Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - June 13, 2022 - Missed overcall

 

Question: 

S has opened, E has 19 HCP and no 5 card suits and chooses to bid a T/O double to “force” partner to bid. Should E advance the bidding or pass? E made assumption that S has 12-13 HCP and E/W are vulnerable so chose to pass.

Vic:

East (Overcaller) has promised only an opening hand with their TO DBL, but East is much stronger than that. East consequently needs to advance the auction. I suspect 3S would be a very popular second call for East.  Hearing 3S, I would expect West (Advancer) to take the auction to game.

 I believe West missed the boat on their first chance to call. Looks to me like West is strong enough to bid 2S on their first bid. For all East knows, West may be broke. West needs to tell East they are not. A jump to 2S by West would have promised in the range of 10 points, plus good spade support. A first call of 2S by West would make it a no brainer for East to go to game.

  Unfortunate waste of a very good hand. Ain’t bridge a great game?