[luckyloser]

Matchpoints, no one vul, RHO dealer

You hold:

♠54
♥875
♦K9853
♣Q83

After two passes LHO opens 1♣ (Sayc) and Partner doubles. You bid 1♦ and P now bids 1♥. No special agreement, so expect at least 17 total points (with a onesuiter even stronger).

1st question: Is this hand worth a courtesy raise to 2♥?

Now assume you raise to 2♥ and P now invites with a trial bid of 2♠ (not short, P asks about strength and values in ♠)

2nd question: Do you show minimum with 3♥ or do you show further interest with any other bid, if so which?

3rd question: What can P expect (examples please) if you bid 2NT, 3♣,3♦?

[nigel_k]

Double and then bid is a strong action so you are definitely worth a raise. I would just sign off if partner invites though. Opposite a trial bid, I think you just show where your values are so either 2NT or 3D would be fine with this hand.

[helene_t]

I think I would sign off after 2♠. It's nice that a spade finesse is likely to work but partner knows that already, and we might not have an entry to take the finesse.

[P_Marlowe]

#1 sure, you could have nothing, but you have a fit, a ruffing value
#2 given that 1D limited your hand to 8, given the the most likely wastage in club,
and given that you already showed some live, you have a min
#3 2NT / 3C / 3D would be counter trial bids
3D - showes values, 3C should show shortage, 2NT - no idea

With kind regards
Marlowe

[luckyloser]

P_Marlowe, on 2013-November-01, 04:48, said:

#1 sure, you could have nothing, but you have a fit, a ruffing value
#2 given that 1D limited your hand to 8, given the the most likely wastage in club,
and given that you already showed some live, you have a min
#3 2NT / 3C / 3D would be counter trial bids
3D - showes values, 3C should show shortage, 2NT - no idea

With kind regards
Marlowe

hello
i totally agree! 2♥ shows a little something with 3 cards in ♥. the Q is wasted ( in a suit P is not interested in), the K is nothing to write home about and you have nothing in both suits P is interested in. i think any other bid except 3h is an overbid. 3♦ should show a good suit with at least KQ, 3♣ probably some honors that work. one can also view from another point: if the 1♥bidder had bid 2 or 3♥ instead he would be looking for a fit or one (half) honor trick in your hand. but he bid only one so he needs more for game, i think he needs about 1 1/2 tricks plus a mild fit! you dont have that!

[whereagles]

1st question: Is this hand worth a courtesy raise to 2♥?

I think so.


2nd question: Do you show minimum with 3♥ or do you show further interest with any other bid, if so which?

I show min (bid 3H). The club queen is of dubious value.


3rd question: What can P expect (examples please) if you bid 2NT, 3♣,3♦?

2NT: Jx xxx Kxxxx QTx
3C: Jxx Jxx Kxxxx x
3D: xx xxx KQJxx xxx

[billw55]

Clear 2♥. SJ Simon says to ask yourself, how much worse could my hand be? Quite a bit worse - I could have nothing at all, but here I have a K, a Q, three trumps, and a doubleton. Pass would be an insult.

Next, 3♥. Now that I have already bid 2♥ freely, I have nothing else to tell.

Side note, I see no reason to devalue the ♣Q. Opener's sayc 1♣ is not strongly correlated with clubs, and with healthy values there is no reason partner cannot hold fitting honors in the suit.

[gszes]

first problem is how to interpret 2n since you failed to bid 1n (u bid 1d) it makes little
sense to suddenly pretend you have a nt hand now. IMO 2n should be a hand similar to
2344 6-7 3c or 3d more distributional in nature with short spade 1354 0355 4-5 power.

with our current collection we have a simple 2h courtesy raise but we should sign off
in 3h over 2s. Since we have already shown some interest we are pretty much maxxed
out for our previous bidding.

[rmnka447]

#1 - Your hand is worth a raise to 2 ♥. You have 5 HCP, 3 trumps and a potential ruffing value in ♠s. On the downside, 2 of your 5 points are in ♣s which has been bid behind you and your trumps are all small ones. Everything balances out and you have an absolute minimum raise, but a raise nonetheless.

#2 - Sign off in 3 ♥. Just not enough to go on despite having the doubleton ♠. Make the hand something like ♠ Kx ♥ 1096 ♦ Kxxxx ♣ xxx and you might consider going on despite being a minimum. In this case, all your high cards are useful to partner with something in ♠ and a heart suit.