Julian Pottage
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As far as I am aware, deals on BBO are random unless the director specifically selects pre-dealt hands, in which case you would get a ‘This tournament uses pre-dealt hands’ announcement. For almost all tournaments, the director would use random deals. If you are playing some set hands prepared by Bernard or another teacher, you should know that is what is happening. Just like one needs to be careful about alleging players are cheating, one also needs to be careful about alleging bias in dealing software.
Going back to the hand in question, with 9 HCP and 11 cards in your two longest suits, the hand is good enough for a 1-level opening. Although sometimes you will miss a 5-3 spade fit by opening 1H, I do like to open my longest suit. If West overcalls 2D, North bids 3C, South rebids 3H and North raises to 4H.
You risk missing game if you pass on the South hand. Passing is a big underbid. If the hand was a bit weaker, you would overcall 1NT – but 19 points is too strong even for that.
I do not think North would not reopen with 1S if South passed – the hand is too poor.
It is usual to play that a change of suit is forcing so you should continue bidding. Two small is an awkward holding because it is not really good enough to raise and generally means you will not have enough cards in the other suits to try 3NT either – bidding your own suit again is likely to be the best option, even though I realise that is not very informative.
You need to ask David Stevenson whether a bid is legal. I can only advise on whether bidding on 4 points is wise or foolish.
If you do push the opponents up a level, you should normally allow them to play there rather than bidding again. If they go one down in 3H you have done better than the pairs who defended 2H while if they make 3H you will tie with them.
The hand has a lot of losers, so I would not bid 2S after the double but I would definitely go on to 4S after South jumps to 3S.
After the singleton club lead, you would be in danger of losing two trump tricks if East had J-10-x and you decided to finesse on the second round – East wins the second round of spades, puts West in with the DA and scores a club ruff. There is also a danger of losing two trump tricks if you finesse and East has 10-x or J-x because West might get to overruff dummy on the third round of hearts.
You have not given the vulnerability but another factor is that if holding two singletons East might have opened 4H rather than 3H.
In the first auction, pairs playing a prepared/short 1C opening often do play 1S as 4+S but in Acol it is usual to play 1S as 5+S. The reason for the difference is that in Acol minor suit openings are natural so on a hand without four spades responder can raise opener’s suit whereas if the opening bid might be short responder may be stuck on a hand without a stopper in the overcaller’s suit.
Yes sometimes that will happen but if you start doubling with 13 point hands you will get into trouble when, as will happen far more often, partner has a more normal number of points.
North has not promised any values with the forced 1S bid and should definitely go on to 4S. South’s raise to 3S was fine. the rule here is that you raise to one level lower than you would if partner had bid 1S freely.
As it happens 4S might go down losing three top tricks and a heart ruff but stopping in a part-score with 26 HCP and a 9-card spade fit will be a big loser on the long run.
Hi Alison, If a 2D response to a Benjamin 2C opening is specifically a negative bid, West has to do something else, either 2NT or 2H. If as I do you play 2D as waiting rather than necessarily negative, West does that. West is going bid 3NT over East’s 3D rebid in any case – I realise 10xxx is not a full stopper but it would be rather unlucky to find East void in the suit.
Some people play that in 3rd and 4th seat a gambling 3NT opening does not deny outside values, in which case East-West might get to 3NT even faster.
The advantage of bidding 3D is that if the hand on your left raises hearts you will be able to compete in spades at the same level. It is difficult for me to compare X and 3D because I would never not be playing some sort of two-suited overcall. If you double and partner bids clubs, you can convert to diamonds – but you are less well placed if the hand on your left raises hearts.
You say that you considered 2S, 3D and X. What does 3H mean in your methods? If shows spade and a minor, just like a Michaels cue bid of 2H over 1H only a bit higher, that would seem a better option than either of those you have mentioned. If you play ordinary Michaels over 1H/1S, it is normal to play it over a weak two as well, unless you have agreed something different of course.
Sitting under the bid a trump holding of K753 is nowhere near adequate for leaving in the double, so South should have done something else. 3D is the normal bid. Takeout doubles are for takeout.
In the first auction you would definitely expect the doubler to have exactly four spades. In the second auction the doubler is likely to have four spades but a hand with five spades too weak to bid 3S is also possible, as also is a hand that plans to convert 4S to 5C – the second auction is a lot more cramped so the doubler will not always have the perfect hand.
Bidding is not an exact science – if you consistently make the percentage action, you will show a profit in the long run, just not on every single board.
