foo, on Jun 27 2007, 11:33 PM, said:
Folks, Hand 2 is not worth taking another bid if you are planning on playing in NT.
That would require 9+ HCP, and you simply do not have them.
OTOH, Hand 2 might easily make 3-4♥'s even in a 52 "Kaplan Fit"; and Vacant Spaces says that the odds of an 8+ card ♥ fit are greater here than if pd had Opened 1N.
So pass 2♥ or make a forward going move in ♥'s. In NT you are All Done.
Since when does an invite of a 1NT overcall require 9+?
First of all, most folks play that a 1NT overcall is stronger by a smidge than a 1NT opening, 15-18 being a common range. Not my range, but a common one.
Further, isolation of strength behind strength elevates trick-taking capacity in situations like this.
As a simple "proof," give partner a typical hand that he might have, something like:
♠AQxx
♥Ax
♦A10x
♣Qxxx
Whereas a free auction makes this a lousy game, needing cooperation in diamonds, clubs, and spades, this looks like a fairly good game contextually. Of the 16 missing points, Declarer's RHO will have at least 2/3 of the points, and perhaps more. "All the stuff you need" will be there more often.
"Gibberish in, gibberish out. A trial judge, three sets of lawyers, and now three appellate judges cannot agree on what this law means. And we ask police officers, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and citizens to enforce or abide by it? The legislature continues to write unreadable statutes. Gibberish should not be enforced as law."
-P.J. Painter.