Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - April 10, 2023- Responding to a preempt

 

Question: East responds to a South heart preempt by bidding spades.  West passes assuming East is also preempting.  Should West have responded to East's spade bid?

Vic:

West is dead wrong to assume East is also preempting. In fact, West should assume that 2S by East shows at least an opening hand & a much better spade suit than East actually has. Either way, West is too weak to bid & should Pass. 

Given that both sides are vulnerable, it is my opinion that all four bids cross the line from aggressive to reckless. That is especially true for South rebid of 3H. 

Playing in 3H, South deserves to go down one. Doubled, that would give EW a better score than they could have made playing in a spade contract. 

Ain’t bridge a great game?