31 March 2011

A little help required

Here's the hand:
J T 9 x x x
K x x x
A K x
-

and here's the auction:
NorthEastSouthWest
1 / / X
2 ?
You're the guy sitting East. Pass the first time is automatic. You might consider passing if North passed the double but that's been taken away from you.

What's going through your head, what things should a player consider, and where is all this going?
If you're the kind of person that needs more information make it up or, better yet, tell us how it's affecting your thought processes.

3 comments:

  1. Issues for now or later in the auction are :

    vulnerability?
    how aggressively does my partner balance?
    is this pairs or teams?
    did north have an "eight playing trick" opening bid available?

    I think regardless of the answers to those, I'm doubling nine times out of ten. It's ostensibly for take-out in my partnership, showing the unbid suits, but if partner has something respectable like

    x - Axxx - Qxxx - KJTx

    she can pass and we'll take the positive when game is marginal our way (given a 4-1 heart break is likely). At teams scoring, double certainly seems a safe bid.

    If partner's values aren't in clubs, then game our way is looking fairly likely - though we'll have to figure out what to do over 5C...

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  2. Surely double should be penalty here, as partner has 'promised' the suit.

    I'd go with 3♥. At least partner may raise with five-card support but otherwise we may be best out of game.

    What do you think 2♠ should mean?

    ReplyDelete
  3. With most of my partners, I play double says I was going to pass 1S doubled, but it also promises at least two clubs.

    I think I'd jump to 3H also.

    ReplyDelete