[Poky]

MP. They vul

pass 1♥ Dbl 3♥
Dbl pass ??

♠KJxx
♥Qx
♦Axx
♣AKxx

[MarkDean]

I am going with the unilateral action: pass.

[dicklont]

Does the responsive double show 4 spades or 3 at most?
Undiscussed I would take it as 4 and now the choice is 3 or 4.
Partner could have as little as
Qxxx
x
JTxx
Qxxx
and game could be on.
I bid it.

[rbforster]

The responsive double shows the minors, since you (almost always) promise 4 spades for your double of 1♥. If he had 4 spades, I'd expect him to bid some number of spades.

I think it's a choice between pass and 5♣ myself. While I think it's likely we're making 5♣, we're probably also setting this 2 so pass might be better at these colors.

[OleBerg]

With no agreement I pass.

With my regular partner X shows four spades, so I bid 3♠. The ♥Q is to dubious a value.

[whereagles]

Pass. It's MPs and we probably have no game on, eventhough we may have the values to bid it.

[Hanoi5]

Pass, expecting 200 (hopefully).

What are partner's possible hands? Does he have the minors or does the double show exactly 4♠'s? Some people play (and I think it is better) that this double DENIES 4 spades, and in this case (and some others) Pass seems like the best choice.

[Fluffy]

4♥ to let partner pick a game, I don't like to let them play at the 3 level in a 50 point deck.

[655321]

Pass for me.

Fluffy, on May 4 2009, 04:35 PM, said:

4♥ to let partner pick a game, I don't like to let them play at the 3 level in a 50 point deck.

How is this a 50 point deck? Partner likely has 2 small hearts.

[JLOL]

obv pass

[Poky]

JLOL, on May 4 2009, 11:15 PM, said:

obv pass

The board.

[Hanoi5]

Is x by partner 'normal'? I believe with the actual hand he should (could) have bid 4♦ (or 4NT!). I believe the responsive double shows a balanced hand, which is the reason everyone was expecting a doubleton heart in partner's hand (in which case 3♥ goes down). A matter of style and agreement on the responsive double, I guess.

Another point is that we're playing MP's and partner should know that we may want to try for 200 on several occasions.

Changing the subject, what tournament is this? Why do they post all the results like that?

[Fluffy]

655321, on May 4 2009, 10:10 PM, said:

Pass for me.

Fluffy, on May 4 2009, 04:35 PM, said:

4♥ to let partner pick a game, I don't like to let them play at the 3 level in a 50 point deck.

How is this a 50 point deck? Partner likely has 2 small hearts.

I Expected more shape from north than the actual holding for his 3 level pre. As it happened north was just insane and lucky.

[whereagles]

totally pwnzed. -730.. lol.

[Fluffy]

responsive double showing lenght in hearts? it is just a take out double, why would you have any lenght on the suit you are not willing to play?

[benlessard]

East responsive X is too risky for me. Full of quacks and the K is in a 5th long suit = no defensive values whatsoever. Having QJT is good against balanced hands not against 1M---3M. If you like to double at the 3 level without defensive values its your choice but its much better to play them to show some goodies because parnter will often pass to get the magic 200. Partner has a king extra and the contract is cold so surely X is a bit dubious.

I would just bid 4D.

[gnasher]

Hanoi5, on May 5 2009, 10:58 AM, said:

Why do they post all the results like that?

To me it seems remarkably detailed and well presented. I wish every bridge organisation did the same.

[mcphee]

This is a nasty choice at pairs with these colors and pass is quite the temptation. I see a little downside to passing, not scoring as well as my expected non vul game. Defensively I doubt we have any trump tricks, so I will require all 5 (6 we hope) develope outside and this is not at all clear.

There is no reason partner can not hold 4S, as a t/o dble does not promiss 4S, making 4S a nice spot to play and lowering our defensive hopes, club length also would not be good for us as 2 possible tricks can turn into 1 very easy while our offensive strength is still strong.

Playing imps I would not consider pass in case of some sort of accident where 3H makes possibly creating a double game swing. On the weigh in I think bidding wins more often and only the form of scoring is swaying us to passing.

4S, and see what happens, partner knows I am highly unlikely to hold a 5 card suit. 4H is also an option, but perhaps partner may feel I am shorter in H and my values a not that great for this choice.

[Hanoi5]

gnasher, on May 5 2009, 08:42 AM, said:

Hanoi5, on May 5 2009, 10:58 AM, said:

Why do they post all the results like that?

To me it seems remarkably detailed and well presented. I wish every bridge organisation did the same.

Don't get me wrong. I just wanted to know if they did this with every tournament or if it was just for special ones. If they do it with all I'm planning to move...

[OleBerg]

In my opinion this hand illustrates the very limited usefullness of the double as "responsive", in the sense that it shows "3-2-4-4" and some values. Facing this hand, a normal double will have to poisoned choises: Bidding to the four level, likely going down, or defending a doubled partial at the edge of the seats.

When the take-out-doublers partner has a hand that is worth taking to the four-level, it will be because he has a suit that is worth bidding.

I find it much more usefull to use the double to show exactly four in the unbid major. That way, the initial take-out double can be made freely with only three spades. Whenever the take-out doubler has to decide whether to raise to the four level, the fact that he knows whether partner is 4 or 5 spades is quite usefull. (A well fitting 5-4 game will often make on limited values, and intermidiates in thrumph, as well as trick-sources, becomes much less important. And if he has only three, it is obviously valuable to know whether it is a 4-3 or 5-3 fit.)