A theory
#1
Posted 2014-September-07, 01:45
I was thinking about automatically doubling all these games. They might make anywere from 6 to 9 tricks, but will rarely score 10 and almost never 11. You might also gain from not giving away info from your double, you always double, so the tactic of bidding 3NT and retreating if they double will never succeed, they have to guess. For example I have had some success doubling with doubleton queen badly placed on their suit making them run from a making contract.
But then Lantaron told me that it might also be profitable to redouble without looking at your hand. You are losing 13 for -800, going for -1600 is not that big of a difference. At least you should redouble a lot against this tactic.
#2
Posted 2014-September-07, 02:43
But when you are vulnerable and go one off, you lose 400 instead of 200, which is a substantial difference if others are conceding 100.
#3
Posted 2014-September-09, 10:58
you are trying to catch up or at the beginning of the match so there is a lot of time to
make up for a gone bad hand. I would not use this tactic late in a match where I was at or
near the lead since I could easily be turning an average into a zero and a good score into
a not much better score. You need to have a really good feel for the type of bid your opps
are making to use this weapon since it is primarily effective when the opps are also
gambling:))))))))))))))))))))))))))) good luck it has some promise if you use it wisely.
#4
Posted 2014-December-07, 18:55
Fluffy, on 2014-September-07, 01:45, said:
I was thinking about automatically doubling all these games. They might make anywere from 6 to 9 tricks, but will rarely score 10 and almost never 11. You might also gain from not giving away info from your double, you always double, so the tactic of bidding 3NT and retreating if they double will never succeed, they have to guess. For example I have had some success doubling with doubleton queen badly placed on their suit making them run from a making contract.
But then Lantaron told me that it might also be profitable to redouble without looking at your hand. You are losing 13 for -800, going for -1600 is not that big of a difference. At least you should redouble a lot against this tactic.
♠ J x ♥ x ♦ Q J x ♣ A K Q J x x x x then the double may sometimes help a little, provided you have agreed an appropriate convention e.g.
After 3N (Double) ?? or
After 3N (Pass) Pass (Double); ??
- Pass = ♥ stopper. Mnemonic: If your heart's stopped, pass away. (Then partner, bids 4m without a ♥ stopper, redoubles without a ♠ stopper, passes with both).
- Redouble = No ♥ stopper.
#5
Posted 2014-December-09, 04:17
3nt is a routine psyche NV so double in 4th is also routine.
I don't know about a double in other auctions where partner is on lead. Won't you lose the lead directing double ?
#6
Posted 2014-December-09, 06:20
#7
Posted 2014-December-09, 10:00
Admittedly my opinion might change if my opponents started very regularly doubling on the kinds of hands that you're talking about.
#8
Posted 2014-December-09, 15:48
No pre-alert is unthinkable but may be the only chance that this could work.
What is baby oil made of?
#9
Posted 2014-December-09, 19:52
But he could prealert it as 'aggressive or speculative penalty doubles of 3NT in competition' and then he can also then play pass as 'they may be walking the dog' and then you won't know what to do.
#10
Posted 2015-January-04, 02:27
WesleyC, on 2014-December-09, 10:00, said:
Admittedly my opinion might change if my opponents started very regularly doubling on the kinds of hands that you're talking about.
Pass to show doubt in direct seat gives you more options. Your partner can RDbl for scrambling purposes (unnecessary in some cases ofcourse) or bid something. When using RDbl to show doubt, partner can only bid.
Some examples:
- After 3m-p-3NT-Dbl, obviously there's no need to scramble. The escape route will always be in opener's minor. Nevertheless you can still use this to suggest or deny interest in playing 5m.
- After 1NT-p-3NT-Dbl, a scramble can be very useful. If responder bids a suit, he gambled with them as a source of tricks. But after RDbl you can scramble into a fit at 4-level (for example when the Dbl asks for a ♠ lead and neither one of us has a ♠ stopper).
#11
Posted 2015-January-04, 02:36
There's a similar MP strategy to always Dbl when the auction goes 2NT-p-p-? because most of the time declarer has to play everything from his own hand and will usually only manage 6-7 tricks. If you know your opps will always Double 2NT in this situation, you'll never raise 2NT to 3NT with the proper values and expect to gain massively (even if 3NT would be 2 off, you break even).
In general, I don't think obligated penalizing strategies can work. Overcalls (like semi-obligated 1♠ overcalls after strong 1♣) can have merit though.