[senor bert]

"(SENOR BERT) assumptions"
BBO Username:SENOR BERT

bidding goes 1D with five. Ptn bids iheart-ihave minimum. Question-do I asume he
has five hearts and raise with A45. I did not and rebid my Ds and he passsed
with five hts and 1D. Suggestions, please.

[TylerE]

Well, get the hand right for a start....

Your auction was
1♦-(1♠)-2♥-(p)
3♦ all pass

---

[Zelandakh]

Hello senor bert and welcome to the BBO forums. In the auction described in your post, the 1♥ response would only show 4. There are some hands where raising on 3 would be a good idea but generally not a balanced minimum.

The hand posted by Tyler is considerably different. First of all you do not really hold a minimum. In fact some players would consider upgrading this 14 count to a strong NT. Also, your partner's 2♥ response (after a 1♠ overcall) promised at least 5 hearts. The classical meaning of such a 2♥ response is that it shows a good hand and is forcing. In this case I would suggest raising to 4♥ to show 3 or more hearts and some extras.

Some players, and presumably your partner comes from this group, play this 2♥ response as non-forcing, showing a weak hand. This is called negative Free Bids. If NFBs are agreed then you would either pass or make a minimum 3♥ raise according to the specific range being shown, with pass being the normal action.

Finally, beginners have often not learned competitive bidding very well and specifically in this case how to use negative doubles. In this case the 2♥ response could be practically any hand with 5 or more hearts. In this case I suggest a simple 3♥ raise as the most flexible action.

In any case, the 3♦ rebid in Tyler's auction is clearly wrong. I think the 2♥ response is also wrong - even playing NFBs I would not have made this call. Without an agreement to play NFBs it is terrible. So my suggestion would be to agree with your partner which hands respond 2♥ and which ones double. Having done that, do not rebid a 5 card minor at the 3 level having uncovered an 8 card major fit but rather decide what level you want to play in the major.

[kenberg]

senor bert, on 2013-October-17, 14:09, said:

"(SENOR BERT) assumptions"
BBO Username:SENOR BERT

bidding goes 1D with five. Ptn bids iheart-ihave minimum. Question-do I asume he
has five hearts and raise with A45. I did not and rebid my Ds and he passsed
with five hts and 1D. Suggestions, please.

I will reply to the original post first. 1♦-Pass-1♥-Pass-?
We suppose my hearts are Axx and I have five diamonds. We have to assume something about spades and clubs, let's say there are three of one black suit and two of the other. We stipulate a minimum hand, say 12-14 highs.

Almost without exception, I would see my choices to be between 1NT and 2♥. Rarely if ever would I rebid 2♦. With two small spades, I am very inclined to bid 2♥. This is not because I assume partner has five, it's because I think it is the best bid. If partner has the values to go on, he can try NT if his hand is suitable. If he does not have the values to go on, 2♥ will pretty much always be right if he has five, and will quite often be right when he has four.

In the case of the Tyler hand it is hard to know what to make of it. As Zel has already observed, apparently your partner plays his 2♥ as a negative (very negative!) free bid. Whatever his intent for strength, there is no chance he will bid 3♥ over 3♦ on his five card suit. He has shown his five card length already.

General philosophy with regard to the Tyler hand: Try hard not to rebid a five card suit. Sometimes you must, but look for other options. And try hard not to be bidding at the three level on a minimum hand and a misfit. You are bidding 3♦ when you have no reason to think partner has diamond support and he has no reason to think you have heart support. This is not good. Especially it's not good when pard has a five count, but that's another story.

[y66]

Hola Senor Bert. I can't add anything to other comments about raising partner's 1♥ response to our 1♦ opening bid with 3-card support except to emphasize the importance of informing your partner as soon as possible that you have support for his suit and to ask you how you like playing in a 5-1 fit vs partner playing in a 4-3 or 5-3 fit which is what happens sometimes when you rebid a 5-card suit.

As for bidding 1NT vs 2♥, see this thread which I found with this google search:

Quote

raise 3 card support jlall site:bridgebase.com/forums

jlall aka jlogic is a guy who used to post a lot of good stuff here. He still does occasionally.

[Lorne50]

senor bert, on 2013-October-17, 14:09, said:

"(SENOR BERT) assumptions"
BBO Username:SENOR BERT

bidding goes 1D with five. Ptn bids iheart-ihave minimum. Question-do I asume he
has five hearts and raise with A45. I did not and rebid my Ds and he passsed
with five hts and 1D. Suggestions, please.

I would always raise 1♥ to 2♥ with 3 card support and a side suit singleton, and often I would do it with a doubleton outside unless the suit I opened was particularly good. The logic is that partner often has 5 and even if he has 4 the 4-3 fit often plays better than 1N or 2 of your minor. You can easily find hand where this is not true but Bridge is a game of odds and the odds favour showing 3 card support when it is sensible (ie you expect to ruff something in the short trump hand to gain a trick).

If your post was prompted by the hand TylerE posted then 2♥ shows a 5 card suit (you double with 4 of them) and your hand is not minimum - rebid 4♥. This will fail but that is because your partner is nowhere near good enough to bid 2♥ - he should have bid 1N.

[Zelandakh]

Lorne50, on 2013-October-18, 10:13, said:

This will fail but that is because your partner is nowhere near good enough to bid 2♥ - he should have bid 1N.

I think 1NT, commonly played as "8-10 with something in spades and (usually) <4 hearts", is pretty disgusting here. The options are pass and double.