[eagles123]

its imps

the rest of the players are GIB - but note this isn't a GIB complaint topic I just wasn't sure what to do with my hand

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thanks,

Eagles

[mgoetze]

Double. (Unless you're playing with GIB perhaps.)

[P_Marlowe]

X

[PhantomSac]

There is no alternative to doubling

[eagles123]

ah ok I doubled and we got to a silly 4h contract cheers all

[PhilG007]

eagles123, on 2015-May-02, 11:24, said:

its imps

the rest of the players are GIB - but note this isn't a GIB complaint topic I just wasn't sure what to do with my hand

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thanks,

Eagles

I would pass and hope to beat the contract. You have 17 points and both opponents have
entered the bidding which means it's highly likely partner has a 'bust' or almost so.
It goes against the grain to pass with 17 hcp but remember bridge is a partnership game,
you are not playing alone as in poker...you have a partner..DON'T FORGET YOUR PARTNER.
One of the most difficult lessons for a novice to learn is to accept when they have been
outbid and go quietly.. I,myself,learned this lesson through many bitter experiences By all means
bid boldly...but also play safe... "Ambition is an admirable quality for a player to have in his upper storey..
provided he has common sense on the Ground Floor"

[wank]

Even nige1 would be struggling to find some points for pass

[nekthen]

When i first looked at this i immediately said double.
However, lets consider the curious incident of the dog in the night...
Partner did not bid. He would have doubled with 5 hcp maybe even with 4 if he had 4♥. He could have some points with a ♠ suit, but he can double for penalties in pass out seat. He wont have enough for 3N.
I pass

[PhantomSac]

nekthen, on 2015-May-04, 03:35, said:

When i first looked at this i immediately said double.
However, lets consider the curious incident of the dog in the night...
Partner did not bid. He would have doubled with 5 hcp maybe even with 4 if he had 4♥. He could have some points with a ♠ suit, but he can double for penalties in pass out seat. He wont have enough for 3N.
I pass

If you mark partner with nothing then surely they are making 4S. What is the downside of bidding?

[nekthen]

PhantomSac, on 2015-May-04, 04:22, said:

If you mark partner with nothing then surely they are making 4S. What is the downside of bidding?

They have not bid 4♠ yet. In my experience bidding is going to encourage 4♠. If I were going to bid it would be 4♣ not double.
Also I am not marking p with nothing. He has not got much clearly. He failed to bid 1N, 2c, 2d, 2H or double
I do not know GIB well enough to know how it would bid with 4 or 5 spades and a 6 count I am sure a human would pass. If I do not pass we cannot defend 3 spades (doubled or not). That is a big downside to bidding.

I guess p in fact had a 4 card heart suit and was too weak to double 1 spade. Naturally, he bid 4H after the double as the game bonus was more tempting than the prospect of getting 3S down

Also if p does indeed have nothing the kings are likely to be the wrong side so my 17 points are more like 13

Time to see the whole hand please

[P_Marlowe]

<snip>

[jdonn]

Easy to double. We can have game or even slam in a minor on a hand where partner is passing out 3♠. Partner bidding 4♥ is pretty much the worst thing that can happen unless he is very weak with 6 hearts or something. You just have to try to make it, and hope otherwise that they make 3♠ anyway.

However with GIB I could see passing or 4♣ since he will pass the double too often.

[nige1]

eagles123, on 2015-May-02, 11:24, said:

its imps

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PhilG007, on 2015-May-04, 02:26, said:

I would pass and hope to beat the contract. You have 17 points and both opponents have entered the bidding which means it's highly likely partner has a 'bust' or almost so.It goes against the grain to pass with 17 hcp but remember bridge is a partnership game,you are not playing alone as in poker...you have a partner..DON'T FORGET YOUR PARTNER.One of the most difficult lessons for a novice to learn is to accept when they have beenoutbid and go quietly.. I,myself,learned this lesson through many bitter experiences By all meansbid boldly...but also play safe... "Ambition is an admirable quality for a player to have in his upper storey..provided he has common sense on the Ground Floor"

wank, on 2015-May-04, 03:10, said:

Even nige1 would be struggling to find some points for pass

IMO Double = 10, Pass = 5. Wank is right Pass didn't occur to me But others chose it and it might work. Hence, IMO, it's worth marks.

[Phil]

Double. We need very little for game and it's even possible we have slam.

[eagles123]

{comments}

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full hand for those interested

[PhantomSac]

nekthen, on 2015-May-04, 05:28, said:

They have not bid 4♠ yet. In my experience bidding is going to encourage 4♠.

Why would that be such a bad thing? We have AJT AQ and AQT, and trumps are not breaking. If they compete to 4S when they otherwise wouldn't have, that is a win for bidding, not a loss. If 4S is just cold they are probably bidding it regardless of whether we bid or not.

Quote

Also I am not marking p with nothing. He has not got much clearly. He failed to bid 1N, 2c, 2d, 2H or double

Our hand is very good, we do not need him to have much. He needs a pretty good hand to bid if he doesn't have 4 hearts or a club fit. We could still be cold for a grand slam, there is no reason partner can't have xxx xxx Kxxxx Kx (he would not bid 2D with this over 1S).


Bad things can always happen. You could get hit by a bus when you walk outside. We have all the first round controls, fillers on top of that, a great suit, and a great hand opposite any semblance of a fit. The opps are bidding and jump raising in spades so we know that we do in fact have a fit somewhere (and often will have a 9 card fit somewhere). Even with partners pass, they are unlikely to hold 0 points. Or 1 point. It is hard to be dealt that few points. And even in the event that they do, so what? Are we really expecting to get doubled somewhere? As you have said, the opps might just bid 4S. There is no reason to be so pessimistic about bidding with this hand.

[m1cha]

eagles123, on 2015-May-04, 17:33, said:

full hand for those interested

Well, knowing the full hand now:

N passes, you write +300 for a top. Blame the robot, not yourself .

3♠-2 undoubled white for +100 is not sufficient because 4♣ makes for +130.

Of course your double is better with the red suits reversed. And with the red suits reversed at N, if the robot won't pass, you will probably get your 4♣ bid because N knows you must be long in ♣ since you can't have more than one ♠ card. (Not sure though, the robots get this count right.)

You were just unlucky.