[wyman]

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Thanks.

[BunnyGo]

 wyman, on 2011-February-08, 17:41, said:

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Thanks.

Or both? Maybe North should bid 1♥?

[phil_20686]

 wyman, on 2011-February-08, 17:41, said:

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Thanks.

IMO opinion is clear to bid 1!h. Not only do you have a perfectly suitable hand for a 1 level over call, but it massively decreases the chances that this auction will end with partner playing in some number of spades.
ALso, seems clear for south to hit this. Would never dream of axing with the north cards.

[655321]

If North had made the normal 1♥ overcall, South would have doubled 4♠.

After North's strange pass, I wouldn't double 4♠ as South. And if you want North to double 4♠ (on the off chance that partner has 5 spades and couldn't double?) don't you think he would have been better off bidding at the one level instead of passing at the one level and coming back in at the four level?

[mtvesuvius]

Agree with 655321, what else is there to say?

[dake50]

Did this declarer just beer run? So soft on him?

[OleBerg]

 mtvesuvius, on 2011-February-08, 21:23, said:

Agree with 655321, what else is there to say?

Nothing.

[Free]

It's always difficult to make the right decision at a point where at least one hand was misdescribed.

North has a normal 1♥ overcall, but after he passed South can't expect much values in North's hand. So why Dbl and give the show away?

[phil_20686]

I would always dble with the south hand. I mean, you have 3 natural spade tricks on almost any conceivable layout, and not much outlook for them to go away with the spades certainly 6-2. Sure, occasionally you surrender 590, but more often you pick up a reasonable sized penalty, as here. People are pretty aggressive about bidding game with a 6 card suit opposite a wk nt. I do not think you should be afraid to dble in a position like this. Would be much more afraid if this was a stayman auction like 1n-2c-2s-4s. As now you are not sure you will get as many spade tricks. Would probably pass in that case.

[ceeb]

 mtvesuvius, on 2011-February-08, 21:23, said:

Agree with 655321, what else is there to say?

Not much, but also declarer might play the hand a trick better if South does double.

[gnasher]

From South's point of view, the danger is that declarer takes two heart ruffs in hand and six tricks on the side, or three heart ruffs in hand and five tricks on the side. Combined with a trump endplay, that will lead to ten tricks.

I can think of some arguments both for double and for pass:

- For the trump reduction to work, declarer has to have short hearts opposite a four-card suit, and quite a lot of fast winners. If partner were 0-3 in the majors he would have overcalled 2♣ or 3♣ some of the time, so there's a fair chance that declarer won't be able to reduce his trumps.

- Declarer might have a decision to make about which suit to ruff in hand, but he'll probably get that right, on the basis that North didn't overcall so won't usually have great heart length.

- A double will help him if dummy has exactly the right number of entries: if I don't double, he may innocently use one of the entries to lead a trump from dummy. That's not unlikely.

When will a double gain significantly? At IMPs, we need to get it down two about twice as often as we tell declarer how to make it. For down two, we need declarer to have two fast losers and not be able to reduce his trumps. That doesn't sound good odds, so I'd pass at IMPs.

At matchpoints, on the other hand, the difference between +50 and +100 is likely to be large, so I'd double.

[mtvesuvius]

This is more of an ATR (assign the responsibility) than ATB. North is responsible, South (if anyone) should Double (although not after North's pass).

[JLOGIC]

Great title, including a big POLL

[mcphee]

Yes N should have over called, but felt pass was a better action for what ever the reasons at the time. I would give them the cube doubting they are running to 5D. I usually ask myself if they are going to redouble, and speculate game doubles at imps (especially) on a random basis. On this hand I would also ask the question would they redouble, and I hope they do.