[benlessard]

East opened 1C

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How would you bid that 1 ?

[FrancesHinden]

I'm confused by the thread title: I see neither a take-out double nor a cuebid

I would start
1C 1H P 4C

If East doubles 4C, south redoubles showing first round control & slam interest
If East passes 4C it's slightly more awkward, but South will drive the 5-level and you should get to slam.

[Codo]

If you need to double with the south hand, you play a different game, so +1 to Frances.

[JLOGIC]

Funny, just went on a rant in the other benlessard post about the overcalling heavy madness having gone too far. At least I covered my bases, in that thread I said I would understand it with a stiff spade, especially as here with a not-so-great 5 card anchor suit. So here I would overcall 1H but with 3541 or 4513 or w/e I would X 100 %.

I am going to be honest and say that irl I always bid 4H with the north hand. Slam is very unlikely, more likely is that the next hand will have a bidding problem and I would not like to bid 4C and allow him to X to involve his partner/have more room/know more about my hand/etc.

I guess this is just a philosophical difference because Frances says that it might be difficult to get to a slam after a splinter, and with the south hand I cannot imagine not thinking I'm playing 6 or 7. I mean, xxx Axxxx xxxx x is a slam lol. That said, I would also be just driving to slam with A KQ9xx Axxx Axx, I don't understand how we could not tbh but maybe that is because I jump to 4 most of the time so my splinters are heavier than Frances's.

This is often the kind of spot where top American pairs like meckwell or gitelman/moss are criticized for missing baby slams by blasting early though, I am ok with this kind of result since it is very rare.

To muddy things even further, sometimes 4C will be better if east is always bidding 5C since it will help partner. I like just making the decision as hard as possible whether to bid 5 over 4 and if they guess to do so we have to guess more blindly but I know this is pretty controversial. 4C does seem like the kind of bid that needs a somewhat tightly defined range, I guess frances would start with a stronger raise with a much stronger hand. If 4C has too wide of a range partner will not be that well placed over a 5C bid as well as not knowing whether to move beyond 4H trying for slam.

[dake50]

Agree JLOGIC.
If partner may have every A+K in the deck for a 1H overcall,
then this SK under opening bid +HAJ-5th 4C splinter isn't just blabbing.
Pick away any South side honor and 4H wins.

[Fluffy]

I don't see myself splintering with north's hand, however if 3♣ is avaible as mini-splinter I think I would use it. Otherwise just 4♥

[phil_20686]

Yeah splinter/fit jumps are offensive weapons for me. If partner had enough HCP to think about defending 4Sx he would start with 2N or a UCB. The splinter is more about partner being able to bid 5/4 when its right. When partner has stuck his neck out with xx Kxxxxx x Axxx I want to get my pay day

[FrancesHinden]

Well, maybe I'm biased from a hand the other week where partner didn't splinter on a similar strength hand because he was worried about opponents finding a cheap save, and we missed a mama-papa slam, and only won the match because opponents had somehow got themselves to the 7-level...

[jogs]

I like Frances' auction. North has a 5th heart with the singleton. It may be more pragmatic to play any hand worth forcing to 4♥ is worth showing the singleton along the way.
East should pass 4♣. South can how bid 4♦.