Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - Monday, May 31, 2021- Bidding at the 3 level

 

Question: What do you need to bid at the 3 level after you pass?   They made this bid but I did not think North had enough points to bid 3H?

Vic:

By passing on their first call, North has already promised less than opening point count. So all they really need to bid 3H without misleading partner is long hearts & shortness (ideally a singleton or void). As South, I would initially be mildly surprised to discover that North held only five hearts (I would have been expecting at least six). 

Thanks to the Pass by East & the Weak Two bid by West, however, North did have good reason to believe that South had a legitimate opening point count. Given that with their long spade suit West probably has shortness (maybe in hearts), there is a decent chance South also has at least 3 hearts. Imagining a golden fit in hearts, North may have given themselves some points for their void in spades. In poker I believe that might be called "betting on the come". 

So the 3H was definitely an aggressive bid, but certainly not significantly unwarranted. In bridge aggressive (but not reckless) beats timid. And in this case the 3H bid worked out rather well. 

Comment: change North's three of hearts into a small diamond OR small club & I would anticipate the North call over 2S to be DBL which I would expect South to interpret as for Takeout.