[sceptic]

I was told more than once never lead from a doubleton, but that is not always true

[sceptic]

if it is not true, what clues should we look for ?

[scoob]

i was told that when leading a doubleton vs a suit, i should be able to stop the trump runout early enough to leave me one to ruff with.

it should be noted that i'm make notoriously poor opening leads, no matter how much thought i think i've put into them. it is often joked that my opponents can safely bid up one level when i'm on lead. if only it weren't so true lol

[jtfanclub]

sceptic, on Nov 19 2004, 02:36 PM, said:

I was told more than once never lead from a doubleton, but that is not always true

Huh? I've never heard that.

In general, I'd rather lead from a doubleton than from a 3 card suit. If partner has length and/or strength there, it's likely to work. If he doesn't, it's less likely to cause harm.

Hmmm...OK...poll question.

Bidding goes 1NT-3NT by the opponents. You're on lead.

You have:
♠J63
♥93
♦Q843
♣K765

My preference is to lead the ♥9...I don't like any of my suits, so may as well lead partner's. I'd do the same lead after 1♠-4♠.

Is this unusual? Is it wrong?

[sceptic]

I am curious here,

Quote

My preference is to lead the ♥9...I don't like any of my suits, so may as well lead partner's

how do you know this is P's suit they may have 5 - 3 hearts and you lead into them?

[jtfanclub]

sceptic, on Nov 19 2004, 03:12 PM, said:

how do you know this is P's suit they may have 5 - 3 hearts and you lead into them?

I don't know. Any suit I lead could be 5-3 against me.

But given that neither opponent bid hearts, I think that's the least likely suit for it to be the case.

[nickf]

There's a chap in Sydney by the name of Tim Seres. He's arguably among the top 5-10 players ever. His opinion on leading doubletons is straightforward:

"Even when it's right to lead a doubleton, it's usually wrong".

nick
sydney

[dogsbreath]

Hi
Leads, like other aspects of the game are not amenable to a 'formula' that will always produce the desired result. You must use your judgment + the opponents bidding + some basic principles to improve the quality of your leads. There are many excellent books on the topic (Mike Lawrence comes to mind).
There are some general principles .. (I'm sure others will have plenty to add!!)
.. Passive leads are generally best when opponents have strained to reach a contract .. eg : 1NT p 2NT p 3NT (where 2nt is invite). try NOT to give a trick on the lead, as opps have only marginal values. (so a lead from QJ10 , 109x etc is 'safe') However if i have (eg) only 1 or 2 HCP on this bidding i will be more inclined to try to find p's suit.. possibly leading a short major-suit. Leading from Jxxxx on a hand with no entries is infrequently successful -v- NT contracts.

Another source of 'bad' leads is looking for a ruff when you have a trump holding that will cause declarer problems (eg A10xx as an extreme example). The bidding may tell you that dummy has a side-shortage and 3trumps .. a trump lead is indicated even tho it may appear to concede a cheap trick intially.

Leading against small slams it often pays to be agressive.. an indication to attack is when you have a poor defensive holding in a side-suit the opps have bid ..something like Jxx .. indicates the suit is favourable for them and you must attack.
I dont wish to add more as the subject is as vast as any aspect of the game, and others likely have different opinions ..but you mustnt be discouraged when your first 'adventurous' lead goes wrong .. look at the hand again later and try to determine if there were clues to a better lead. You wont improve without some mishaps!!
Rgds Dog

[pclayton]

Everybody has their pet peeves. Lew Mathe never said to lead trumps, although as well all know, its right it certain situations.

Doubletons can be right when we have a trump control. Doubletons can be right when we are leading passive against NT, or when we are trying to hit partner's suit in NT when we don't have an entry. Last, I'd rather lead a doubleton when other leads look worse:

xx, Qxx, AQxx, Jxxx - against 4♥ for instance.

[luke warm]

i once had a partner who refused to lead doubletons, and had a cow when/if i did... she was usually right (in a lot of things)