[MrAce]

han, on 2012-May-30, 05:04, said:

I don't understand the following paragraph:

First you say that you will pass almost all balanced hands, then you give a balanced hand and you say you would bid 4S for sure.

I will pass ALMOST ALL balanced hands is different than saying i will pass ALL balanced hands. At least thats what i intended to say. And by saying that i would bid with the balanced hand you gave, i meant that it was one of those exceptional hands. Thats why i thought and wrote it was a very well picked hand.

han, on 2012-May-30, 05:04, said:

I don't have the impression that your first sentence is aimed at my posts in this thread but rather a general comment. Fair enough then.

Correct

[MrAce]

phil_20686, on 2012-May-29, 08:22, said:

What would you do after 4d pass with AKxxx Qxx xxx xx? would you double now?

Phil, this varries. Especially if you know the 4♦ bidder very well.

I would definetely DBL this or I may even bid 4♠ if i know 4♦ bidder is known by his sound and /or predictable bids. (The Hog in forums for example) I may pass if 4♦ bidder is known by his highly operative bids. (Joe Grue for example, he maybe sitting with 4-5 spades behind you and holding only Hxx ♦ with a side stiff or whatever, as well as he may really have his bid, totally unpredictable)

But in general, i would not give up too easy with the hand you gave. I am expecting to push them 1 more higher rather than making game with my action. Lets face it, this hand you gave is good in 4♠ only if none of the opponents have stiff in our trump, after they made a heavy preempt with only 9 card fit and missing ace. They will have some shape, i dont expect them to make this with 5332. Heavy preempts make life hard for us but i learnt one thing over the years that, it also preempts themselves about their own assets. They tend to not DBL you most of the time when you deserve it with your overbid. Or even worse they tend to believe you and take an insurance save. This actually can work both ways, on another hand when you really have your bid (not a stretched one) they may decide not to save when it is right to do so.

So it comes down to what Han said. I will play with Han, if i know he would double with the OP hand, then not balancing with what i have is the right action imo. If i know opener is someone like me who thinks doubling needs at least an exceptional 14+, then i think balancing here is better.

[han]

Let's all ask some strong players whether they would double with this hand. There are a number of good posters who haven't reacted yet, I hope they will.

So far I asked one strong Dutch player whether she would double, she said yes but thought it was somewhat close. As other people in this thread have said, she thought double was obvious if the hand was Axx AKxx x QJxxx.

I will be able to ask more people next week.