Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - August 7, 2023 - Bid Order

Question: West could have supported East's heart bid on the first bid but chose to show spades.  By bidding spades West forces East to bid again and then can support East's hearts.  Is that the proper order of bidding?

Mark:

West's bidding is not quite standard or correct, but OK in several respects. It conveys a minimum bid with no interest in going further. Can't argue with that. It tends to show no enthusiasm for hearts and probably just 2 card support. That I don't really agree with. There's a pretty good chance that E-W landed on their feet. 

Most of the time 2 hearts will make or at worst go down 1. N-S should be bidding 3 diamonds, making 3, rarely 4. From the auction, everyone knows that each side has about half the points in the deck. That's a time to avoid letting the opponents play on the 2 level. You need to take a risk to get to your own good contract or push them into negative territory. The outcome here should illustrate that point.  

As for West's bidding, the right bid is an immediate raise of 2 hearts. You know there's an 8 card fit and you have no special feature or distribution to suggest you can make game. Making the most accurate descriptive bid is best and let's your partner judge what to do if there is competition or if they have extra strength and a second suit. The actual bidding gave away information that could have let North know that bidding 3 diamonds is fairly safe. 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - August 7, 2023 - Jump

Question:  Instead of 1S should West have jumped the bid?  If so how high should West have gone on the first bid?

Vic:

Good Calls

West (Advancer in the auction as given above) was correct to bid 1S. A common partnership agreement is that a new suit by Advancer in not forcing.  So the subsequent Pass by East was also correct. 

 A common partnership agreement is that a jump shift in competition (2S by West over 1D) would be weak, promising six spades, but less than an opening hand. A jump shift to 3S would also be weak, promising seven spades. So no, West should not have jumped the bid.

 Bad Bid

Shame on East big time for overcalling 1D with their pitiful suit & hand. 

 One purpose of an overcall is to compete for the contract. An overcall holding less than an opening hand should promise a solid suit. Ya think South might be quivering with excitement at the thought of EW landing in a diamond contract? I would be if I was South.

 Another purpose of an overcall is to interfere with Opponent's auction by using up bidding space. Wow, East certainly used up a lot of bidding space, did they not. No gold star award for that one.

A third purpose of an overcall is to suggest an opening lead to partner should the two of you end up defending with partner on lead. I would be embarrassed to encourage partner to lead a suit in which Jack was my highest honor. Keeping score? East is zero for three.

Timid No Bid

 Given that North decided they had a hand good enough to open in 1st seat (I agree), I fault them for being too timid to rebid clubs on their 2nd chance to call to tell partner about their 6-card suit.

Vic Does Auction

 1C     P     1D     1S     2C     P     P     2S     P     P     P

 West deserves to take nine tricks playing in a spade contract. The best NS deserve is to take seven tricks in clubs.

 Ain't bridge a great game?

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - August 7, 2023 - Response

 

Question:

N has opener 1 C, should S have bid 1 D ?

Glenna:

   YES, yes S owes his partner a bid anytime he has 6 points. S should bid 1 D at his 1st bid. People MUST open all 13 point hands and responder MUST respond with 6 or more.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - July 31, 2023 - Bid

 

Question:

This hand had everyone bidding. Should E have bid 4 D over partner’s bid of 3 H?

Mark:

I'm guessing that 3 hearts failed by a trick. N-S can make 2 spades but not 3, so their bidding is fine.

  The ideal contract is a diamond part- score by E-W. % diamonds can be made, but only by playing badly, taking a backwards finesse, which has a much lower chance of success most of the time, but works on this peculiar hand. East got off on the wrong foot bidding the minor suits in reverse order. At first it seems as if E is conserving space by making the cheaper bid first, but look how awkward it became to show the diamond suit. E created the impression that clubs were longer and stronger than diamonds. That's why W felt uneasy about leaving it in diamonds and returned to the hearts. Had East's first suit been in diamonds then showed clubs at the next turn, W could show a preference in diamonds by by bidding it over 3 clubs and even raising to 4 diamonds if the competition got aggressive. East had no idea that W had 3 card diamond support and W couldn't be sure that E had 5 diamonds, so neither had the confidence to go to 4 diamonds, which would have worked out very well. The minor suit distribution and strength of the hand would have been better shown by E first bidding diamonds and bidding clubs next.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - July 31, 2023 - Response to Overcall

Question:

E opens 1C and S overcalls 1D with 15 HCP and 4 D. What should N bid?

Vic:

Holding the North hand, I would bid 1S. 

Entire Auction: Following is my best guess for how the entire auction might go, given the opening 1C bid by East & the subsequent 1D overcall by South. 

