[MrAce]

---

MP

[nullve]

Pass, then 4♠ if partner reopens with a double.

[The_Badger]

You have to take the bull by the horns and bid 3♠ I believe. Partner's is likely to have a singleton ♦, and whilst he didn't double on the first round of bidding, he doesn't need much for 4♠ to be a viable contract.

Passing is wussy, in my opinion. Bidding 3NT is suicide. And dbl. doesn't even enter the equation.

[MrAce]

The_Badger, on 2017-June-17, 03:42, said:

You have to take the bull by the horns and bid 3♠ I believe. Partner's is likely to have a singleton ♦, and whilst he didn't double on the first round of bidding, he doesn't need much for 4♠ to be a viable contract.

Passing is wussy, in my opinion. Bidding 3NT is suicide. And dbl. doesn't even enter the equation.

Don't be so sure about the stiff ♦ outside the USA and/or aggressive opponents. And if he does indeed have a stiff (or void) ♦, he already passed 2♦ as you mentioned, wouldn't you expect pd to balance with some values that are short of doubling 2♦?

[eagles123]

partner can have too many boring hands where 4s is just cold to risk passing imo

[mcphee]

Partner is not going to balance with their expected short diamond if they have not already acted. But they could easily have 3-4-1-5 shape with a useful cards. And if they happen to have 4S game might be a walk, so lots of reason for bidding.

[The_Badger]

MrAce, on 2017-June-17, 04:45, said:

Don't be so sure about the stiff ♦ outside the USA and/or aggressive opponents. And if he does indeed have a stiff (or void) ♦, he already passed 2♦ as you mentioned, wouldn't you expect pd to balance with some values that are short of doubling 2♦?

Agree with everything you say. I looked at the hand for 10+ minutes before posting, and did write "is likely to have a singleton" knowing full well that East's raise could be on a doubleton, and/or West's initial opening could be a 5 card suit ♦AK1098 or similar.

But I'm with eagles123 and mcphee here that there are too many (boring) hands where 4♠ is a walk - or at worse a finesse - and partner can't balance.

[MrAce]

mcphee, on 2017-June-17, 06:21, said:

Partner is not going to balance with their expected short diamond if they have not already acted. But they could easily have 3-4-1-5 shape with a useful cards. And if they happen to have 4S game might be a walk, so lots of reason for bidding.

Pd can not have any hand with short ♦ and some values in pass out seat if he passes. Period. If you are believing that pd will pass with those hands and values, when he knows that we saw him pass over 2♦ and will not get too excited, then we can agree to disagree I guess because that means we belong to different worlds.
Pd can have, however, something like xx Qxxxxx x KQxx which you killed his easy 3 ♥ balancing with your 3♠

On this particular hand pd was in same mindset with you and did not balance, Held

QTx
xxxx
x
AKTxx

[Winstonm]

I wouldn't bid with this hand for a different reason than those already stated - the hand is not good enough IMO for a free 3-level bid as it is 7 losers while the diamond cards are a defensive value but surely worthless on offense. If parter does happen to hold 3 spades, a trump lead reduces the value of his hand considerably, so he would need cover a lot of losers for 4S to make.

I give partner a chance to balance. If he can't, we may be in the best spot defending 3D.

[ggwhiz]

I'm bidding for many reasons and I'm allergic to going quietly against their chosen partscore at these colors.

3♠ only takes 4 card support and a stiff diamond to be playable with very marginal values over there and down a couple in whatever could still be a decent score.

The field matters, ie. in a BBO speedball they are reasonably likely to bid on even after partner raises should that happen.

Game is indeed possible on minimal values with the QJx potentially a trick on offence via a ruffing finesse.

[Nabooba]

This is a clear cut pass. You have a flat hand with insufficient values to bid and your QJx of diamonds are likely to carry no value. Pd has also heard the bidding; I expect partner to double with a singleton diamond and some values.

[rmnka447]

Pass.

Preempts work sometime. The opponents bidding has put it to you on this hand.

The problem is that you have to compete at the 3 level and still don't know very much about the hand. You only know partner is presumably short in ♦ and couldn't bid. Responder could be preempting further, or, especially at matchpoints, could be raising with a good hand to make it difficult for you to compete in the majors. In the latter case, the responding handd could up to just shy of exploring for game -- Axx xx xxx AQJxx or similar.

So, to quote Dirty Harry, "Do you feel lucky today?"

Despite your 15 HCPs, you still have a 7 loser hand with a broken ♠ suit. The decision would be easier if you had KQJ98x AQ QJx xx still 15 HCP but with only 5 1/2 losers. I'd expect a large majority to compete with that hand. But this hand isn't near that good so it's a bit of a leap of faith if you compete with it.

It might be worthwhile to consider what other pairs might do. If 2 ♦-(P)-3 ♦ is a pretty normal option, then how many other pairs are likely to bid 3 ♠ with this hand? If you feel most pairs would have trouble doing so, then bidding 3 ♠ is shooting for a result. If you're right, you get a top. If not, you're likely to get a bad result. OTOH, passing likely gets you no worse than an average minus and may pay off big time if partner finds a reopening bid.

Pay your money take your choice.

[gszes]

p = 8
x = 6
3s = 5
3n = You know way more about this game than I do

I favor pass mainly because IF p can balance it gives us our best shot at getting to the right strain. There is risk involved with pass if p is bwaaaaaaaaak (a chicken) otherwise I would rate p closer to 10 rather then not quite 8.
There just isn't the urgency to bid a Nvul game here at MP so taking a probable plus defending 3d is hardly the worst idea in the world.

this is posted after the fact but it is beyond imaginable that p did not balance over 3d. The KNOW u have values just from the bidding. If they fail to balance with these types of hands you are going to have to take all kinds of risks in direct seat.
Your p should not be afraid to balance because they can always correct a 3s bid to 4c w/o misleading you into thinking they have a monster hand.

[cartruck]

3♠ is what I would bid. I am not letting them play 3♦ as I believe my partner would pass.

[billw55]

Playing bridge, I might pass. All white at matchpoints? 3♠.