[BrianEDuran]

Hi all

A couple of bidding issue I had this weekend.

Scoring: MP

First seat

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Do you open? (I'm assuming 1C)
If you open because because of shape, do you still open without the Q of hearts?
I openned, but was told how wrong I was by several players better then I, but I'm still not convince, so bring it on.

Scoring: MP

First seat

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Your partner opens NT, 10-13 in first seat. You can not show a forcing club hand without going through staymen. Any takers for 5C instead of 3NT? Anyone bidding a forcing club hand? Partner shows 4 hearts and denies 4S, now what? I think in MPs 3NT is clear, but since it IMPs I thought I would toss it out there.
I bid 3NT, opponents forgot to take there top 5 tricks.

Thanks in advance.

Brian

[inquiry]

Yes I open the first hand with or without the heart queen.... I am a follower of zen master ZAR and this is easy (unles sin ACBL where opening at the one level on a 7 hcp is not allowed by rule).

On the second hand, if it is Matchpoints, getting to 3NT is always acceptable with hands like this. Make soemtiems, down sometimes.. doesn't matter if it is good briidge, only is it is good matchpiont strategy.

Ben

[the hog]

I open the first hand with a 2 suited bid. If you were going to open it with a 1 level bid, I would choose 1S not 1C. Get your majors in early on weak hands.

I bid 3N on the second hand as this is by far the most likely game contract.

[Free]

First hand is a clear opener. However I'd rather go for a 1♠ opening than a 1♣ opening...

Second hand is an easy 3NT bid imo. If ♠s might give us problems, opps still have to find that lead. And perhaps ♠ are just stopped and we don't even have a problem at all. 5♣ seems too far from makable, so just go for 3NT.

[whereagles]

1) Depends on how I feel at table. Since I have spades, I can always pass and bid some number of NT later. Opening 1S (or 1C) might lead to serious trouble if the hand is a misfit, but a misfit on a 65 only happens like 5% of the time, so definitely worth a shot at pairs. Might be difficult to get your shape across, though.

2) When the long minor is headed by the ace, 3NT is usually preferable. Otherwise bid 5m.

[EricK]

I open the first hand. Without the ♥Q I open it unless I know my partner hates that kind of opening.

On the second hand I bid 3NT without further ado. This seems like a good hand for mini-NT as you have reached the likely contract in two bids without telling the opps anything much about strengths and weaknesses.

Eric

[flytoox]

with the second hand, if you find out pd has 4card heart, u may consider 4H as well. Most table will bid 3N. So 4H might win out.

[BritTim]

I open the first hand. Assuming no 2-suited opener is available, I am in two minds as to whether to open 1♠ or 1♣. The trouble with suppressing the 6-card club suit is that a big part of the reason for opening is to find a potential sacrifice and a 6-4 club fit may well get lost.

On the second hand, I am going to disagree with the posters to date. IMHO, all of the following are true

• A suitable near minimum (e.g. AKx Ax xxxxx xxx) can make slam a laydown
  
• 3NT will often be the wrong game
  
• Assuming you are playing with a good regular partner, there is room to investigate below 3NT and make an informed decision

As against that, you may help the defense with a slow approach. Change one of the clubs into a low spade and I would just bid 3NT.

[luke warm]

Scoring: MP

First seat.. Do you open? (I'm assuming 1C)
If you open because because of shape, do you still open without the Q of hearts?

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i open 1S with or without the ♥Q

Scoring: MP

First seat.. Do you open? (I'm assuming 1C)
If you open because because of shape, do you still open without the Q of hearts?

---

this is interesting... probably 3nt is the winning action, but i'm not bidding it... i know pard isn't likely to have what i need, but my thinking is that 5♣ might be a bottom (due to 3nt making a bunch), but 6♣ has a play, and might be a top

i make a gf bid (2D) with the aim of finding pard's controls

[Fluffy]

I disagree with all om first hand, I would not open ever without ♥Q, the reason: partner expects some defensive values when you open at the 1 level, yes you can get rid of his penalty double... but ONCE, you will get rid of it when you open with ♥Q, what when he doubles again?.

[mr1303]

On hand 2, I'm going to bid 3C (diamond splinter). If partner jumps to 4 of a major (showing a 5 card suit) I'm happy, if partner bids 3H, I can bid 3NT (denying 4S), if partner bids 3S, I can bid 3NT (partner is denying 4 hearts), if partner bids 4C, I raise to 5, if partner bids 3D (showing no wasted values) I bid 4C, and see what partner can do from there. Ideally I'd like him to bid 4S.

On the first hand, I open 2S, showing spades and a minor. I just don't have the defence here to be able to open this at the 1 level

[Rebound]

I in no way agree with opening the first hand in first seat unless you have a 2-suit showing bid. The number of times you end up in phantom sacs (or doubled contracts making, their way) is greater than the number of times you don't get to bid with this hand if you pass the first time.

On the other one, 3NT is as good a bid as any.

[tysen2k]

The first hand depends largely on your system. With a pick-up partner, I say 1♠ with the hand as given and Pass without the ♥Q. If my partner knew me and the way I bid, I'd bid 1♠ with or without the Q.

On the second hand I think a direct 3N is best at both MP and IMP. Those of you who want to investigate things are giving the opps too much information. Keep the auction simple and you can make 3N more often even when it's supposed to go down.

Tysen