[1axbycz1]

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The 2h opener shows a 11-15, and a 3-suiter short in diamonds(4315, 3415, 4414 or 4405). I know that each side has a 10-card fit. Now what? Partner will seldom act in this auction since I know much more about his hand than he knows about mine.

Edit: Anyone going for pass or 3nt?

Edit 2: This is IMPs scoring, if it matters.

[mike777]

I will try pass.

[MrAce]

mike777, on 2015-June-13, 21:26, said:

I will try pass.

I think you haven't read the explanation of 2♥. Or do you assume that opener will double 3♦ with extras? But at MP even vs his 10-12 hcp you want to be in 4♣

1axbycz1, on 2015-June-13, 19:53, said:

Edit: Anyone going for pass or 3nt?

Neither would occur to me. What I want to bid depends on what my 4♣ means and scoring method. Depending on what 4♣ means and scoring, I'd go either with 4 or 5 ♣.

But i know I'd definitely go with 5♣ at the table, because I do not expect to be let in 4♣ anyway.

[1axbycz1]

MrAce, on 2015-June-13, 21:37, said:

I think you haven't read the explanation of 2♥.

I feel that pass is an interesting option.
One advantage is that opponents may stop in 4♦ when 5♦ is making. Bidding tends to push them higher.

[MrAce]

1axbycz1, on 2015-June-13, 21:48, said:

I feel that pass is an interesting option.
One advantage is that opponents may stop in 4♦ when 5♦ is making. Bidding tends to push them higher.

Yes they may have a 5♦ now and then but this should not be your concern when pd says he has 11-15 and you have 7. Despite the length your club A is still a very good defensive value and you have ♠Q as well. I would not have worried about them making game at all. We can not just act in fear like this when the feared outcome is unlikely and we have a very good fit.

[ggwhiz]

MrAce, on 2015-June-13, 22:00, said:

Yes they may have a 5♦ now and then but this should not be your concern when pd says he has 11-15 and you have 7. Despite the length your club A is still a very good defensive value and you have ♠Q as well. I would not have worried about them making game at all. We can not just act in fear like this when the feared outcome is unlikely and we have a very good fit.

We often push the opponents into light games, many of which they should have bid anyway. I would rather bid 5♣ and defend 5♦ than sell out to 3 or 4 of them.

[SteveMoe]

5♣. Give the opponents the last guess. If they pursue 5♦ we just might have enough to beat them. With 3♣ cards between them they'll be hard pressed to double our contract.

[jdonn]

I find 4♣ very clear. It takes a lot for us to make 5♣. 4♣ can even be down very easily like partner has AJx Qxxx x KQxxx or something so I wouldn't consider bidding moer. Also partner is allowed to raise with a diamond void and a good hand, so I expect to reach the right level most of the time. Frankly I have trouble imagining any other bid here. If the opponents bid 4♦ or 5♦ they are welcome to try and make it.

[KurtGodel]

jdonn, on 2015-June-15, 10:41, said:

I find 4♣ very clear. It takes a lot for us to make 5♣. 4♣ can even be down very easily like partner has AJx Qxxx x KQxxx or something so I wouldn't consider bidding moer. Also partner is allowed to raise with a diamond void and a good hand, so I expect to reach the right level most of the time. Frankly I have trouble imagining any other bid here. If the opponents bid 4♦ or 5♦ they are welcome to try and make it.

I was going to say that I would bid 5♣ until I read this. Seems like a pretty good argument to me, I just must have got dazzled by all my trumps.

[case_no_6]

It is impossible to know what is right because the opponents are not unlikely to be able to take anywhere from 10 to 12 tricks in diamonds - it all depends on the specifics of the deal.

But we have no way to find out what is going on and we need to act now. These are the decisions for which the Law of Total Tricks is so comforting.

We have 10 or 11 trump and they have 10 or 11 trump. On average, there are about 21 trump, so typically, if they can make a game or slam, we have a cheap save. I don't go nuts here, since we might be making game and they might be going down and, of course, it might be one of those hands where the Law is off a trick or two. 5C.

