[gurgistan]

Scoring: MP

West passes. Partner passes. East bids 2♦. I make a takeout double. West bids 3♦. Partner passes. East passes. I make another takeout double. West passes. Partner bids 3♠. East passes. I pass as partner may be very weak.

1. Is my 2nd takeout double correct?

2. If not what options did I have?

3. What would partner have needed to bid over West's 3♦?

4. Am I correct to leave it in 3♠?

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[gwnn]

I think you bid it well but with a little more you can bid 4♠. 4441 are not as good as they look but they're pretty good.

1. Yes
2. N/A
3. With a 5 card suit, about 7 good points, say.
4. Yes I think so but as I said it's close. you do have a good hand yourself. I wouldn't be angry at my partner for raising here.

[aguahombre]

1. It is a bit aggressive, but o.k...Sort of depends on your partnership's standards for the first double.
2. pass is always an option when 1-above is close.
3. With both Majors, he only needed about 7 to make a responsive double.
With only one, a bit more or a five-carder.
4. You have bid your same hand twice; raising to game would be an insult to partner who saw your two doubles.

[Free]

I think you did well. First Dbl takeout, second Dbl takeout with a little extra (here you have perfect shape as a plus), and now partner decided to play 3♠, we've said all we had to say so a clear pass.

Partner doesn't need much at all. He's pretty much obligated to speak, and with some values he'll jump to game. So I expect him to have 4-5♠ and a pretty poor hand.

[gurgistan]

Scoring: MP

This is partner's hand.

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[gwnn]

That's a pretty bad game you know. You can even get doubled and go 2 down on a very bad day.

[pooltuna]

1) IMO yes

2) you could pass and watch the opps probably make 3♦

3) values equivalent to a constructive raise in his suit

4) IMO yes as he does not have values for 3) and you do not have enough to go to game with this hand.

[hanp]

Double double pass is automatic and anything else is bad. imo.

[lmilne]

gwnn, on Sep 6 2010, 05:10 AM, said:

That's a pretty bad game you know. You can even get doubled and go 2 down on a very bad day.

Game isn't that bad is it? After some top diamond leads you will normally know the diamond suit, then you can ruff a diamond, play some trumps (4-1 is still ok if the club queen is onside, if they are 3-2 you can mess around a bit more). If its safe to play hearts you can try that, find out the heart suit, and come to a reasonable opinion whether it's possible for the weak two to have the club queen. Might make

[lmilne]

and yeah, double double pass, no alternatives at any point.
not sure how close partner is to 4♠, probably not close at all

[MarkDean]

I agree with hanp.

[bluecalm]

Double and double with 2nd double being borderline in a style I prefer (but I still dbl).
Imo partner should strive to bid with anything after 3♦ but his actual hand is tad to weak.
Bidding anything other than pass 3rd time around is terrible.
If partner had 5th spade he should've bid 3♠ after 1st double.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

#1 as always, the answer is: depends
Most players would have streched to respond with 3M, if they would have
looked at a 4 card major, the 2nd T/O is not automatic, at least you are
dead min for the call, and since p is a passed hand, the risk, that you may
miss game is not that high, I would expect, that the points / strength is
evenly divided.
Given that the weak two occurred in 3rd seta means, that it may a little
bit stronger than your typical weak two.

#2 Pass

#3 5 cards in a major and some shape would be enough for me, but the answer
to this question, will answer your 1st question.

#4 Yes, you may not even have a 8 card fit.

With kind regards
Marlowe

PS: Most likely I would have directly bid 3S over 3D, and 4S instead of 3S as
response to the 2nd double is certainly not out of this world, afterall you have a
max. for your bidding.

[bid_em_up]

gurgistan, on Sep 6 2010, 05:58 AM, said:

Scoring: MP

This is partner's hand.

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I would bid 4S with this hand opposite a hand that has doubled twice.

[aguahombre]

bid_em_up, on Sep 7 2010, 07:59 AM, said:

gurgistan, on Sep 6 2010, 05:58 AM, said:

Scoring: MP

This is partner's hand.

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I would bid 4S with this hand opposite a hand that has doubled twice.

This is not out there in left field. If partner's actual hand is (as I believe) quite minimum for the second double, then it follows that her first double in your style was quite decent also --and JT8X AXX XX JT9X was perhaps very, very close to a 3S bid directly over the 3D raise.

I think most of the posters have lower standards for each of the two doubles, though ---making 4S now a bad idea to them.

[bluecalm]

Quote

I would bid 4S with this hand opposite a hand that has doubled twice.

I think it's close. I in general don't like bidding in such a way. I would prefer to bid 3♠ first time around than 4♠ now.

[bid_em_up]

bluecalm, on Sep 7 2010, 02:09 PM, said:

Quote

I would bid 4S with this hand opposite a hand that has doubled twice.

I think it's close. I in general don't like bidding in such a way. I would prefer to bid 3♠ first time around than 4♠ now.

I don't disagree with this, but under the constraints of the original post, I was forced to pass.