[kenrexford]

IMPs. You are red; the opponents are white.

1♥(LHO)-1♠(P)-4♥(RHO)-?

Your hand is:

♠xxxx ♥A ♦AK10xxx ♣xx.

What to do normally?

If you might do something else, under some conditions, what conditions would be necessary to do that "something else?"

[hrothgar]

I would normally bid 4♠

Under some conditions, I might try for 6♠. For example, give me another Ace and a King and bidding something else looks a lot more attractive.

Preempts are a pain in the butt, no doubt. My 4♠ bid could (easily) cause us to miss slam. Give partner a hand like

♠ AQxxx
♥ xx
♦Qxx
♣ Axx

and slam looks pretty damn good. Balanced against this, if partner has a minimum overcall - or even a max with weak Spades - and the five level could be risky.

[helene_t]

The normal action is 4♠, I suppose. If they bid 5♥ I double.

If opps are known to be agreesive and p to be conservative I'd make a slam try. 4NT if it's Blackwood and opps don't have the agreement that a double of 4N asks for a specific lead.

I don't bid 5♦ since I hope that RHO will lead his singleton ♦.

[cherdano]

Drugs?

[Apollo81]

It's important not to punish partner for coming into the auction at the 1-level.

[foo]

kenrexford, on Jun 12 2007, 07:16 AM, said:

IMPs.  You are red; the opponents are white.

(1♥)-1♠-(4♥)-?

Your hand is:

♠xxxx♥A♦AKTxxx ♣xx.

What to do normally?

If you might do something else, under some conditions, what conditions would be necessary to do that "something else?"

Normally, GOP has 5+♠ and 5-7 losers for their 1♠ Overcall. Especially in front of me.

Side Note:
Slams opposite 1♠ Overcalls like
♠AQxxx♥xx♦Qxx♣Axx
are certainly possible, but "Bridge is a 4 handed game". What does a hand like that for Overcaller leave Opener for their 1♥ opening?

♠xx♥KQxxx♦Qxx♣KQx?
That seems a bit light...
Give Opener every missing K and Q in the deck? That doesn't seem reasonable either.

Playing the opponents for the perfect minimum makes about as much sense as playing partner for a perfect maximum. GOP Overcalled. Not Opened.


I'm going to be practical and give up on slam.
I bid 4♠.

That one's easy. The real problem comes if/when They bid 5♥...

[P_Marlowe]

4S seems normal.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[jdonn]

4♠ this round easy. Double next round easy. See, bridge is easy sometimes.

[kenrexford]

Where are the Gambler's out there???

Does not partner have a fair shot with something as mundane as ♠AQJxx ♥xxx ♦xx ♣xxx? I mean, is it all that clear that a club lead will hit the table?

I thought for sure that someone might take a stab at this under the "right" circumstances, like:

Down in the match, or
About 58% game estimated in a major pairs event, or
Playing a money game and baby needs new shoes, or
You grew balls this morning.

Something. But NOOOO takers!?!?!

LOL

[jdonn]

kenrexford, on Jun 12 2007, 10:56 AM, said:

Where are the Gambler's out there???

Licking their wounds and apologizing to their teammates.

[foo]

jdonn, on Jun 12 2007, 11:43 AM, said:

kenrexford, on Jun 12 2007, 10:56 AM, said:

Where are the Gambler's out there???

Licking their wounds and apologizing to their teammates.

LOL! nice come back.

[foo]

kenrexford, on Jun 12 2007, 10:56 AM, said:

Where are the Gambler's out there???

Does not partner have a fair shot with something as mundane as ♠AQJxx♥xxx♦xx♣xxx?  I mean, is it all that clear that a club lead will hit the table?

I thought for sure that someone might take a stab at this under the "right" circumstances, like:

Down in the match, or
About 58% game estimated in a major pairs event, or
Playing a money game and baby needs new shoes, or
You grew balls this morning.

Something.  But NOOOO takers!?!?!

LOL

The gambler's are supposed to be playing gambling games, not Bridge.

"There are bold Thieves, and old Thieves; but very few bold and old Thieves."

Speeding kills. Often the speeder.

[kenrexford]

If jumping to 6♠ is not remotely an option (I'll accept that for purposes of argument), how frequently will 4♠ actually be the resulting contract? White on red, at IMP's, are the opponents not taking out insurance? If and when they do (they do), are you convinced that stopping on a dime at 5♠ is right? Surely you won't defend this? Why not use RKCB, finding out if partner happens to have AAQ or AAK, where the odds seriously increase? Why not give partner, who might even have KAK, KAQJ, or something like that, a chance to make a good decision after 4NT-5♥-?

4NT seems about right, to me. I can understand an immediate 6♠, even. But, I suppose I'm too wild.

Of course, sound overcalls is my style, so maybe that changes the analysis.

[jdonn]

They are not even CLOSE to bidding 5♥ 100% of the time.

[jgo]

4S for me.
Maybe 6S is right. Heck, maybe double is right.

Perhaps late in a barometer pairs event, I might shoot out 6S.

