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DavidKok, on 2026-January-31, 14:08, said:
I normally introduce this particular hand and scenario (spots approximate but the ♠9 matters):
I've gotten all sorts of responses, ranging from 'obvious 2♠' to '1♠ is normal but I am aggressive' to 'I need an extra king to overcall 1♠'. I find this tells me much more than agreeing on any gadget.
As for your list, responses to a strong 2♣ really don't matter to me as they are so rare. If I only have a bit of time, focus on something else.
I've gotten all sorts of responses, ranging from 'obvious 2♠' to '1♠ is normal but I am aggressive' to 'I need an extra king to overcall 1♠'. I find this tells me much more than agreeing on any gadget.
As for your list, responses to a strong 2♣ really don't matter to me as they are so rare. If I only have a bit of time, focus on something else.
To me, form of scoring and vulnerability both matter. I’m more aggressive at mps than at imps and then increasingly conservative as the vul moves from favourable to none to both to unfav. I still remember discussing this issue with Meckstroth (no, we were not peers but we had time at the end of a round I’d played against him and he was generous with his advice which was essentially what I’ve just written)
Your given hand is on the edge for me at favourable at mps. It’d be clear, at those conditions, with the spade 10. I think I’d pass…and of course want my partners to feel the same way at other vuls and at imps.
So I’m old. That’s not news lol. And this is one of those issues that can’t be proven right or wrong.
The light bidders usually (in my experience and this may well not apply to David or other good players who like aggressive bidding) act as if there’s virtually no downside to their methods but of course there is. And not just getting a bad minus in 1S but in getting too high when partner assumes you’ll probably have more (as you will) or pulls back too much when you do have a stronger hand but the auction times out such that you can’t show it…after all the opps are allowed to bid aggressively as well
Of course, much the same thing can be said about how the conservative players lose out when they fail to get into the auction, whether by missing their own contract or by not muddying the waters for the opps or by not directing the lead. That’s why this game is so difficult to program and why arguments such as this will persist for as long as the game is played.