[pescetom]

MP.

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You are in West and let's pretend you are a basic club player like the others at the table.
You never played with East before and your agreement is to bid naturally in competition.
Opponents' 4♥ gets passed around to you, what calls do you seriously consider and which do you then choose?
Please answer in the Poll (it's public so that answers to the two questions can be reconciled, don't be shy).

[FelicityR]

Difficult choice between pass and double. But as I see it, if the opponents are likely to go down and have overbid don't make things easier for them to find some way of making a hopeless contract. You hand isn't brilliant except for the ♥AK. They possibly have a double fit. They have bid 4♥ freely. Would partner lead a trump to stop a potential crossruff (if that was the correct defence) if you doubled (if he/she has one to lead)? That's not a guarantee. I'd rather pass at both MPs and IMPs.

Maybe if they were vulnerable I would give greater consideration to doubling at MPs. -200 is a bad score for them. Them 'pushing the boat out' and bidding a vulnerable 4♥ game doubled or not is likely to be a bad score for you.

[P_Marlowe]

1st Q: Pass or X
2nd Q: Playing Strength matters, ..., I would go with X, but Stronger Player may tell me reasons, why Pass is better,
Weaker Players will more often than not go with Pass.

[pescetom]

Thanks to all who voted and replied.
FWIW I tend to double but I would certainly consider seriously passing.

[rmnka447]

If the opponents bid are reasonable, partner can't have much. 2 ♥ over your 2 ♣ should show 5 ♥.

Can your side make anything over 4 ♥? It's very unlikely so no further suit bid should be made.

So the decision is between calls of Pass or Double. With an unknown trump stack, it's better to keep quiet rather than alert the opponents to the situation.

BTW, long gone Barry Crane, reputedly the best MP player ever, had reputation for doubling at the drop of a pin. So if you want to be aggressive about it, you're not exactly in bad company. Just be consistent in your approach and accept the results.

[wank]

i certainly wouldn’t double but i’d consider it.