[ibraves]

IMPs, Swiss Teams 7 board matches converted to VPs

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Your options are 3N as a serious slam try or a non serious Q at the 4 level (or I guess you could sign off )
Unfortunately you dont know whether partner is balanced or has a GF hand with a club suit. Bidding 4S over 2S would have shown a good club suit, spades and no controls in the red suits

I chose to make non serious slam try figuring despite my undisclosed length I only had 1 KC. I was a little worried partner might overvalue cards in the minors (that weren't aces). Thoughts?

Spoiler

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Slam is excellent and partner signed off over 4c

[eagles123]

Spoiler

why the heck does partner sign off over 4c. You've made a slam try and he has A diamond and AK of trumps

[Cyberyeti]

Am I missing something ? slam appears to be a fraction with the odds but no more.

[ibraves]

Cyberyeti, on 2015-April-07, 11:53, said:

Am I missing something ? slam appears to be a fraction with the odds but no more.

Somewhere between 55 and 60% no? Excellent is probably an overbid but they bid it at the other table

[billw55]

I am with eagles, 4♦ cue seems mandatory.

[Cyberyeti]

ibraves, on 2015-April-07, 12:14, said:

Somewhere between 55 and 60% no? Excellent is probably an overbid but they bid it at the other table

Spoiler

In abstract:

Hearts 2-2
Singleton Q either side
All 4 hearts on the right without a club entry
40.7 + 12.46 + 1.2 = 54.36 but in practice a touch better than that as an underlead of the club ace to partner's K ain't going to happen.

[Vampyr]

ibraves, on 2015-April-07, 12:14, said:

Somewhere between 55 and 60% no? Excellent is probably an overbid but they bid it at the other table

Same goes for us.

We had an appalling auction: 1♥-(P)-1♠-(X)-4♠. Feel free to ATB.

EDIT: also wondering how much worse slam is at our table as heart position rates to be unfavourable. Of course we will probably not diagnose the 6-3 fit anyway, so I don't think it will mKe a difference in the auction.

[Trinidad]

I must say that I don't get this problem at all.

What do you want to achieve by cuebidding, whether serious or non-serious? Do you think that you can tell partner that you have a 5=6=1=1 hand by cuebidding? So, you bid 3NT or 4♣ and partner bids 4♦. How is it helping you to know that partner has the ace or king of diamonds?

What you want to know is how many keycards partner has. If he has three, you bid a small slam If he has four, you bid a grand. If he has two, you stop in 5♠. So, this is a simple hand for Blackwood.

Can it go wrong? Sure! Partner might have
♠Kxxx
♥xx
♦KQJ
♣KQJx
and you will be down in 5♠ (or 7♠ ).

But is cuebidding going to work a lot better when partner has a hand like that? I don't see it.

So, go with the odds and assume that partner will have at least 2 keycards. Take the bull by the horns, bid 4NT and place the contract. Buy partner a beer if he has only one keycard.

Rik

[mikestar13]

Notice that partner has the worst possible heart holding and the slam is reasonable -- a doubleton heart would be much better, while making the ♣Q into the ♥Q makes it laydown (excluding an opening lead or trick 2 ruff--too unlikely to worry about). I would gamble 4NT here. But if I had made a non serious cue, I would have expected partner to show interest, then surely 4NT by me.

[nate_m]

eagles123, on 2015-April-07, 11:45, said:

Spoiler

why the heck does partner sign off over 4c. You've made a slam try and he has A diamond and AK of trumps

billw55, on 2015-April-07, 12:14, said:

I am with eagles, 4♦ cue seems mandatory.

What? No. Look, you have a flat 13 count with a dubious club queen and your partner has denied holding substantial extra values. It doesn't matter that you are control rich, you sign off because slam is really unlikely to be very good. If you bid 4D here, partner holding a hand like ♠Qxxx ♥AKxxx ♦ Kx ♣ Kx, which is a rather big hand for a nonserious 3NT, will keycard and bid the slam. It will have no play.

