[Walddk]

Scoring: IMP

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You are dealer, and the auction is this:

2♣ - 2♦*
2♠ - 3♣**
3♥ - 4♥
??

* Waiting.
** Negative.

Do you pass or do you make a slam try, and if yes, which action do you take? Can you help with deciding a bet?

Roland

[helene_t]

Sorry not interested, I don't drink cola

No, I would pass. Partner has nothing, I told my story. We loose a spade trick and not unlikely a heart trick as well. Maybe we have no club looser but there is no way to find out.

[Chamaco]

Unless tactical considerations (e.g. trailing behind in a match), I pass at IMPS and take my sure plus.

I could start a RKCB sequence to find out whether pard has the trump Q, but even in that case, that would need many other other factors to work (trumps 3-2, favourable lead, spade Ace onside).

All in all, it seems to me the slam is not completely unlikely, but should be against odds.

[Gerben42]

Pass. The 5-level is not safe. Bidding on counts on partner having ♥Q, and you still have an awful lot of ♠ to get rid of (and ♣8).

Can I predict "unanimous panel" ?

[pbleighton]

Given that it was Roland who posted this, I feel dumb, because for me, this is a VERY clear pass.

Peter

[joker_gib]

Pass also, partner has nothing and I don't want to go down at the 5 level.

Alain

[42]

Pass. The 3♣ bid destroyed all my dreams.

[Winstonm]

Pass seems clear cut. How can partner cover all 3 losers without a perfect hand?

Winston

[Trpltrbl]

There are too many variables for it to go wrong.
But if pd has a little as ♥Q fifth and double or less ♠ we have very good shot.
It's a hard hand, when I am down I would try for sure.
Just to make sure it is not an unanimous I will bid 4 NT RKC. I have a reputation to uphold as an overbidder and underplayer.

GBB

[Al_U_Card]

Looks suspiciously like the obverse of a hand in another forum that I just replied to. Who did the deed?

[P_Marlowe]

Pass, having read the other tread, I know,
what partners hand looks like, but ... so what,
you have a perfect fit, all cards of partners hand
are working.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[P_Marlowe]

Just curious: Would partner have bid 3C as well,
if he held a near Yarbourough with 3 spades?

A possible shape may be

xxx
Qxxx
xx
xxxx

With kind regards
Marlowe

[pigpenz]

i would pass, partner could have cue bid highly unlikely after double negative so i will be glad that he just has some hearts and hope i make it, this is one of those hands where I dont think i would open 2♣ even thought I have 24hcp.

[mike777]

Pass again I have no idea what partner has shown on this auction. I will just assume QTxx of hearts and out.

Again I would like to know what 2d waiting then negative means.. Could partner have bid a direct negative so this auction means something more or less?

Does negative mean no ace or k but 0-12 hcp or less than 4 hcp or what?

[awm]

Depends on what "negative" means. If it's "we may not have values for game" then partner won't have two queens, or even a distributional hand with one queen. In this case I'd pass.

Note that queen-fifth of hearts and out, or queen-fourth of hearts and the club queen, and slam probably has good play. If partner would generally show a negative with two queens, I think I'd have to bid.

[mycroft]

Partner doesn't have the rounded queens - I ascribe to Karen Walker's "two Queens is a GF". The only hands I can see making slam are

Jx
Qxxx
xxxx
xxx

needing a lot of good things to happen, and

xx
Qxxxxx
xxx
xx

or the like. Frankly, I may not need the Q in this case.

In fact, the more I look at it, the more I think that we only have a chance if partner has 6 hearts (or 5 and luck, either in two black doubletons (or 1-3) or the long spade being in the long trump hand or 2-2 hearts). I don't play Distribution Keycard.

"Don't count on me for the perfect hand - I never hold it." Pass.

Michael.

[han]

I like to play that two queens could go either way for a second negative. anything more than that is worth a positive response.

This seems a clear pass, but I have just seen the other hand...

[mikeh]

Roland, changing the auction in the other thread to using 2N as second negative was cute, but we BBO forum readers are far too smart for that

I posted my (5♥) answer to the other thread before reading this. To be both honest and consistent, I have to pass here.

So the bet was whose fault it was for missing the easy slam. No problem for me: I believe that it is 100% responder's fault.

For me and, I suspect, virtually (but not quite) all posters, 3♥ was unconditionally forcing, which will have endplayed partner into 4♥ with all kinds of ugly hands. Indeed, it is easy to conjure up blizzards (a blizzard is a particularly hopeless yarborough) opposite which 4♥ may fail. Opener has to trust partner to evaluate: partner under-valued and then, in the post-mortem, got defensive and criticized opener (so I suspect).

A crate of pepsi to opener

[Walddk]

mikeh, on Oct 6 2005, 08:08 PM, said:

Roland, changing the auction in the other thread to using 2N as second negative was cute, but we BBO forum readers are far too smart for that

Scoring: IMP

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Well spotted Mike, Justin and others. In real life the bidding went:

2♣ - 2♦*
2♠ - 3♣**
3♥ - 4♥***
5♥ - 6♥
pass

* Waiting
** Negative
*** Significant hesitation

Now, you guessed that I posted opener's hand in one thread and responder's (in disguise) in another, but what you did not guess was that North paused before bidding 4♥.

I agree that opener has a clear pass and that his decision to bid on was influenced by partner's hesitation. Opener found an ideal dummy, and there was nothing to the play. For all South knows, 4♥ could have been as bad as

x
xxx
xxxxx
xxxx

What else but 4♥ could he have bid with a hand like that?

However, with the actual hand I don't think 5♥ is the best bid available if you want to make a move towards slam (which you have plenty for). I think 4♣ is the expert bid!

That must surely agree hearts and serve as a slam try. But doesn't that show a club control? I don't think so. In my opinion 4♣ is the only bid responder has to show a maximum for his negative (3♣). Kind of "last train" if you like.

What about if responder has a long club suit, you may argue. Well, if it's really that long, he must jump to 5♣, or if it's not long enough, he should give preference to either spades or hearts.

Roland