 1C - 1D - P - 1S - P - 1NT - P - 3D - P - 5D - P - P - P

 It is also possible South would opt to Pass 3D.

 NS deserve to make 5D. That is not to say they will. If they do, they would score +600.

 The best potential score for NS is +800 which is the score they deserve if EW plays in 1C doubled (going down three).

By The Way: The 1D overcall by South promises a 5-card suit. By overcalling with a suit that is only 4 cards in length , South is proving themself a partner who cannot be trusted.

 Ain't bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - July 31, 2023 -Overcall

 

Question:

N has opened 2 S and S has raised to 3 S, should W jump into the bidding with a 4 D overcall?

Glenna:

I would ALWAYS PASS with the W hand!!! N and S are both bidding and W has a nice hand so there is no room for E to have any points--you've heard where the points are in this hand. So pass and hope you defeat them.

Hope this helps,

Glenna

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - July 24, 2023 - Overcall

 

Question:

N has opened 1D and E has made a weak 2 overcall. What should S do?

Mark:

There are 3 options that would all get multiple votes in a bidding contest: Pass, 3 clubs and Dbl (negative). All three options have flaws. Some would say the hand isn't strong enough to make a forcing bid of 3 clubs (And it is absolutely forcing). Some would say a negative double is unacceptable without having 4 of the other major. Some would say that pass is too wimpy. I agree with all of those complaints, but one of the 3 actions must be chosen. My own choice is 3 clubs. As it happens, North has an easy decision to raise to 4 clubs. Some would jump to 5, but that's pretty aggressive with a nice but aceless hand.  I would pass 4 clubs as South, being very much at the bottom of my range for having bid 3 clubs. Of course, seeing all 4 hands I can see that 5 clubs is unbeatable if played correctly. It requires expert level play to make 5, so 4 clubs making 4 should be a very good board. Meanwhile, E-W can make 3 spades and should have no trouble bidding it. W can be forgiven for jumping to 4 spades, which has a slight chance of success with a N-S mistake. Down 1 for -50 should be an OK duplicate score.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - July 24, 2023 - 3rd Seat or 4th Seat

 

Question:

Should S have opened this hand in 3^rd seat with 11 HCP and 5 S ?

Vic:

Correction: I believe South is in the 4th seat.

 

Answer: A common guideline for opening light in 4th seat is the Rule of Fifteen.  

Rule: Add your total number of spades to your HCPs. If the number you come up with is 15 or higher, you should open. Holding the South hand above, I would open 1S (11 + 5 = 16).

Subsequent Auction: I would expect Responder to subsequently bid 2D & Opener to make a second call of 2NT to end the auction. 

 Result: NS deserve to make 2NT. They can also make 2S or 3D.

 Ain't bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - July 17, 2023 - Bid

 Question:

W is holding a hand with 21 HCP and 2 5-card majors. Partner has 9 HCP and can cover declarer’s short suits. What bidding sequence would maximize the potential of this hand?

Glenna:

Not sure but assume 3 ♦️ was Reverse Bergen. Let’s bid the hand without 3 ♦️ and see if we can get to slam which makes without a ♣️ lead and that would be a horrible lead from N so let’s bid the slam!

              

               N                           E                            S                            W

 

      P               P                    P                   1 ♠️

 

      P                      2 ♠️       P                  4 ♥️

 

       P              5 ♣️ *         P                    6 ♠️

 

* Partner I know you have 20 some points and I like ♠️ but does my A of ♣️ help you? W says yes because I have the ♥️ suit to make pitches if needed. A nice, cold slam that gives you bragging rights for great bidding. Hope this helps.

See You At The Tables,

Glenna

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - July 24, 2023 - Overcall

Question: 

W has opened 1D, what should N bid?

Glenna:

N should bid 3 Ds as that shows the hand totally.  It does make 5 Ds with careful play, but most pairs will play it in 3 Ds.

Glenna

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - July 17, 2023 - Passout

 

Question: 

Is this a passout that should have been opened by N ? IF so, what should be the opening bid?

Vic:

North has 12 HCPs + 2 length points. They also have 2.5 Quick Tricks (2.0 is standard) & only 6 Losers (7 is standard). So yes, holding the North hand I would open 1D. 

 I would expect Responder (South) to subsequently bid 1S, followed by a 2C bid from North. The 2C second call by Opener describes a minimal strength (13-14 point) two-suited hand. 

 I would expect Responder to correct to 2D, ending the auction.

