[Cyberyeti]

Dealt this hand while practicing, any suggestions ?

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[helene_t]

T/o doubles apply through 7♦ so that would be my choice.

[Winstonm]

Helene’s bid seems reasonable

[nige1]

Cyberyeti 'Dealt this hand while practicing, any suggestions?'
++++++++++++++++++
A hard guess. The form of scoring might make a difference but not much
Opener might be serious with say ♠- ♥- ♦AKxxxxxx ♣AKJxx
In which case you might push opps into a making grand -- or he might just be mucking about. Anyway, I rank
1. 6♠ = Hope it's not too costly but you lack defensive surprizes.
2. Pass = Without much hope and lead ♦Q
3. Double = Unlikely to work.

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[LBengtsson]

there is no right or wrong answer to this imo. players bidding like this in first position will usually hope to make the contract, or be just one trick from making it, hoping for some defense error. I agree with nige1 opener could have 0-0-8-5 with something like ♦akjxxxxx ♣Akjxx. I do not think opener will have a pre-empt here but a genuine strong hand.

it depend if you are a poker player or not also. 6♠ or X if you are. I am not so 'Pass'. 'Pass' will not land you with big penalty. most partners and/or teammates do not like players who turn up with a bad penalty score. a bad penalty is worst than bidding only game when slam is on imo. it is probably wrong to 'pass'. it is probably impossible to pass without hesitation lol! so, it look like I will bid 6♠ also. if big penalty I will buy drinks for my teammates for rest of the tournament

[mikeh]

Despite helene’s comment about double being takeout ( with which I am not sure I agree with if she meant it’s a double that should almost always be taken out), I’d expect double to be left in most of the time. I’d expect it to be taken out only if partner has something like KQxx Jxxx void AKxxx, where he might (but might not) bid 7D.

The analogy I’d make is a ‘takeout’ double of a 4S opening. It’s not penalty, but partner is expected to leave it in unless he has good shape. Whether that holds up exactly on this auction is unclear. People who open4S generally hope for something useful in dummy and otherwise expect to go down. I’d guess that someone who opens 6D is a lot closer to making in his own hand than the usual 4S bidder, especially when his partner hasn’t yet had a turn.

I’m not overly worried about not having specific agreements here. I’ve never opened at the 6 level myself and have had it happen against me exactly once in over 45 years of bridge.

I’d pass.

I expect to be on lead if I double, and while I can hope they go down (and I’d guess they’ll fail more often than make), turning 50 into 100 isn’t worth the stress, let alone turning 920 into 1090.

As for 6S, I’d bid if the vulnerability were favourable….if they make, our number will be no more than about 1100 and could be a lot less…heck we may even be raised to a cold grand.

However, bidding to make seems unlikely to happen and going for 800 into 920 isn’t a big deal.

Meanwhile, especially at imp pairs, going 500-1100 against +50 is a disaster.

IOW, it’s a crapshoot, and I tend to avoid being a hero in high-level guesses. Usually that works and sometimes I end up looking silly. Could well happen here, but no one freak hand is going to make me change my approach.

I hope I’m playing with one of my regular partners because we may need to card very carefully on defence. I’d start with a high heart…I’m not too much worried about dummy having a stiff trump AND a stiff side suit but I am trying to find out as such as possible about shape, rather than losing a tempo by leading a passive diamond.

[Cyberyeti]

If you double, partner has Kxxx, xxx, void, J10xxxx, do you expect them to pass ?

[sfi]

Cyberyeti, on 2021-September-20, 02:37, said:

If you double, partner has Kxxx, xxx, void, J10xxxx, do you expect them to pass ?

Partner is going to pass on most hands without real expectations of making the contract they bid. So yes, I do expect partner to pass here.

[Cyberyeti]

What was actually going on ?

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6♦ makes an overtrick. 6♠/7♣ are cheap saves