mikeh, on 2013-February-20, 17:24, said:
In any event, I would duck the first club unless rho showed out.
They might switch to hearts, but they usually won't.
I duck at all forms of scoring and against all opps.
Winning might save an undertrick against bad lies and a heart switch, but I think ducking will more often give me a slightly enhanced chance of making, so I'll duck even at mps.
I'd certainly consider ducking again, btw, if LHO keeps the suit coming, tho I'd want to be at the table to know whether to do that...and I'd definitely want to know their carding methods, their tempo, and the cards they played.
SteveMoe, on 2013-February-21, 00:32, said:
I would duck only if RHO encourages. If not, win, and play on the pointeds, hoping that 3-3, Jxxx-xx or xxxx-Jx happen in either.
The quoted text that I did put in bold made me think that I might miss something...
My question came from bar discussion. I said that I would always duck 3 times (it was played at MP's), others said to duck only once or twice because of the danger of a Heart switch.
LHO started
♣K - small discouraging
♣ from RHO (I played my 2nd smallest hoping LHO would continue
♣);
and LHO continued with
♣Q, another small
♣ from RHO (no T or 9 appeared).
I thought it was best to duck 3 times if possible (duck 3 clubs or 2 clubs and a heart).
- weaker opps will possibly not find the H-switch and RHO might have more problems with his discards.
- I don't see how not ducking a 2nd time would help against expert opps.
Is that correct or is there an advantage of taking 1st/2nd/3rd club?
...And I thought it is best to duck 4 times at IMPs (if possible)?