[jdeegan]

Scoring: IMP

1♠-2♥-????

---

Opposite competent partner playing standard SAYC. Your bid? Do you have enough to raise?

[pclayton]

YES its good enough. Stiff heart and JT combos are nice.

[the hog]

No. Pass too light by far.

[mike777]

I'd like to have an Ace or a KIng if lite.

[ohioply]

if it was white vs red i would raise but red/white or all red i'll pass

[HeartA]

I would pass right now. If I got a chance later, I might support.

[whereagles]

I pass. The hand is too weak, pard is still unlimited, it's a bad lead director, it doesn't deprive opps of any bid, etc.

In fact, bidding 2♠ might actually HELP opps showing their hands because it gives LHO the chance to make a take-out double. What is

1♠ (2♥) 2♠ (dbl)

would be

1♠ (2♥) pass (???)

without the 2♠ bid.

[brianshark]

Partner will expect a quick trick. You have none. So just pass.

[helene_t]

You don't want to be in 4♠ to make unless partner has some monster hand in which case he'll bid again. You might want to be in 4♠ as a sac, if partner doesn't have too much defense.

So I voted "other", as I would bid 3♠ with a regular p. On a very good day this could make opps make the wrong decision of whether to bid 4♥. But the main purpose is to describe my hand so that I can respect partner's decision. If he doubles 4♥ it's pure penalties. If he bids 4♠ opps might wonder if he expects to make it, but I won't care.

Without discussion I think I would pass, though.

Oh sorry, my vote was wrong, just noticed standard SAYC. So 3♠ would be a limit raise. So pass.

[pbleighton]

This is entirely a style decision.

I have played in partnerships where I would pass on this
hand.

In both of my current partnerships, a raise to 2M over
competition is purely competitive, so I raise without a
problem.

I play a lot of matchpoints

Peter

[brianshark]

I too would much prefer to be able to raise with these kinds of hands without partner hanging me for competing. But if undiscussed, I can't really raise on that hand.

However, I don't think 3♠ is all that bad a bid... (if it was weak... is it still a limit raise over competition?)

[joker_gib]

Pass and bid later if possible

[fred]

The first question you should ask is:

Does this hand have the values to raise to 2S?

If the answer to this question is "yes" then you should raise.

If the answer to this question is "no" that is not the end of it - there are times in which you should intentionally overbid for tactical reasons.

The answer to this question is partly a function of style and partnership. My guess is that most of the leading players in North America would consider this hand to be not quite strong enough for 2S from a pure values point of view. That's how I see it.

It is fine to say "you plan/hope to raise later", but having not bid 2S you are not going to bid at all unless partner can take another call.

And there are 3 things about your hand that suggest that partner might not take another call on some hands in which your side should be bidding:

1) You have a singleton heart that your partner does not know about. If he has 2 cards in hearts (not unlikely) then his hand is a lot better than he thinks it is. If he has 3 hearts (more likely) and hearts are raised (not unlikely) he will know that you probably have no more than 2 hearts, but he will not know that you have a singleton. Even if his hand and the auction make him think that you probably have a singleton, he might get cautious as a result (because given that you have a singleton heart and 3-card spade support and that you passed over 2H, your actual hand rates about 9.5 out of 10).

2) You have the Jack and 10 of spades. On some marginal hands with 6 spades partner will be less inclined to take action due to the poor texture of his suit.

3) You have strong intermediate cards in the minors. On some marginal 2-suited hands partner will be less inclined to take action due to the poor texture of his second suit.

My judgment suggests that these tactical considerations are more than enough to compensate for my personal answer to the original question being "not quite".

So I would make what I consider to be an intentional slight overbid of 2S.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[BebopKid]

I would bid 2♠. If the contract stands, I would proudly lay down my cards as dummy.

You can't set 2♥.