[Apollo81]

jgo, on Jun 12 2007, 02:40 PM, said:

4S for me.
Maybe 6S is right. Heck, maybe double is right.

Perhaps late in a barometer pairs event, I might shoot out 6S.

It would be a very strange hand for double to be right.

[foo]

kenrexford, on Jun 12 2007, 01:07 PM, said:

If jumping to 6♠ is not remotely an option (I'll accept that for purposes of argument), how frequently will 4♠ actually be the resulting contract?  White on red, at IMP's, are the opponents not taking out insurance?  If and when they do (they do), are you convinced that stopping on a dime at 5♠ is right?  Surely you won't defend this?  Why not use RKCB, finding out if partner happens to have AAQ or AAK, where the odds seriously increase?  Why not give partner, who might even have KAK, KAQJ, or something like that, a chance to make a good decision after 4N-(5♥)-?

4NT seems about right, to me.  I can understand an immediate 6♠, even.  But, I suppose I'm too wild.

Of course, sound overcalls is my style, so maybe that changes the analysis.

a= Absolutely, your partnership's Overcall style matters here.
If a reasonably mainstream 7-5 loser hand w/ 5+♠ is a normal 1♠ Overcall here, then you know that you might have 5 level safety, but making 6 is unlikely.
In addition, the stiff ♥A is a negative.
OTOH, having a 9+ card fit + being =4162 + ♦AKTxxx is very nice.

4♠ could very well be the Absolute Par on the board. If so, any move past it by either side will only worsen the score for that side.

(...and if We play an aggressive overcall style where GOP might have made a "Mike Lawrence or Marshall Miles certified" 4card 1♠ overcall, more caution is definitely called for...)


b= Why is Defending 5♥X not an option?
If GOP has 1-2 ♦'s, is not ♠xxxx♥A♦AKTxxx♣xx 3 likely defensive tricks?
Heck, if GOP has 3 ♦'s and ♦'s split 22, I still have 3 defensive tricks.
...and that doesn't take GOP's values into account.


c= My biggest problem with 4N is my horrid trump holding.
We also only have 6 losers opposite what is in the mainstream a 7-5 loser hand.
...4N-(5♥)-??
Let's say GOP has 2 w/o the ♠Q, and =you've= just made what sounds like a strong bid. How good are Our agreements for this situation? How well can GOP "take the joke" if it turns out that Our best spot was Defending 5♥X and he just bid past that?

If you are determined on pushing to the 5 level, particularly to "give GOP a chance to make a good decision", than at least tell GOP something useful. What would 5♦ or 5♥'s by you now mean?



Mostly, why are you considering all these unilateral options?
*6♠ was definitely not Partnership Bridge.
*Depending on partnership style, temperament, and methods the 5 level bids may be OK.
*But you =know= that 4♠ is the likely limit of your hand.

Partner is listening to the auction too. Make the best value bid you can and involve them in the decisions.

[hrothgar]

foo, on Jun 12 2007, 09:52 PM, said:

Mostly, why are you considering all these unilateral options?
*6♠ was definitely not Partnership Bridge.
*Depending on partnership style, temperament, and methods the 5 level bids may be OK.
*But you =know= that 4♠ is the likely limit of your hand.

Partner is listening to the auction too. Make the best value bid you can and involve them in the decisions.

The sad thing is that the opponent's are also listening.

If you held a gun to my head and told me that I had to bid past 4♠, I'd probably prefer to blast to 6♠ immediately rather than attempting any kind of scientific auction. This feels like one of those 4 or 6 hands. If the opponents defend properly, they're going to hold us to 10 tricks. If they screw up the opening lead (lead a Heart perhaps) we could potentially make 6.

For example give partner the following

♠ AKJxx
♥ xx
♦ Qxx
♣ xxx

Sure, we're off two cashing club tricks, however, if the honors are split they will (probably) chose a passive lead. We could easily score 12 tricks if we pick up the trump Queen.

[cherdano]

Of course anything but 4S is ridiculous, but please also tell me where I can find the opponents that lead passively against a small suit slam obviously bid on shape.

[foo]

hrothgar, on Jun 12 2007, 02:30 PM, said:

The sad thing is that the opponent's are also listening.

If you held a gun to my head and told me that I had to bid past 4♠, I'd probably prefer to blast to 6♠ immediately...

For example give partner the following
♠ AKJxx♥xx♦Qxx♣ xxx
...

Bridge is indeed a 4 handed game.

If Overcaller has that when Advancer has xxxx.A.AKxxxx.xx, what do you suppose Opener opened the bidding on?

The better you make Overcaller's hand w/o giving him ♣ values, the more likely Opener has them...

(1♥)-1♠-(4♥)-6♠;X

trick1: ♣A, trick2: ♣K, "OK, what else can we do?"


...and There's Overcaller. Having made a quiet 1♠ overcall and ending up in 6♠X after 1 round of bidding.

His Bridge is definitely less than his norm for the next board or 3, and for some reason he's not available henceforth... In fact, all your teammates from this match are much harder to get play dates with from this event on for some reason...