[Jinksy]

Teams, competent scratch partner:

---

Maybe I'm a muppet for opening 1♣, but I was planning to pass any response partner made.

[wank]

How is 3nt (absurd) an option when 4h isn't?

4h is going to be the winner when p has 5 and scores best. 4c offers us the best chance of a plus score.

Rho hasn't raised which is a worry. Maybe he's 35 in the majors.

Still, i like 4h because there's an upside and they might save.

Much though i'm a fan of floating high level t/o doubles on balanced hands, defending a 10 card fit at the 3 level would be a step too far.

[gszes]

4c is the most flexible BUT it makes it appear we seem as if we really have clubs and we are a far cry from having enough clubs to suggest to p we play there.

4d (my choice)
(while showing something in clubs) not only denies 4 cards in hearts but also caters the the strong chance partner has dia and hearts for the x. If p happens to have clubs and hearts they can correct to 5c or maybe even bid 4h (to show 5) along the way to 5c which we will gleefully pass. Our hand is actually pretty darn good for most contracts despite the blight of 2 spades. I would have opened that hand 1d and would have no qualms about rebidding 1n over a 1s response. The 1d bid would have given us a bit more flexibility on this hand.

[rmnka447]

I'm opening this hand 1 ♦ rather than 1 ♣. This auction, IMHO, shows why. After 1 ♦ - (3 ♠) - Dbl - P - ?, you'll have an easy 4 ♣ bid. Whatever partner does next will probably be right.

With the actual auction, whatever you do may deceive partner to an extent. 4 ♣ sounds like ♣ length. 4 ♦ sounds like you have longer ♣ than ♦. 4 ♥ may end up getting you to a 4-3 fit.

So I opted out because 1 ♦ wasn't opened.

If I had to choose a bid in the actual auction, I'd probably choose 4 ♦ also as the least offensive lie.

[wank]

let's not have a tired 1d/1c debate. yes opening 1d works better when partner makes a t/o double and you don't want to bid no-trumps. opening 1C works better when partner responds 1D and you can raise.

[nige1]

 Jinksy, on 2015-December-24, 07:06, said:

Teams, competent scratch partner:
Maybe I'm a muppet for opening 1♣, but I was planning to pass any response partner made.

---

No axe to grind but I open 1♣ too, even though, here the result is this fix. I rank

• Pass = Least evil. Prepared to apologize.
• 4♥ = Unlikely to make but easiest to defend in the post-mortem
• 4♦ = If this is the right decision, then the rewards are less than if 4♥ is the right choice.
• 4♣ = OK If your 1♣ could be 2 or 3 cards.
• 3N

[Phil]

 wank, on 2015-December-24, 16:58, said:

let's not have a tired 1d/1c debate. yes opening 1d works better when partner makes a t/o double and you don't want to bid no-trumps. opening 1C works better when partner responds 1D and you can raise.

I think you mean when partner opens 1D and your club suit gets buried.

I agree the debate is tiring. The diamond openers won unless youre saddled with opening all balanced hands 1♣.

[Bbradley62]

How high are we playing negative doubles? Playing a team game, I presume I had enough time to get that question answered when completing our convention card.

[gordontd]

 wank, on 2015-December-24, 16:58, said:

opening 1C works better when partner responds 1D and you can raise.

How does this work better than you opening 1D and partner raising?

[nige1]

When you can rebid 1N over partner's 1♠ teply, 1♣ has described your hand, while concealing relative suit-lengths. After a 1♥ reply, you have a choice. I would raise to 2♥ but can live with a 1N rebid. Admittedly, a problem can occur in competitive auctions like that in the OP but even here, partner has the benefit of knowing that 1♣ is often a flat 11-14 HCP.

[lycier]

 Bbradley62, on 2015-December-25, 17:27, said:

How high are we playing negative doubles? Playing a team game, I presume I had enough time to get that question answered when completing our convention card.

This should depend on partnership agreement,some pairs play negative double to 3♠,some to 4♠,some to 6♥/♠, of course,including cooprative penalty.

[wank]

 gordontd, on 2015-December-25, 22:15, said:

How does this work better than you opening 1D and partner raising?

Because you can get both minors in cheaply. Obviously it's better to raise 1d to 2 than 2c to 3 when you can have a wide variety of shapes.

Also if you open 1d and partner has 4m5d he'll bid 1M first, you'll rebid 1nt and you'll need some extra kit to get partner's hand across.

[eagles123]

Personally I agree with Wank the 1c/1d is a bit meh and 4H seems way ahead of all alternatives - pass is just so yuck and 4d as well is very commital. Even if partner only has 4 hearts often the 4/3 will play pretty reasonably with such a good heart suit. Just seems that 4h is way ahead of any other options.

[iandayre]

 lycier, on 2015-December-26, 10:05, said:

This should depend on partnership agreement,some pairs play negative double to 3♠,some to 4♠,some to 6♥/♠, of course,including cooprative penalty.

Yes, very few do not play negative doubles to at least 3S these days. And it is no problem if the double is not negative, you have an obvious pass.

[iandayre]

 gordontd, on 2015-December-25, 22:15, said:

How does this work better than you opening 1D and partner raising?

I was thinking the same thing. I have never heard a persuasive, much less convincing, argument for opening 1C with 4-4 in the minors. While this same hand after a D opening is a problem, as presented it is a very serious problem.

[mgoetze]

 Phil, on 2015-December-24, 23:00, said:

The diamond openers won unless youre saddled with opening all balanced hands 1♣.

If you open all balanced hands 1♣ systematically at least partner will be better able to understand your rebid here (if, say, you choose 4♦) than if you sometimes open them 1♦ and now partner doesn't know whether you've opened 1♣ balanced just this once or you really have clubs.

[mike777]

4h and hope for something close to:

x..QJTx...KJTx..KQT9
or
x..QJxxx..KJx..KQT9

Partner is a passed hand and notes we opened in third seat. Perhaps he passed this aceless 12 count?

[nullve]

Pass. Easy LoTT decision.

[mike777]

Not sure why this is an easy LOTT case. We do not know how many spades they have or hearts we have. We don't know if we have a double fit or not.
For all we know ...3sx may be cold and 4h a good sac.

If you want to call it a very difficult LOTT case, ok.