[kenberg]

---

Matchpoints.

Maybe some would start with a double, but my plan was to bid my spades, and then (trusting that there would be a "then") bid my clubs. When rho beat me to the club showing part of my plan, I had to rethink. Is it clear what to do next? Of course if you think the 1♠ was an error, I'll listen to that. We have no call to show spades and clubs over the 1♦ opening.

[Hanoi5]

I was thinking bidding 3♠ might be a good idea but where are the hearts and the diamonds? This looks like a horrible misfit hand and since 2♣ is unlikely to be passed out (and if it did it could be a great result) I think I'll pass and start doubling them in the minors or NT from the next round on or get to game in spades in case partner supports.

[whereagles]

Pard seems to be short in spades and short in clubs. He's loaded on the reds and 2♠ should thus be plenty.

[Phil]

I will pass.

I expect LHO will probably bid 2♦. Now, partner may give me a delayed spade raise, or, better yet, may choose to introduce his ♥QTxxxx that he hid on the last round. if I bid 2♠ now, then I have no hope of finding hearts.

If partner passes, I will compete in spades.

If LHO passes, I'm content, moreso if partner finds a reopening x.

[han]

Pass.

[kenberg]

Passing is a call that never even occurred to me, but it is a popular choice here! Phil described partner's heart holding exactly.


At the table I bid 3♠. The good news is that partner also had the Qx of spades and a stiff club, the bad news is that he passed 3♠. Honestly compels me to say maybe we were non-vul, rather than vul, I don't have the score sheet. Now I don't think I would have passed 3♠ even nv with his hand, but I started to think later about what else I might have done.

I accept the consensus of a pass, not arguing, but in my after thinking it occurred to me that I might double the 2♣. I can pretty well anticipate partner bidding hearts, which I could then convert to spades. Hopefully this might be a reasonable way to say "I don't have the three hearts you might expect when I bid spades first and then double, but hearts are not totally out of the picture either." As the cards were, game in either major is fine, but doubling and then rebidding spades might get us to the heart game when partner is spadeless and to the spade game if partner has, as he did, something in spades?

If I pass 2♣, lho will no doubt bid 2♦ and partner will presumably do something, feeling he can stretch after his original pass. Interesting! Didn't occur to me.

[barmar]

This seems like one of those hands where it's easy to come up with an answer like Pass in the forum. But at the table, looking at a shapely 17 count, could you really be that rational? I suspect some of the posters would have done the same as Ken in the heat of the moment.

[Free]

barmar, on 2011-May-14, 10:04, said:

This seems like one of those hands where it's easy to come up with an answer like Pass in the forum. But at the table, looking at a shapely 17 count, could you really be that rational? I suspect some of the posters would have done the same as Ken in the heat of the moment.

That's what the forum is for. We reflect on our actions and seek for advice from people in a relaxed environment with sometimes very different points of view. It can be a real eye opener from time to time.

[Phil]

barmar, on 2011-May-14, 10:04, said:

This seems like one of those hands where it's easy to come up with an answer like Pass in the forum. But at the table, looking at a shapely 17 count, could you really be that rational? I suspect some of the posters would have done the same as Ken in the heat of the moment.

When I used to play a lot of golf, I had an opinion about this sort of thing, and it has carried over to bridge.

If I'm practicing a tricky shot (imagine a half-buried bunker lie to a tie pin, w/e) and I can pull it off some of the time it doesn't mean that I can make this shot 'when it matters'. However, if I cannot execute this shot in practice, I will never get it right on the course.

The same is true in bridge. If you can solve a tricky hand when presented to you as a problem, thats all well and good, but what matters is being able to handle it at the table. Again, if you can solve it in practice, you might get it right, but if you cannot solve it in practice, you will never handle it when it matters.

FWIW, I mulled over this problem for about 15 seconds, before I thought, "pass should work well here" (for the reasons I stated earlier).

[helene_t]

My first thought was 2♠ but probably pass is better. LHO could have quite a few spades.

[gnasher]

I'd bid 2♠. If I pass, LHO will almost certainly bid 2♦. Am I really going to defend that?