[dickiegera]

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When should West double.
When should West bid 2♠, or 3♠
When should West bid a new suit?

[Vampyr]

West should generally double unless very weak or extremely shapely, though she may double less frequently when she has a void in LHO's suit.

EDIT: reminded by post below that I should have mentioned that with a weak NT type and 3+ hearts it is probably right to pass often.

[phil_20686]

dickiegera, on 2015-November-09, 07:42, said:

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When should West double.
When should West bid 2♠, or 3♠
When should West bid a new suit?

Always with 0-1 heart unless void and opened light or have extreme shape. So I would double essentially any 51(43) or 51(52) or 61(42) or 6133.

With doubleton heart I would usually double also, but on many shapes, like 6232 or 62(41) an argument can be made for 2S.

With three hearts I would pass always unless having significant extra values, and/or enough extra shape.

[mycroft]

very simple answer - I'll leave the details to the real players.

X) When it's reasonable that partner has a penalty double she couldn't make, and you can survive it if she doesn't. This should be the default option, the one you're looking for reasons not to do.
♠) When, had partner made a penalty double, you would have pulled it, or it's unreasonable that she doesn't have one (because you have the hearts :-).
other) When, had partner made a penalty double, you would have pulled it, or it's unreasonable that she doesn't have one (I assume that's less likely as you are highly likely to be two-suited).

one more thing:

pass) When it's too dangerous to do anything else.

[rmnka447]

Augie Boehm pointed out (in DEMON DOUBLES I think), one has to be careful about reopening with a double when void in the opponent's suit. An often vital feature of the defense of a doubled contract when partner has a trump stack behind declarer is to have a trump lead through declarer. It may allow partner to take advantage of a tenace position that otherwise might be compromised by an endplay later in the hand. If you are unable to do that because of a void, it may make the defense very awkward.

[SteveMoe]

• Pass on any sub-minimum or holding 3+ ♥ cards.
  
• Double on any 1 or 2 card ♥ holding except if holding 55 to 6+ card ♠ suit and PURE values. (The purer your values the more tricks your side rates to take). Can be balanced extra power (18-19).
  
• Rebid on any hand with 6+♠ and 7 tricks in hand.
  
• Jump rebid on any normal 3♠ jump rebid hand (6+ Cards, 15-17 HCP, e.g.) where you do NOT want to settle for a doubled contract going down.
  
• Bid 4♠ holding high ODR and 9 sure tricks. (Bid to contract minus one - expect h=partner to be able to contribute one trick).
  
• A new suit should show 55, not 54, and no desire to defend.
  
• A jump shift should show tricks, not necessarily power.

The real problem is what to do with a void. Usually, a void and a minimum hand can double safely. A void with a stronger than average opening hand will often do better to bid than double (High ODR).

[Phil]

I thought people threw out the 'don't double with a void' rubbish years ago. I first heard this idea in a Bergen book and I didn't think anyone took it seriously - I guess Boehm does.

While its true that you don't have a trump to play through declarer, its also more likely we have a fit when partner bids and one less trump in our hand = one more possible trump in partner's.