[mikl_plkcc]

The hand is follows:

---

North robot, holding 5 HCPs and a singleton in opened suit, PASSED the 1♠ opening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, leaving South robot playing in 5-1 trump misfit getting 1♠-2.

I opened this 2♣ as a matter of style, and ended up at 3NT, which is a much better result. However, after 1♠ opening, the auction should be 1♠ - 1NT - 3NT.

[smerriman]

I would have passed 1♠ too..

While I would have been in 3NT after a 2NT opening, it's extremely lucky that it's making. If I had to choose between 1♠ and 3NT just looking at the North/South hands, I'd definitely choose 1♠.

[mikl_plkcc]

smerriman, on 2021-October-16, 13:33, said:

I would have passed 1♠ too..

While I would have been in 3NT after a 2NT opening, it's extremely lucky that it's making. If I had to choose between 1♠ and 3NT just looking at the North/South hands, I'd definitely choose 1♠.

Why do you think it's a good idea to let partner play in a most likely 5-1 misfit? If the opponents are long in spades, they will definitely allow 1♠ to pass out, no matter how strong they are, and collect the lovely penalties watching 1♠ goes down rather than competing in a partscore themselves.

[TylerE]

World's easiest 1NT forcing over 1s

[smerriman]

mikl_plkcc, on 2021-October-16, 15:09, said:

Why do you think it's a good idea to let partner play in a most likely 5-1 misfit?

How do you know partner has exactly 5 spades?

There's a fairly good chance he'll rebid 2♠ (or 3♠, or 4♠) over 1NT, and I have an awful hand of quacks.

Or he might have a strong hand and you'll end up in an extremely poor game contract like here.

Or if he is weaker and happens to have 5 we'll probably be in a 4-3 diamond fit, but a level higher.

Maybe others would bid 1NT (and I'm often wrong) but I'll take my chances in 1♠.

You're not even vulnerable so I'm not sure where the lovely penalties are coming from undoubled..

[smerriman]

TylerE, on 2021-October-16, 15:25, said:

World's easiest 1NT forcing over 1s

I made a BW poll. Currently 10-8 in favor of pass (my vote excluded).

[sfi]

mikl_plkcc, on 2021-October-16, 15:09, said:

Why do you think it's a good idea to let partner play in a most likely 5-1 misfit?

Because we probably have a shot at going plus in 1S and there is no guarantee that something good will happen if I bid. In particular, partner might force to game and we wind up playing 3NT on the actual hand. And that's a bad place to be.

[wbartley]

Why pass? I'm reminded of a question often asked of Richard Dawkins. "What if you're wrong?" His usual response is "What if YOU'RE wrong?"

Both passing and bidding have obvious risks associated with them. What are the possible risks of passing?

1. You might miss game if the hand gets passed out. I suspect, though I'm not sure, that simulations will show game is unlikely when this happens.
2. You might go down, undoubled, in a 5-1 fit when you can make some other part score. However, when playing five card majors, your partner's MINIMUM number of spades is 5. When you hold a singleton spade, I'm pretty sure partner's average number of spades is closer to six than it is to five.

What are the possible risks of bidding 1NT?

1. Your partner may have a strong hand and jump the level of the bidding into a contract your side cannot make. There's a non-zero chance you will be doubled if you get too high.
2. You give up the chance of being able to defend.

The answer to whether or not to bid is anything but obvious.

[mikl_plkcc]

Sorry delete