[eagles123]

This is what actually happened at the table: Just a teaching table so not that important but me and partner had a bit of a disagreement over blame

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North: I've shown a powerhouse with my 5c bid and you should realise the strength of your hand

South: I'm showing extras by doubling 5H and you should bid on with that shape

Many thanks

Eagles

[P_Marlowe]

#1 Souths passing 1D is ok, although borderline, 1NT is certainly a good alternative
#2 3S is not enough, 4S.

[Cyberyeti]

The worst bid in the auction is 2♥ by a mile then 3♠.

I wouldn't pass partner's 1♦, but that is a style thing.

[P_Marlowe]

Cyberyeti, on 2015-March-01, 05:44, said:

The worst bid in the auction is 2♥ by a mile then 3♠.

I wouldn't pass partner's 1♦, but that is a style thing.

I overlooked 2H, ... one can argue about reopening (i.e. pass or 1H),
I will keep the con arguments in mind and watch the results, but 2H is
certainly úseless.

[Wackojack]

Having underbid with 3♠North is in a slightly awkward situation after Partner bids 5♣(surely has to be 1st RCand most likely void)and East bids 5♥. Nevertheless North should grasp the nettle and bid 6♠.

[wanoff]

After his initial pass, South is well worth 4♥ at his next turn and then 6♦.
Don't agree with the double which suggests defence.

[wank]

south is on crack: of his 4 calls, only his original pass is not absurd.

5c by north is pretty poor - he shouldn't be catering to south having hands like this for a gentle raise to 3s in comp.

east and west are also pretty clueless.

doubling in these auctions never shows extras btw. the only time you can play it like that is when you pre-empt and the same hand doubles which should show extra offence.

[Hanoi5]

I also blame South. I believe the double shows a defensive hand, here we have 2 aces and a very offensive hand given partner's bidding.

[mgoetze]

I'm not sure what South is showing here, really, but consider how delighted North would be to declare a spade contract if South's hand were actually 9xxx Axx x ATxxx!

[rmnka447]

On the actual auction, South definitely gets the lion's share of the blame IMO.

North has essentially shown a 6 ♦- 5 ♠ by his free bid over 2 ♥. Then over the opponent's 4 ♥, North has bid 5 ♣ rather than settle for a simple competitive 4 ♠. By bidding 5 ♣, North has forced the contract to be at least 5 ♠ on the simple raise South has made. So, to my mind, North is showing a 1st round ♣ control and extras.

Holding the ♦ A, South can see that North is looking at a ♦ loser. North should have a maximum of 2 rounded suit cards. Based on the bidding, it's highly unlikely North holds ♥ xx ♣ - (void) as that would have the opponents competing to 4 ♥ on only an 8 card fit. So North is highly likely to hold either ♥ - ♣ Ax or ♥ x ♣ A.

So South's ♥ A should cover any outside loser in North's hand. The stiff ♦ A should insure no ♦ losers. South also has ♠ Jxxx versus no more than xxx promised by the 3 ♠ raise. These are all undisclosed values that North can't know about or assume in making his/her bids so far. So if it's right for North to force to at least 5 ♠ with the North hand, these undisclosed values make it right to bid slam.

I think South has a clear raise to 6 ♠.

BTW, I would also bid 4 ♠ instead of 3 ♠ earlier in the auction.

[fourdad]

First error rules...South has a clear 4♠ bid, 3♠ is a woeful underbid.
South the compounds the error with the X.

100% South.

[eagles123]

ok I was North cheers

[Fluffy]

I can't understand people passing 1♦ or even thinking it is reasonable, how can it be reasonable to play 1♦ when you are close to making 7♠?, yeah gran slam is not what you should aim for, but playing in an inferior fit and missing game are real hazards for passing.

[PhantomSac]

Fluffy, on 2015-March-05, 01:50, said:

I can't understand people passing 1♦ or even thinking it is reasonable, how can it be reasonable to play 1♦ when you are close to making 7♠?, yeah gran slam is not what you should aim for, but playing in an inferior fit and missing game are real hazards for passing.

FWIW I totally agree with you, I would never pass 1D. I think people get caught up in "well we overcall light, we might be in 1N with LESS THAN HALF THE HCP!!!!," but RHOs pass is a huge clue. Either they are broke or have a trap pass. The latter is not that likely albeit possible when we have the DA and an 11 count, far more likely is that they don't have enough to bid. In that case bidding 1N is pretty safe and partner being at the higher end of his range is more likely.

I mean I would overcall KQT9x and out without blinking an eye. But partner doesn't have that! RHO would not have a trap pass, nor would he be broke if that were the case. A large part of overcalling a 6-17 range (or even wider, I would overcall with 5 or 18 sometimes) and handling it is trusting the opps a little. When RHO passes partner is probably not airball unless a trap pass (again unlikely given our hand). When RHO starts bidding and we have 15, partner is always airball, bid accordingly.