 My hand analyzer program tells me NS deserve to make 1C or 1D or 1S. Their EW opponents have no contract they deserve to make.

 So if EW defend correctly, North will go down one, assuming North plays the hand correctly. But the opponents do not always defend correctly. Do they? And Declarer does not always play the hand correctly. Do they?

 Making the right bids is no guarantee of ending up in a makeable contract. And finding a makeable contract is no guarantee of a positive score. 

Ain't bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - July 17, 2023 - Bid

 

Question:

S is holding 7D and 21 HCP, could this hand be opened 2C counting extra points for length in D?

Mark:

The South hand is strong enough to open 2 clubs comfortably. N is likely to respond 2 spades, showing a good suit and good values. South and north were both too passive in this auction. If you open 1 diamond with the South hand, you should be aware you made an extremely cautious bid. As soon as North is able to bid 1 spade it seems overwhelmingly likely you can take at least 9 tricks at NT. (7 diamonds and at least 2 hearts with a heart lead, 1 club and a heart with a club lead and in this case 3 spades for a total of 12 tricks. From the South position, you can make 6 NT or 6 diamonds, but it takes good guessing after a spade lead and you could go down with an unlucky guess. The jump to 3 diamonds shows extra values, but is not forcing, so you must do something else. If you bid 3NT, you'll probably get a good board, even though you miss a makeable slam.

  Having said that, South should have gotten away with not bidding strongly enough. After the 3 diamond jump North has enough to show the second suit of 5 hearts. Now South can regain the momentum and bid game or slam. Both partners were much too cautious. Bridge is a bold bidder's game.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - July 10, 2023 - Pass out

 Question: 

Is this a passout that should have been opened by E?

Glenna:

N, E and S all Pass, West has to count his HCP (high card points) and his number of ♠️! If they total 15, he should open the bidding. They do total to 15 so W should open the bidding 1 ♣️, N pass, E bids 1 ♥️, S passes, and W bids 2 ♥️, Then it should be passed out. 4th Seat has the most strict rules for opening the bidding qnd I have give them before. If you don’t remember them, write me and I’ll give them again.

Hope this helps and See You At The Tables, 

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - July 10, 2023 - 2NT

 

Question:

E has 21 HCP and opens 2 NT, W responds with Stayman bid of 3 C and when E bids S goes to 3NT. Since W has 10 HCP is there a better bid to invite to slam?

Vic:

The standard for a small slam in NT is 33 HCPs total between the two hands. East has 10 HCPs which means they have a right to expect the total to be no higher than 31 HCPs & possibly only 30 HCPS. Suit contract slams can often be made with fewer than 33 HCPs, but East has no reason to believe they have a suit golden fit.

 Having said that, there are better bids that should have been made that would have probably resulted in a small slam contract. But both should have been made earlier in the auction. And both should have been made by East. 

First Better Bid:  Using all my toes + fingers to help me count, I have concluded that East has 22 (not 21) HCPs. Assuming the standard partnership agreement of 20-21 HCPs to open 2NT, East is too strong to do so. I would open the East hand with a Strong 2C bid (22+), planning to bid 2NT (22-24 HCPs - balanced) with my second chance to call. Knowing that East has at least 22 HCPs should make West especially interested in getting to slam. 

Second Better Bid:  Over 3C (Stayman) by West, East should bid 2H (not 2S). In other words, East should bid "up the line", regardless of the strength of their two 4-card majors. Bidding 2H first, promises a 4-card heart suit, but does not deny also having a 4-card spade suit. Bidding 2S first, promises a 4-card spade suit & does deny a 4-card heart suit. The way East bid the hand resulted in the partners never finding their heart fit. 

Knowing about the additional HCP plus the heart fit, I would expect West to make sure the partners get to small slam in hearts. Turns out EW deserve to make 6C or 6H or 6NT.  

Ain't bridge a great game?

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - July 10, 2023 - Slam

Question:  Did East bid this slam correctly?

Mark:
 

Yes! If anything, that, kind of conservative. Some people would be tempted to find out if W has the A of hearts, even though it's extremely unlikely. Top experts use a convention known as Exclusion Blackwood. You bid 5 Diamonds to ask partner to show aces outside the diamond suit. If they show 1, obviously it's the A of hearts and you bid 7 spades and claim. Even with experts, that bid is an accident in the making. You would find yourself playing 5 diamonds going down a bundle. As it is, E got doubled in an ice cold slam. You don't want to be greedy and redouble. If the opponents believe you and take a non- vulnerable save at the 7 level, you won't even get the value of a vulnerable game. I think a direct 6 spade bid is simple and perfect.