[zasanya]

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This hand came up during a team match. East who believed that with 9+ hcp he must try to find a bid to balance, doubled. This allowed NS to have another bite at the cherry and they reached 4 Hearts making 2 overtricks.On the other table east passed so this was 7 imps for the team that did not balance.
Questions
1) Is it correct to try to find a balancing bid with 9+ hcp?
2) If the answer to the above question is yes then Is this hand an exception for some reason?
3) If east decides to balance which bid is better dbl or 2♣?
4) An issue unrelated to balancing. Is South hand a 2 ♣ opener?

[nigel_k]

I would normally balance with East. I have balanced people into game before and will again. Sometimes the hand contains warning signs but this is a pretty ordinary reopening double (not 2♣).

Quite often a player in South's situation will reveal their discomfort in some way after North passes. If I picked up anything like that I would pass. Not possible playing online though.

Definitely prefer a 2♣ opening to 1♥. It could be inconvenient after a 2♣ opening if they compete, but I can cue bid their minor if available or just bid 4♥. Also, three passes is a much bigger risk when you have both majors. Contrast this with a hand like AKQTx - Ax KJTxxx (same strength and shape). Then I would open 1♣ because I could have a big problem if they compete over 2♣, and three passes over 1♣ are much less likely.

[Codo]

1. Yes you had liked to be 4144, but ...
2. No, because of the point count and the shape the hand is minimum, maybe even subminimum for some, but not for most.
3. Always X, it is not close.

4. Most players here on BBF are very strong belivers of the idea to open as many two suiter in 1 of a major as possible. This hand shows one reason why: If your partner passes, you often get a second chance after RHO balanced. This does not work always, but often enough. I had opened 1 ♥ too.

[PhilKing]

The worst bid in the auction was 3♥ by North, which showed a pitiful lack of imagination. And North's pass of 1♥ was second worst.

I don't care for the reopening double myself. I don't hate it, but I can't see all that much upside. Double gains when we play in 1NT opposite a balance 12 count or similar, but there are downsides. Partner never has five spades, will overcompete with four, three is not fabulous, and when he has two or one, we give them a second chance to find their fit.

[SteveMoe]

zasanya, on 2012-October-15, 02:30, said:

Questions
1) Is it correct to try to find a balancing bid with 9+ hcp?
2) If the answer to the above question is yes then Is this hand is an exception for some reason?
3) If east decides to balance which bid is better dbl or 2♣?
4) An issue unrelated to balancing. Is South hand a 2 ♣ opener?

1) It is usually right to balance with 8+ HCP on an auction that begins 1 Suit - P - P. Partner rates to have 19 HCP MAXIMUM: You hold 9, RHO has max 0-4 and LHO opened min 12 = max 19 for partner. Partner's silence means odds are opener is much bigger than 12 HCP (15-18 or more). You want to be sure your side has a chance to win the contract. You do not want to open the door for the opponents to improve their contract unnecessarily. It's always a good thing to have cards in the higher ranking suits.
2) Partner did not overcall 1♠ so if partner has ♠ they will be weak. Who owns the ♠s? It is possible the opponents do. Your hand 3=2=3=5 has limited support for 2 of 3 suits. Since we need partner to hold 5 spades and partner passed, odds are we don't own ♠s. That means the opponents likely own the Majors and can outbid us easily. While raising the level to 2 or 3 might create some challenge for the opponents, they stand to make unless partner is strong. The downside is we reopen when LHO is very strong, allowing the opponents to improve their contract.
3) I think a double should show 3 places to play (or a strong single suited hand). I think 2♣ needs a better suit. My choice would be among double, pass and 1NT (owing partner 1 HCP). I do not like the 3=2=3=5 shape enough to double here (opponents might well own ♠s too) so I pass. I do not like cheating on the 1NT balancing bid. Note 1N does not promise a ♥ stopper. If I held 4=2=34 shape a double is better. The 4th ♠ is important.
4) Possibly. Some find opening 2♣ on very strong 2-suiters difficult to manage. For example 2♣-2♥(immediate negative) what do you do? 2♠ then 4♥ over partner's (say) 3♣ continuation? Are you sure partner will bid over 2♠? That said I would have opened this one 2♣ as my partners know they must bid over my 2♠ rebid. The hand has enough defense and quite a bit of playing strength.

[rmnka447]

The hand is more the exception that proves the rule than not. Everyone who balances has run into hands where passing would have been better, but more often failing to balance is a losing action rather than a winning one.

1. Given the right hand you can balance with as little as 5 or 6 HCP. I'm assuming you partnership is only making shapely take out doubles -- that is, hands with shortness in the opponent's suit and at least 3 cards in each unbid. As a result, there will be many hands where partner has opening values but not the right shape for a take out double and therefore can't bid. Balancing is a means of providing your side a chance to compete when both sides have about half the points.

2. No this hand is not an exception. You have 9 HCP and responder probably has no more than 4 HCP for a pass. That leaves 27 HCP held between your partner and opener. Even if opener holds 16 HCP (pard therefore holding 11 HCP), your side holds half the points in the deck which is enough to compete for a part score. And partner's points set behind the strong hand and are more likely to be useful because of it.

3. A pretty standard approach to balancing is as follows. You double with either an opening hand or possibly with a very shapely hand with a little less than opening value (like ♠ Kxxx ♥ x ♦ Axxx ♣ QJxx after 1 ♥ - P - P). With a good stopper in opener's suit and 11- 14 balanced hand, bid 1 NT. Otherwise, a simple nonjump bid in a new suit shows length in the suit and probably less than opening count. A jump in a new suit generally shows 12- 14 HCP and a good 6 card suit.

Using this approach, I would bid 2 ♣ with this hand.

4. The hand definitely has enough playing strength to open 2 ♣. But the problem is that it may be difficult to properly describe the hand by doing so. After (opponents passing) 2 ♣ - 2 ♦ - 2 ♥ - 2 ♠/2 NT/3♣ - 3 ♠, responder doesn't know that opener is any more shapely than 4-5 in the majors. So, I think I'd take the chance that the auction won't be passed out and open 1 ♥. After most responses by partner, 2 ♠ can be bid followed by 3 ♠ and responder will know the hand is a strong hand with at least 5-6 in the majors. That may be crucial in finding the right game or slam contract.

[zasanya]

Thank you all for your valuable contributions.