[Poky]

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[mikeh]

Partner has shown both minors, or a hand that can cope with whatever I do when I bid on that assumption, so I bid my better minor.

2N, which so far has garnered the only two other votes, strikes me as very weird. I understand the stopperless 1N we often have to perpetrate for lack of better options, but 2N is not an equivalent call.

After a stopperless 1N, the partnership has lots of room to explore the right contract and to find out if a stopper exists. Such room really doesn't exist at the 3 level. And a 1-level overcall can be based on a weak hand, whereas few players overcall at the 2-level without decent values, and, often, a 6 card suit.

One of the statements made in an old Bridge World, discussing the stopperless 1N when it was a novel idea, was to the effect that once the opps run their suit, we'll take the rest. Which is fine when all we need is 7 tricks and the opps rate to run only 5 in theirs. The dynamics are far different when there is a good chance that they will run 6 tricks, and that the opps have extra values in addition, and we are one or two tricks higher.

[gszes]

Poky, on 2012-February-13, 10:00, said:

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we have pretty much a piece of junk minimum and bid 3c P knows
we would prefer to bid 2n if we had a heart stop. If p needs
a partial heart stop they can now bid 3h to ask for one and
we will dutifully bid 3n. If p is short in hearts the fact
that we lack a heart stopper might allow us to reach a minor
suit game we might otherwise miss. 2n would keep us from
finding that game.

[whereagles]

Since mike hates 2NT, that must obviously be my choice

Now seriously.. I believe in shape/strength before stoppers. 2NT just means a minimum balanced hand and that's what I have.

[JLOGIC]

This hand is really brutal, my standard with this shape is to bid 2S but I don't think I can stomach it on 5 to the jack.

[mikeh]

JLOGIC, on 2012-February-13, 13:21, said:

This hand is really brutal, my standard with this shape is to bid 2S but I don't think I can stomach it on 5 to the jack.

I almost posted the same: KQxxx would get me bidding 2♠ in a heartbeat (no pun intended)...so....given that we agree that 2♠ is 'out', and given that the rules of bridge do not allow 'abstain' as a sufficient or legal call...what's your poison?

[JLOGIC]

I would bid 3C

[benlessard]

3C WTP for me, Im not afraid to raise to 2S with Hx and extras values so here im not even tempted to bid 2S/2Nt

[Codo]

I would bid 2 ♠,
I thought it is quite common to rebid his suit with a hand where no bid seems to be right, so partner won't expect more then this in spades. But I guess I should ask him, what 2 NT/3minor/3Heart now shows/aks.

[S2000magic]

3♣ - partner's asked me to bid my better minor, not some gosh-awful spade abomination.

[Yu18772]

Although 2♠ doesnt promise anything more than our opening did, but still like mikeh and Jlogic - cant stand 2♠ with that suit, and AQx in a partners suit, so 3♣ for me.....on KJxxx,JTx,Ax,Axx would bid 2♠. Would never think of bidding 2NT without a stopper.
Yu