[geofspa]

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Sitting south after the bidding I am posed with this powerhouse hand. Vote for fun

Comments welcomed

Geof

[Cascade]

Double is normal. I have the other suits. In addition if partner bids 3♦ I can bid 3♠ showing my strength and five (or more) spades. If partner bids 3♥ I will raise and if partner bids something else more constructive I will move towards slam.

[kenberg]

I double also, nothing else seems right. Followed by three passes? Down 4 while you are cold for 6 of something? Could be. I still double.

[georgeac]

double

[mtvesuvius]

Double - If partner passes, we have plenty of defense, and are not very disappointed. Occasionally we'll miss a slam or something when that happens, but it's so rare.

By doubling, you'll be able to show your strength later, and will be able to judge where to place the contract much better than any other call. If partner bids 3♦, you can bid 3♠ to leave 3N and 4♠ both in the picture. If partner bids 3♥ or 3♠, you can cuebid 4♣ on the way to 4♥ in case partner has a reasonable hand as well. If partner bids 4M, you can keycard. If partner bids 3N you have a guess, I'd start with 4♣ then.

[Antraxxx]

mtvesuvius, on 2011-January-23, 20:12, said:

If partner bids 3♥ or 3♠, you can cuebid 4♣ on the way to 4♥ in case partner has a reasonable hand as well.

Thanks for the detailed answer. Could you elaborate on the quoted part? Do you mean there's still chance of a slam with a 0-8 HCP partner?

[P_Marlowe]

X, what else?

[gwnn]

This is one of the rare occasions where I actually have a singleton in their suit and good chubby support for all suits, so I fail to see the problem

[mcphee]

Double, I have a nice hand but will only raise H to 4 as I think cue bidding is a bit too much opposite what could be a very minimum response.

[mtvesuvius]

Antraxxx, on 2011-January-24, 02:16, said:

Thanks for the detailed answer. Could you elaborate on the quoted part? Do you mean there's still chance of a slam with a 0-8 HCP partner?

Opposite a working 0-8, especially if partner has hearts, I could envision slam. I think this hand is just barely good enough for a slam try... Give partner something like:

xx Kxxxx Kxx xxx slam is on spades coming in, which is a pretty high percentage (4-2 or better spades and no worse than 3-1 trump)
Qx Kxxx xxx xxxx is a really bad hand and slam is on spades coming in...
Qxx Txxxx Kxx xx now is on a marked heart finesse

The heart finesse is fairly marked, and also note that these hands have very little or no club wastage. That's the biggest feature we're looking for in partner's hand. The remaining values are much less important as long as partner has, say, 6 or 7 HCP scattered outside clubs.

The reason partner's club wastage is so important is that once we lose the club trick, we're playing with a 30 point deck. We have 18 of those, and give partner 6 or 7 of them, and the rest rate to be onside most of the time, since the pre-empter usually won't have too much outside.

Plus on many hands where partner has a doubleton diamond or ♣A, slam will have reasonable play as well. I'm not sure which hands partner will get excited on and which they won't, however I think that given the wide range of hands we can probably make slam opposite, it's worth at least a try. If partner signs off in 4M, I'll respect that.

[Phil]

gwnn, on 2011-January-24, 04:59, said:

This is one of the rare occasions where I actually have a singleton in their suit and good chubby support for all suits, so I fail to see the problem

Oh I see a problem. You are posting in the B/I. Mute the sarcasm please.

Agree with Mt. Vesuvius, although I'm not convinced I would cue over 3♥.

[gwnn]

True enough. I just know that geofspa is quite good, so I didn't think he'd post on B/I. My bad.

[ahydra]

haha, the poll currently stands at 21 votes for double and nothing for anything else I picked double also, perfect shape for it.

Over 3D i bid 3S, over 3H or 3S I bid 4C, and over 3NT i bid 4C also - not sure exactly what it would mean, but hopefully partner will get the hint I'm looking for a slam. Of course, if partner rejects the slam try I give up.

ahydra

[blackshoe]

We all picked double, so we must be wrong.