[MickyB]

P P 1H P
2C P 4C P

2C = Drury (one-way)
[Edit 4C = splinter]

QT9x
Q9x
K
KT9xx

[broze]

In my non-expert opinion this hand should sign off pretty sharpish - you need to tell your partner about your poorly fitting values, aceless hand and 3 trumps ASAP.

With a hand like Ax AKJxxx AJxx x, p will have to move if you bid last train and opposite your hand the five level might not be safe.

[Trinidad]

I don't understand the problem.

The way I play Drury is that 3♥ by partner would have been a slam try. That means that 4♣ was not a general cue, but a splinter. In that case 4♦ would not be last train in my vocabulary, but a genuine diamond cue. I would bid 4♦.

If 4♣ would not be a splinter, but a cue, it would be absurd to bid a last train 4♦ since we don't have the spade control that partner denied.

Rik

[broze]

Trinidad, on 2014-November-02, 05:03, said:

I don't understand the problem.

The way I play Drury is that 3♥ by partner would have been a slam try. That means that 4♣ was not a general cue, but a splinter. In that case 4♦ would not be last train in my vocabulary, but a genuine diamond cue. I would bid 4♦.

If 4♣ would not be a splinter, but a cue, it would be absurd to bid a last train 4♦ since we don't have the spade control that partner denied.

Rik

I would guess that 4♣ is a splinter. Why does this mean that 4♦ cannot be last train? There is one bid between signing off and the current level so 4♦ is just a general slam try neither denying or confirming a ♠ control. That's the way I play it anyway.

[Jinksy]

Assuming 4♣ is a splinter, 4♦ seems crazy to me. We had soft values for our Drury to begin with (and only 3 cards, as Broze said), and now our hand's best feature has disintegrated. If all P needs to make slam is a second round ♦ control and a smattering of quacks, surely he could either have set the suit at a lower level and forced cuebids, or can now push on over my signoff?

ETA - didn't register 4♦ was last train. Not my finest morning. Anyway, given that, I feel like it's even worse than bidding it as a cue would have been.

[the hog]

So what does 4C mean? 2C Drury is a poor bid on this hand anyway. You are worth 2H only.

[yunling]

4♥ without hesitation. This is the worst possible hand.

[whereagles]

yeah probably the worst possible.. 4♥ seems auto

[nige1]

MickyB, on 2014-November-02, 03:13, said:

♠ Q T 9 x ♥ Q 9 x ♦ K ♣ K T 9 x x
_P - 1♥ -
2♣ - 4♣ -
(2♣ = Drury (one-way), 4♣ = splinter).

IMO 4♥ = 10, 4♦ = 8. No keys, wasted ♣K.

[WesleyC]

Signoff in 4h seems very obvious.

[gszes]

P had all kinds of ways to investigate slam and yet they chose a 4c splinter.
we do not know why they chose that method but our hand got 30% worse when p
shows up short in clubs. While the ability to potentially ruff diamonds keeps
this from being a hopeless hand it is still a poor hand overall given your
p choice of bids.

It seems far better to just bid

4h

letting your p know about your hand downgrade and they can continue further if
they wish. As an aside your hand construction seems to indicate that one pitch
on the club K is unlikely to ever be the slam going trick. Switch your dia K
and spade Q around and the club K might still have slam potential (even then
it is at best 5050).

[Fluffy]

I bid 6♥, it must be the winner since it is posted as a problem.

[jallerton]

MickyB, on 2014-November-02, 03:13, said:

P P 1H P
2C P 4C P

2C = Drury (one-way)
[Edit 4C = splinter]

QT9x
Q9x
K
KT9xx

yunling, on 2014-November-02, 06:31, said:

4♥ without hesitation. This is the worst possible hand.

whereagles, on 2014-November-02, 15:30, said:

yeah probably the worst possible.. 4♥ seems auto

I disagree. This hand is much better than something like Qxx Qxx Jxx KQxx.

The hand given could be just what partner is looking for: the spade suit could be a good filler opposite length, The diamond holding could take care of partner's losers in the suit. On a good day, even the ♣K might provide a useful pitch.

Bearing in mind that with a perfect fitting hand I should be forcing to slam, I should show vague signs of encouragement when my hand is OK, particularly when I'm not committing our side above the 4-level. I bid 4♦.

[wanoff]

Agree it's not the worst possible hand. Switch the black pictures around and I'd cue as well.

[jogs]

whereagles, on 2014-November-03, 17:09, said:

yeah probably the worst possible.. 4♥ seems auto

jallerton, on 2014-November-03, 17:09, said:

I disagree. This hand is much better than something like Qxx Qxx Jxx KQxx.

The hand given could be just what partner is looking for: the spade suit could be a good filler opposite length, The diamond holding could take care of partner's losers in the suit. On a good day, even the ♣K might provide a useful pitch.

Bearing in mind that with a perfect fitting hand I should be forcing to slam, I should show vague signs of encouragement when my hand is OK, particularly when I'm not committing our side above the 4-level. I bid 4♦.

It was the worst possible which was worth a 2♣ drury call.
Qxx Qxx Jxx KQxx
That's a 2♥ bid.

[cherdano]

jogs, on 2014-November-03, 19:02, said:

It was the worst possible which was worth a 2♣ drury call.
Qxx Qxx Jxx KQxx
That's a 2♥ bid.

MickyB is probably opening balanced 11 counts.

I will never understand why so many think it's best to have a range of 4-10 for 1H-2H, and 9.5-10.5 (or 9.5-11 if you are a more solid opener) for 1H-2C.
We have a fit, and we have two more steps below the 2-level. We can manage with a range of good 8 - submin opener.

[beatrix45]

Partner evidently has extras. Your hand is worth ****** for slam. You should have some play for game in ♥. So bid it.

[whereagles]

the hog, on 2014-November-02, 05:16, said:

So what does 4C mean? 2C Drury is a poor bid on this hand anyway. You are worth 2H only.

Trouble is, will pard expect you to Drurify this hand?

I think most pards would.

[MickyB]

I'd say most 8s are good enough to Drury and most 11s will already have opened. Not bidding Drury on this hand is lolworthy IMO.

I signed off at the table without much thought, we missed a decent slam when partner held AJxx AJT8x AQJx void. A player I respect suggested I was worth 4D. I was unsure - 7 hcp outside of clubs is ok, but stiff king must be a fair bit worse than Kx here.

[Free]

Seems like an obvious 4♥ imo. Splintering means looking for a distributional slam. The distribution is ok, but we have poor values and a (probably) wasted ♣K.