[straube]

imps, light openings


P 1H ?

AJ Kx QJxxx K97x

[the hog]

No. The Ds are not robust enough and there is little to be gained. Add the DT and i would certainly consider overcalling.

[gszes]

straube, on 2012-July-15, 20:06, said:

imps, light openings


P 1H ?

AJ Kx QJxxx K97x

NVUL I would bid 1n
VUL I would pass

I also play 1M 1N x p p xx as take me out to a minor so I have
a bit of extra safety added in.

[Quantumcat]

There are several things you hope to achieve by overcalling, some of them being winning the contract, and helping pard find a good lead. Firstly you are unlikely to win the contract, pard did not open and you don't have spades. Secondly, you are happy with basically any lead, if pard thinks of it by himself. For instance, you dont want him to lead from a small doubleton diamond when he might lead from QJ of clubs, or the king of spades (with the queen in dummy). Another consideration is going for a number. If pard has a flat yarborough with a small doubleton diamond, you could be going for 800+ against a partscore or a failing game.

There is an adage that an overcall is alright as long as it has either a good hand or a good suit. Here you have a good hand, BUT the reason for overcalling with a good hand but not a good suit is that your side might have a game on, perhaps in a different suit to the one you overcalled - here you know that is unlikely as pard has passed already. You might actually have a nine card club fit and languish in QJxxx opposite xx because pard is not strong enough introduce a new suit.

[ahydra]

Quantumcat, on 2012-July-18, 08:11, said:

There are several things you hope to achieve by overcalling, some of them being winning the contract, and helping pard find a good lead. Firstly you are unlikely to win the contract, pard did not open and you don't have spades. Secondly, you are happy with basically any lead, if pard thinks of it by himself. For instance, you dont want him to lead from a small doubleton diamond when he might lead from QJ of clubs, or the king of spades (with the queen in dummy). Another consideration is going for a number. If pard has a flat yarborough with a small doubleton diamond, you could be going for 800+ against a partscore or a failing game.

There is an adage that an overcall is alright as long as it has either a good hand or a good suit. Here you have a good hand, BUT the reason for overcalling with a good hand but not a good suit is that your side might have a game on, perhaps in a different suit to the one you overcalled - here you know that is unlikely as pard has passed already. You might actually have a nine card club fit and languish in QJxxx opposite xx because pard is not strong enough introduce a new suit.

IMHO good points except for the bit about not having spades. You can't simply give up on winning a contract just because that contract is unlikely to be spades. Particularly when opps are vul, suppose it was your side who had balance of points and a diamond fit, your partner holding even just three spades will often be enough to win the partscore since opps (probably) won't go to 3S over 3D with just a 4-4 fit.

Despite the slow tricks, I hate the idea of 1NT - with that semi-dodgy heart stop and no real trick source, that hand is not worth an upgrade. What about an X, correcting 1S to 2C? Note that (playing Robson-Segal methods at least) this doesn't show a GOSH, but a hand exactly like this (54 or 45 in minors, better than minimum X). Probably not such a good idea at pairs when partner may well play you for 3145 and end up choosing a 4-2 spade fit over a 5-2 or even 5-3 club fit, but at imps I'm not so worried about that.

ahydra

[kuhchung]

This hand sucks

[wank]

wait and back in if they have a fit

[mike777]

straube, on 2012-July-15, 20:06, said:

imps, light openings


P 1H ?

AJ Kx QJxxx K97x

close but I will try pass, move a small d into spades and I would double.

most of my hcp are in my short suits, not a "good" hand.

gives pard a chance to "prebalance" over 2h if you play that style. If pard cant prebalance I may just end up defending 2h. IF 1nt comes around to me I have the option of bidding 2c to show clubs and higher suit or pass and defend.

[Quantumcat]

ahydra, on 2012-July-18, 10:58, said:

IMHO good points except for the bit about not having spades

What I really meant was, you don't have hearts OR spades, so the opponents can have their choice of how to compete over your minor. You know you don't have a suit you can bid over them at equal level. Different if they have diamonds (say) and you have four nice hearts and a club suit, at least you have a shot at being able to compete over them.