[the hog]

Winstonm, on Apr 24 2008, 08:08 AM, said:

I think this entire problem is moot - only one person it seems noticed the queer pass by east. I am noticing the queer pass by north.

In a real game, the auction, had north passed, would have been p-p-1H-P-1S

and the balancing question would be for north, after failing to overcall 1NT.

Well Winston the most likely reason for Nth's failure to overcall 1NT is that this hand is not a 1NT overcall. Certainly not in my book anyway.

[Codo]

Somehow some postersdhad forgotten that this is the BIL Forum.
I doubt that it is winning bridge for beginners to upgrate the north had to 1 NT.

So the basic question is:
You have to reopen and you have a lousy suit but no classic take out double either.

What do you do?

1. Pass, which obviously won't fail for a number, but will often miss a partscore swing or even a game.

2. Bid your suit, which may lose some better fits, 1 NT or 1 ♥ doubled, but get your best (well longest) suit into the picture.

3. Double which may give you some ridicoulus results if you reach the wrong partial but brings all suits into play including the possibility of 1 NT and 1 ♥ doubled.

Maybe I missed something but so far there had been many strong opinions but few reasons.

If effervesce is right with his simulation, 2 Club will bring us to our best fit most of the time, so maybe this should be the bid a beginner should choose.

Of course if you agree that you need a 6 card suit for a reopening in a suit like Andy H or something like Akxxx like Cherdano, then you must double.

But I doubt that so stringent rules will be of much sense for beginners who hate to defend doubled low level contracts or playing in their 4-3 fits.

[cherdano]

Who said I need a AKxxx suit?
Effervesce's simulation doesn't prove anything. Well all know that on average, the best fit is in clubs. However, the question is whether on average you will reach a better fit by doubling (and partner choosing his best option among 1S, 1N, 2C and 2D) or by bidding 2♣.

[effervesce]

On a related note, today (about 30 mins ago actually) I had

Scoring: IMP

---

The bidding was 1♠, two passes to you.

What do you do?

[han]

Codo, on Apr 24 2008, 01:43 AM, said:

Somehow some posters had forgotten that this is the BIL Forum.
I doubt that it is winning bridge for beginners to upgrade the north hand to 1 NT.

Will you stop it! Winning bridge for beginners is to learn to play like the people who win. I disagree with 1NT as well but it can't hurt to see a discussion about this.

Please also edit your post so that it matches what I quoted.

[neilkaz]

effervesce, on Apr 24 2008, 08:37 AM, said:

On a related note, today (about 30 mins ago actually) I had

Dealer: East Vul: E/W Scoring: IMP

♠ 97 ♥ AT3 ♦ K54 ♣ AJT72

The bidding was 1♠, two passes to you.

What do you do?

Put me into the 2♣ column here with a decent 5 card suit. Perhaps we belong in a red suit, but we are often outbid in ♠ anyhow and I want to get my clearly best suit into the picture before opener rebids 2♠ and incase PD has decent support and we can compete to 3♣. Off course if PD was just short of an overcall he'll like my hand and I can raise his red suit and will raise 2NT to 3 expecting him to have 13 or 14 HCP