bid 4♥ but are just guessing that it is better than 3NT and this amazingly different from what you thought?

Yes even the consideration. The 3NT bidders were implying that it was a very close choice. 4♥ would never have occured to me but that it keeps being mentioned.

[Echognome]

jdonn, on Jul 15 2007, 09:46 PM, said:

Yes even the consideration. The 3NT bidders were implying that it was a very close choice. 4♥ would never have occured to me but that it keeps being mentioned.

So you think it's unlikely partner has six hearts and a stiff club? Would he have any reason to pull with that? What hands do you expect partner to pull with?

It's not that responder holding Ax or Kx of clubs is the only problem. He could hold xx with partner holding, say, the stiff K. Small club lead, and then East gets in and you're toast.

I personally think it's a guess whether 4♥ is likely to go off less if wrong. 3NT might lose the first 7 tricks and 4♥ might hit a horrid trump break.

But if you feel 3NT, wtp? That's fine. I just don't think it's as obvious as you do.

[Fluffy]

This is close, and I just don't remeber what I voted for.

3♥ shows better (or more) hearts for me than for most posters I think.

[mr1303]

I felt that this hand was a tough one, and 4H could easily be correct with a tentative club stopper. However, on many occasions partner will pull 3NT to 4H, and if 3NT is ever going to right, we have to bid it now.

As a result, I've given 3NT the top marks.

3NT = 100
4H = 50