[MrAce]

gordontd, on 2011-March-12, 11:54, said:

What do you bid with 1534 with ♦xxx?
Or 2524 with ♠xx?

FrancesHinden, on 2011-March-12, 11:56, said:

2S

The guy asked 1534 with xxx ♦ and stiff ♠ also.., reply was 2♠, i think thats actually pretty funny I strongly doubt, even xx ♠ would justify a 2♠ bid, maybe Hx.

[gnasher]

Perhaps it would help if you read the entire conversation

Quote

Gordon: wouldn't you have to rebid 2♥ with some 5-4s?

Frances: Personally, no. (Unless I was prepared to call the heart suit 6 cards).

Gordon: What do you bid with 1534 with ♦xxx?
Or 2524 with ♠xx?

Frances: 2♠

Is there something unclear about the words that I've highlighted in red?

[rhm]

gnasher, on 2011-March-13, 06:13, said:

In the circles where I play, 1♥-1♠;2♣-2♦;2♠ is nearly always a 2524 shape, and doesn't promise a spade honour. With a 3514 minimum opener would have raised 1♠ to 2♠. With a 3514 and extras, opener would bid 3♠ after 2♦.

With a 1534 shape with no diamond stop (a fairly rare hand), there are a number of reasonable approaches:
(1) Always bid 2♥
(2) Always bid 2♠
(3) Always bid 2NT
(4) Always bid 3♦
(5) Do whatever looks like the smallest distortion
(6) Do something conventional

It isn't clear to me that any of these is better than the rest. Personally I prefer (5) or (6).

Frances (who made it clear that she was speaking only about what happens in her own partnerships) apparently prefers (2), or somewhere between (2) and (5). The idea that this deserves a "LOL" is laughable.

The problem with (5) is that it makes all rebids suspect.
I prefer to use the cheapest bid in all such scenarios, in this case 2♥. Your chances are good that you have the room to sort things out on the next bid. It is simple and it makes all other more expensive bids unambiguous.

Rainer Herrmann

[Free]

pooltuna, on 2011-March-12, 10:35, said:

which is better show 5-5 or 6-4?

For me 2♥ (= lowest call repeating one of my suits) doesn't show anything, it only denies a ♦ stop, 3 card ♠ support and 5♣. 3♣ would be 5-5. Not sure what 2♥ followed by ♣ should mean, probably 6-5 since 6-4 would bid 3♥. So I guess there's not much of a problem with 2♥.

[jvage]

Here (Norway), the most common method among experts is to use the raise of the fourth suit (here 3♦) as the "catch-all", indicating 2-3 small cards in the fourth suit. The advantage is that ALL other responses are "untainted". It makes it harder to find a 4-4 fit in the fourth suit, but this is seldom a problem. It is common to play a jump in the fourth suit (here 1♥-1♠, 2♣-3♦) as 5-5 instead of splinter, solving some of these problems.

Returning to the original problem, playing these methods 2♥ shows 6 and partner could bid 3♥ directly with a doubleton(+) and slaminterest (I would then have cued 4♣). His delayed 3♥ is strain-searching with a good 6+ spadesuit. I would just raise to 4♥.

Not knowing the complete methods of the original poster the meaning of 3♥ is a bit less clear. It seems partner could not raise directly with only doubleton-support, most likely he is showing some slaminterest now. I think this is close, but would bid only 4♥ (would bid 4♣ if the singleton Q had been in spades).

[cloa513]

jvage, on 2011-March-15, 04:42, said:

Here (Norway), the most common method among experts is to use the raise of the fourth suit (here 3♦) as the "catch-all", indicating 2-3 small cards in the fourth suit. The advantage is that ALL other responses are "untainted". It makes it harder to find a 4-4 fit in the fourth suit, but this is seldom a problem. It is common to play a jump in the fourth suit (here 1♥-1♠, 2♣-3♦) as 5-5 instead of splinter, solving some of these problems.

Returning to the original problem, playing these methods 2♥ shows 6 and partner could bid 3♥ directly with a doubleton(+) and slaminterest (I would then have cued 4♣). His delayed 3♥ is strain-searching with a good 6+ spadesuit. I would just raise to 4♥.

Not knowing the complete methods of the original poster the meaning of 3♥ is a bit less clear. It seems partner could not raise directly with only doubleton-support, most likely he is showing some slaminterest now. I think this is close, but would bid only 4♥ (would bid 4♣ if the singleton Q had been in spades).

I think most responders have assumed that 2♦ was fourth suit forcing. Good question was 2♦ FSF in the original bidding or some sort of natural or other conventional?

[tolvyrj]

Could 2♦just been natural , lets hope not otherwise we r heading into big troubles.
But if u want to bid something natural, how about 4♣after prd bids 3♥. I cant know what prd is up to, otherwise that GF is on; so bidding my suits in order ♥-♣-♥-♣i could try to pin point 6-5 shape in my hand and try help that poor bastards agony in decision making prosess.
Oh that 4♣is just a cue, well maybe, but when prd tries to figure out what i have in my hand he could start with elimination prosess like...no 3♠bid with doubleton, hmm maybe prd has less than 2 ♠and one more ♣in his hand .