Not signing off with the North hand opposite an advertised minimum is totally insane.

On the actual hand not being in slam is fine. You are off an ace and a key queen. It's true we'd rather be there than not, but such is life. If anybody has to bid more, it is the 6-5 hand with all the tricks.

[WesleyC]

I don't mind the auction at your table (given your methods) .

North is close to offering 4D over 4c, but 3 small hearts is extremely unappealing.

FWIW, I prefer different method after 1M 2C*, where 2S shows slight extras (ie this hand).

[rhm]

ibraves, on 2015-April-07, 10:38, said:

IMPs, Swiss Teams 7 board matches converted to VPs

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Your options are 3N as a serious slam try or a non serious Q at the 4 level
I chose to make non serious slam try figuring despite my undisclosed length I only had 1 KC.

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eagles123, on 2015-April-07, 11:45, said:

why the heck does partner sign off over 4c. You've made a slam try and he has A diamond and AK of trumps

If my partner makes a non serious slam try I would sign off as well with a flat hand, no reserves for a game forcing sequence, and three little hearts.
If opener does not want to ask for key cards with 4NT he should make a serious slam try, but I readily admit I am no expert on this serious / non serious nonsense.
If I make a slam try I am always serious.

Rainer Herrmann

[ahydra]

I know this hand Our opps bid 1H-1S; 4S-p, with the following discussion (paraphrased)

South: OMG partner, you have two aces you should bid on!
North: OMG partner, you have 6-5, you should SPL rather than 4S!
South: But I only have an 11-count... (actually for some reason he first stated he had a nine-count, until his partner counted it out for him!)

As others have said, I don't think we want to be in the slam at IMPs, so no problem right? North showed his hand already, and South is hampered slightly by the methods - he can't show whether he has this or some generic 4522. No blame.

ahydra

[jdonn]

I wouldn't bid keycard right away in case we happen to be off 3. But the hand seems easily worth a serious slam try IMO. If partner gives me one cue bid then I would bid keycard.

It's sort of random that slam isn't even better than it was, just because partner had three small hearts instead of two. I would definitely want to bid this one.

[Trinidad]

jdonn, on 2015-April-08, 08:15, said:

I wouldn't bid keycard right away in case we happen to be off 3. But the hand seems easily worth a serious slam try IMO. If partner gives me one cue bid then I would bid keycard.

What kind of hand can partner have that wouldn't cue after your serious 3NT? If we are off three keycards then partner will cuebid a king.
If partner will always cuebid, what difference does it then make whether you keycard immediately or after 3NT-cue?

Rik

[mike777]

tough hand I could see many missing this roughly 54% slam at the table.
It sounds like many did miss it.

[ibraves]

jdonn, on 2015-April-08, 08:15, said:

I wouldn't bid keycard right away in case we happen to be off 3. But the hand seems easily worth a serious slam try IMO. If partner gives me one cue bid then I would bid keycard.

It's sort of random that slam isn't even better than it was, just because partner had three small hearts instead of two. I would definitely want to bid this one.

Do you not play that 3n demands a cue?

[gnasher]

Trinidad, on 2015-April-08, 13:15, said:

What kind of hand can partner have that wouldn't cue after your serious 3NT?

The kind of hand that doesn't have a minor-suit control, for example AKxx xxx QJx QJx

[Trinidad]

gnasher, on 2015-April-08, 22:52, said:

The kind of hand that doesn't have a minor-suit control, for example AKxx xxx QJx QJx

Would you respond 2♣ (GF, clubs or balanced) with that hand?

I would bid 1♠ and aim for 4♠ (in case partner supports) or 3NT (when he doesn't).

Rik

[gnasher]

Trinidad, on 2015-April-09, 02:36, said:

Would you respond 2♣ (GF, clubs or balanced) with that hand?

I would bid 1♠ and aim for 4♠ (in case partner supports) or 3NT (when he doesn't).

Rik

I have a systemic way to bid a 4=3=3=3 13-count, and I have a 4=3=3=3 13-count. Why wouldn't I follow the system?