[akwoo]

1) Saying that "on average there are about 21 trump" is terribly off. Having 10 trump on each side is a good deal more likely than 11 trump. I wouldn't be surprised if 20 trump happens more than 21 and 22 trump combined.

2) This is a hand where you actually have enough information to have a good guess at the law of total losers; it's pretty likely there are 6 total losers between the two sides, 2 in each major and 1 in each minor. Even if one opponent has a void, the other might very well have Qxx or Kxx in clubs. I suppose it's possible spades split 4333 around the table with neither side having a discard, which would make 7. Partner could have a diamond void, but partner will act on it. Note we still have 6 total losers if partner has a (43)15 and clubs split 1-1 (or 2-0 with Kx offside).

2) I would bid 5♣. But it does make me nervous that partner might make a phantom sac if he or she thinks I have 7 clubs to make that bid. I hope not.

[masonbarge]

1axbycz1, on 2015-June-13, 19:53, said:

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The 2h opener shows a 11-15, and a 3-suiter short in diamonds(4315, 3415, 4414 or 4405). I know that each side has a 10-card fit. Now what? Partner will seldom act in this auction since I know much more about his hand than he knows about mine.

Edit: Anyone going for pass or 3nt?

Edit 2: This is IMPs scoring, if it matters.

5♣. The fit is powerful and the secondary fit in spades is a plus.

Partner should have enough in high cards to beat 5♦ but he needs to know about your long clubs to make a decision about doubling. Or he might like 6♣ which is not impossible.

[gszes]

Our gadget has us well placed over the rest of the field. That means we should take advantage of this fact and bid a simple

4c

We do not care if it survives. We are letting p know we have an invitational hand and clubs is our suit. I read somewhere that P generally knows more about their hand than we do so we supply them with information and let them decide how best to use that information. Sometimes its an easy game:)

I am not all that optimistic we will make 5c even opposite a max but for sure our side will be much better prepared on how to proceed if the opps continue competing. If perchance p gets to 5c and goes off 1 x that is still less than letting the opps play and make 3d:)

[m1cha]

1axbycz1, on 2015-June-13, 19:53, said:

The 2h opener shows a 11-15, and a 3-suiter short in diamonds(4315, 3415, 4414 or 4405). I know that each side has a 10-card fit. Now what? Partner will seldom act in this auction since I know much more about his hand than he knows about mine.

Edit: Anyone going for pass or 3nt?

Edit 2: This is IMPs scoring, if it matters.

Funny. This looks so much more like opener forgot your convention and has a Weak Two in ♥.

Anyway, so each side has at least a 10-card fit, and HCPs are more or less evenly distributed. According to the Law of Total Tricks this means we are likely to make 4♣, they are likely to make 4♦, give or take a trick for each side (sometimes two). The bad news is, they have the higher-ranking suit. The good news is, they don't know what I know. How can we make the most of this?

I feel at MPs I should bid 5♣. I don't think they will double this and even if they do and I go down for -100 while they can get +130, it's still good for us. If they bid 5♦, I double. Down one doubled is +200 which could be a top score for us even if some on our side are allowed to play 4♣ or below. If 5♦X makes, next deal please.

At IMPs I find it much more difficult because I don't like the risk of driving them into 5♦ if it makes while everyone else plays 3♦+2, it seems too costly here. I guess I bid 4♣ hoping that 4♦ is the final contract. If that just makes, not much is going to happen; while if they make 9 tricks or 11, it can even be good for us. With vulnerabilities reversed and a slightly weaker hand, I would consider passing to let them sort out where they think they belong in a situation they find hard to evaluate correctly.

By the way, I strongly feel that opener should not bid again in situations like these. After opener strictly described the hand, partner may raise to any level for very different reasons with very different hands, so any rebid from opener is completely in the dark.

[Cyberyeti]

I would assume an 11 card fit for us and 10 for them (43)15s are more common than 4414/4405. I suspect this is a hand where the number of tricks available isn't matching the number of trumps, possibly by a distance. Give partner AJx, QJ10x, x, KQxxx and it's possible neither side can make more than 9. I agree with the 4♣ suggestion.