Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - December 5, 2022 - Penalty Doubles

 

Question:  Is there any rule when to invoke a penalty double?  The Robots made this bid with the penalty double.

Mark:

I mean this very seriously. 

There's an old saying that I think is valid. If you don't double some contracts that turn out to be cold, you are not doubling enough. 

Many terrible results are due to a failure to double when there is no certainty of setting the contract. In a duplicate game, the auction makes it sound like the same contract will be reached everywhere and the East hand will often double. If everyone in 4S goes down, which is more likely than not, then everyone who fails to double will get a bad score, assuming the same tricks are won and lost at most tables. Even in a team game I would double with the East hand. As long as there are no overtricks, the IMP loss for doubling a cold game is surprisingly small, typically 5 IMPs. You gain a lot if you set the contract 2 or 3 tricks. Moreover, you have an intangible gain as your opponents avoid bold bidding against you in the future. Only at rubber bridge would I not double 4 spades on the bidding shown. That's because of the chance that the double could help declarer find an unlikely line of play to make a game that would be defeated without the warning. 

Knowing that the opponents are facing a 5-0 trump break, a fact they couldn't have known when they bid game, makes it likely that they will take a couple fewer tricks than they expected.

 This hand was unlucky for East. South bid very aggressively with 3 Spades. I'm surprised that North, with significantly more than he might have had to bid 4 didn't make a slight move toward a possible slam by cue- bidding 4 hearts. South would have declined, of course, having less, rather than more, than a minimum for the 3 S bid, but E could be dissuaded from doubling, knowing that N had some thoughts of slam.

 In a game with human opponents at an actual table, I'd think about whether there had been unintended but inappropriate information that kept N from bidding more actively. For instance, suppose South fingered the 2 spade bid before pulling out the 3S card, I would call the director. 

If I were the director with those hypothetical facts established, I'd award an adjusted score of 4 spades un- doubled. I think 4 spades will make most of the time, even without the warning double. If there's a likely play that would lead to going down absent the double, I'd award an un- doubled set to the defenders, provided they didn't defend carelessly.