[jocdelevat]

Scoring: IMP

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West North East South

 -     -     -     Pass
 1NT   2♥    2♠    Pass
 3♠    Pass  4♠    Dbl
 Pass  Pass  RDbl  Pass
 Pass  Pass  

Hi all

This is the board that I play in a tournament where psyche bids are allow in third and fourth seats. My pard open 1nt and the opponnet overcall 2h alerted as natural overcall. I didn't call td after hand because didn't have time to look at movie however asked after if that call 2h is correct. My opinion is not because mislead my play as declarer where points are. I think 2h should be alerted as weak. I knew the other opponent has spades for his x. Td said is ok even when I asked if she will bid 2h with 6 points over 1nt(strong) she respond sometimes you can find a lunatic for that.
What's your opinion?


best regards
Joc

[chicken]

as far as i know usually interference after a STR NT is never based on points but on suggesting a sac with shapish hands.

[the hog]

Well I would not bid 2H, but I know some players who would. I hope you made 4S - it is cold.

[cherdano]

The 2♥ bid may be surprising to you, but you can't expect an alert for that. For others, it might be quite normal to overcall 1N on 6 points, so by the same logic you would have to alert YOUR 1N overcalls to them, because they promise an unusual amount of hcp...

No, this is a style question, and when a decision by you depends on knowing opponents' style, you have to ask.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

2H is certainly not a psych.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Gerben42]

Nothing to do here for the TD. The TD is not to judge if 2♥ is a good bid or not. It's natural, and having 6 Hearts surely qualifies for that.

[hotShot]

Your partner NT showed 15-17/16-18 HCP so on average the other players should hold 8HCP each. This is why interference after strong NT is usually weak with shape. A NT opening is no guarantee for an uncontested auction.
You hold 9 HCP a bit more than average, so you should be prepared to find opps weak.

As to the quality of the bid:
If it's worth a 2♥ opening, than you can overcall a 1NT opening with 2♥ too.

[blackshoe]

That redouble seems awfully greedy to me.

It's not the TD's job to judge the quality of a player's bidding, only its legality. Nobody in this case bid illegally.

[Echognome]

When first reading this thread I thought "wtp? North has six hearts and made a somewhat aggressive call. So be it. South bid as though north had a little something, so it is not like it was fielded."

However, I guess it brings up a point about how weak a bid should be before one deems it should be alerted. For example, suppose north had held: xx xxxxx xxx xxx and made the same 2♥ overcall. Now this is fine and perfectly legal, but does your S.O. require it to be alerted? To answer that question we must first ask if this pair has an *agreement* to play such light overcalls. If they do have an agreement, then we have to look at your SO's regulations. Here are the two regs I am familiar with:

ACBL Alert Procedure said:

Most natural calls do not require Alerts. If the call promises about the expected strength and shape, no Alert is necessary. Treatments that show unusual strength or shape should be Alerted.

EBU Orange Book said:

5 E 1 Passes and bids

Unless it is announceable (see 5 C and 5 D), a pass or bid must be alerted if
(a ) It is not natural; or
(b ) It is natural but has a potentially unexpected meaning.

So, there are two questions. 1) Do this pair have an agreement? and 2) If so, do we judge that this 2♥ call has "unusual strength or shape" or a "potentially unexpected meaning"?

My opinion on the 2nd question is that although it's aggressive, I would not judge this particular 2♥ bid to be so unusual that I would require an alert. I obviously cannot answer the first question without fact finding.

[helene_t]

2♥ is not a psyche unless NS have the unusual (probably alertable!) agreement to play strong overcalls over a 1NT opening. Even if they have that agreement it's more likely to be a "bad bid" than to be a psyche - and bad bids can never be restricted, no matter what the tourney rules say about psyches. Even if it were a psyche it would be allowed according to the tourney rules.

Since only agreements are alertable, bad bids are not alertable. You cannot have the agreement bid badly since it would then be a bad agreement rather than a bad bid.

You could have asked North if they have any agreement about the strength of such an overcall. North must tell you what their agreement is. It's quite possible that they have no agreement, or that they have the agreement that 2♥ could be any strength, or that it is limited to 15 points or so because they play penalty doubles. Neither of those agreements would be alertable.

[glen]

Bidding comes in different styles, and if the bidding is natural, styles tend not to be alertable. As you increase your experience, you will gain knowledge of these styles and know to look out for them. The alert system is not designed, at this time, to draw your attention to styles.

If your opponents were playing DONT, and had read this document:
BridgeHands - DONT

The very first example hand they would see would be:

Scoring: ?

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Here they would double (instead of bidding, say 3♥, and describe it as a one-suiter).

Now say your opponents had obtained Conventions CD by Mike Lawrence (software by Bridge Base and Fred Gitelman) - you should also obtain this. See:
Product Info
They would learn that they should double, vulnerable against not, with:

Scoring: ?

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So soon your opponents might be overcalling on hands without much points, especially if not vulnerable. This style would not be alertable, so it is something to be aware of when it might occur.