[gurgistan]

Partner opens 1M let us say. RHO jumps to 3m. I pass. LHO passes. Partner doubles. RHO passes. Me?

Questions:

1. What should I have passed with after the pre-empt?

2. Is partner making a takeout double?

3. What is partner's hand strength?

4. What am I bidding?

[cloa513]

What do you hold?

[gwnn]

Let's say it went

1♠-(3♣)

your first round actions here are like

x=4+ hearts. could occasionally be 3 hearts if you have absolutely no alternative but very rarely.
3♦/3♥=natural, 5+ suits, often 6, game forcing
3♠=about 8 points, 3+ spades. You should not have an absolute minimum single raise here but you can't bid 3♠ with a limit raise.
3NT=to play. remember that if your stopper begins to be very good, like KJTx, or so, and your hand is not quite sure that 3NT makes because you're not strong enough, you should consider passing, intending to pass your partner's hoped for takeout double.
4♣=good raise of ♠, with or without club control. this should be 13+
4♦/4♥=up for debate.
4♠=limit raise of ♠ or equivalent. this is a murky area. you could have anything from a 3442 10 count to an 5431 6 count. it's difficult to pigeonhole a lot of hands into three bids (3♠, 4♣, 4♠).

So your pass means you're either too weak, or too strong in clubs and you are thinking of penalising.

Your partner's reopening double shows a better than minimum hand and at least a tolerance of the other suits. This should show like

5+ spades
3+ hearts
3+ diamonds (but not necessarily)

It is absolutely normal to reopen with 5-4-2-2 (in this order) with a double. It is not normally a good idea to reopen with 5-2-4-2 with a double, your partner needs to know how many hearts you have

MMkay so

1♠-(3♣)-p-p
x-p-

you should
bid 3NT if you are balanced 10-11 and have a goodish stopper (but not very good)
pull to 3♠ if you have three but not enough to support partner first time
bid 3 or 4♥ if you were considering doubling/bidding 3♥ last time but chickened out
3♦ if you have diamond length
4♣ I don't really know what 4♣ means! sorry. I guess you have a lot of diamonds and hearts but didn't have enough to act? anyone help me?

finally I recommend you pass this double often if you don't know where you're going, even if you don't have a big trump stack. Don't let opponents push you around. Remember those times when you preempted and opponents doubled you and the other opponent was thinking of passing or pulling? Remember how happy you were when he pulled and his partner got a big headache and was thinking OK but what are trumps now ugh ugh ugh. When you preempt, you're hoping they take over and pull the double and misguess strain/level/etc; that means that when they preempt, you should pass doubles sometimes even if you're not sure they're going down. As a general rule (and this is just my rule, few people here agree with it), don't pull doubles to contracts that you don't think will make at least a good portion of the time.

[655321]

gurgistan, on Sep 5 2010, 05:58 PM, said:

2. Is partner making a takeout double?

3. What is partner's hand strength?

2. Yes.

3. With a singleton in their suit partner will pretty much never pass even with a minimum opening, and he will usually double instead of bidding.

[mohitz]

gwnn, on Sep 6 2010, 04:47 AM, said:

4♣ I don't really know what 4♣ means! sorry. I guess you have a lot of diamonds and hearts but didn't have enough to act? anyone help me?

Perhaps 5-2 majors COG?

[gwnn]

right, has to be 2-5 COG.

[mgoetze]

1. Weak hands without spade support.
2. Yes.
3. Enough.
4. Are we supposed to guess you hand? OK, uhm... 3♥?

gwnn posted a good summary, I would like to ammend it by recommending the following for first round actions:
4♣ High-card raise to 4♠
4♦/♥ Fit Jumps
4♠ Distributional raise to 4♠
This might leave you with the question "what do I do with a big hand with diamonds?" The answer is, you start with a double, ostensibly showing hearts, but then correct to diamonds later.

[gwnn]

Strongly disagree. Big hands with diamonds bid 3D. Big hands with 5+ hearts bid 3H and hands with 4hearts or not so big with 5 hearts double.

Mgoetze might like negative freebids on the 3 level but they are difficult to play and unpopular on all levels in most parts of the world.

[mgoetze]

gwnn, on Sep 6 2010, 10:31 AM, said:

Strongly disagree. Big hands with diamonds bid 3D. Big hands with 5+ hearts bid 3H and hands with 4hearts or not so big with 5 hearts double.

Mgoetze might like negative freebids on the 3 level but they are difficult to play and unpopular on all levels in most parts of the world.

Oh I forgot you still have 3♦. All the easier then, nevermind.

[pooltuna]

1) any non-constructive raise (or better); a hand with -X shape but unable to risk playing at the 3-level; any other non GF hand; any hand that wants to make a penalty X of 3m

2) yes and it does not perforce have xtra values as partner could just be providing protection for your penalty pass

3) as little as a 1-level TOX

4) with a nonconstructive raise hand bid 3M, otherwise normal TOX responses apply

[hanp]

I'd pass at MPs I think.