[eagles123]

i was tempted to open this hand 1n

AQJ
986542
A6
K3

(1st seat w/r matchpoints)

I decided to open 1H in the end but is it ever right to open 1n on a 6 card major, of course it's routine with many 6 card minor hands but is it too much of a risk to hide a 6 card major?

thanks

Eagles

[neilkaz]

I don't care for 1NT in a weak NT system as you have weakness in minor suits and often won't want one lead.

Give me KJ9,xxxxxx,AQ,AQ and then I am OK with 1NT in a strong NT system noting good ♠ support so I don't mind being transferred and that I have tenaces in my short suits and often gain a trick on the lead.

In a strong NT system there's also the issue of what to rebid with my hand if I open 1♥.

[eagles123]

oh sorry we do play strong NT should've specified in op

[Phil]

 eagles123, on 2015-July-07, 13:02, said:

i was tempted to open this hand 1n

AQJ
986542
A6
K3

(1st seat w/r matchpoints)

I decided to open 1H in the end but is it ever right to open 1n on a 6 card major, of course it's routine with many 6 card minor hands but is it too much of a risk to hide a 6 card major?

thanks

Eagles

That heart suit could take quite awhile to set up, so if you're pondering this strategy look for a better hand and better stops in the sides: AJT 9xxxxx AQ AJ. I mean, you're looking for a scenario where there's four losers in 4♥ but we have time to gather 9 in 3N.

I remember Fred used to mention doing this here and he had a way to unearth the major.

[1eyedjack]

I opened 1N with 2-7-2-2 once. But that was a borderline psych.

[gszes]

Having a 6 card suit (especially a major) is usually viewed with less a jaundiced eye. How will you ever recover if the bidding is anything but weak and even then what are the odds a 63 heart fit belongs in nt?? If you really feel the need to downgrade your 6 card suit pretend it is 5 and open 1h just do not repeat them.

[jallerton]

 eagles123, on 2015-July-07, 13:37, said:

oh sorry we do play strong NT should've specified in op

If partner lacks 3-card heart support the hearts will take a long time to set up. So why not treat this 14-count as a 14-count? If you want to treat this as 5332 then fine: bid 1♥-1♠-1NT. Obviuosly if partner raises hearts then you can just play in that strain at an appropriate level.

[steve2005]

 eagles123, on 2015-July-07, 13:37, said:

oh sorry we do play strong NT should've specified in op

Why are you upgrading this garbage to 1N? No points in it's long suit only thing going for it is 2 Aces.

[phoenix214]

I have opened it a few times, did not notice any differance(playing good 12 to 15 NT). On one board partner over ruffed the third round of the suit in a part score, we got an above average score. The other time was on vugraph, when i had a 15 count, decided in case for comp auction, i did not want partner to lead my suit. Auction goes 1NT-(4♠), All pass, partner leads the suit anyway.

{comments}

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board 4 from the set.

[WesleyC]

I've messed around with this kind of thing quite a bit and my conclusion is that it's not a crazy idea if you're looking to generate a swing, but the cost of missing your fit if partner has a shapely hand is significant.

I would be more likely to do it holding Hearts than holding Spades, and I also don't think that the suit quality matters much. For example, holding Jx AKQTxx Jx Kxx, it's easy to imagine plenty of 9-11 counts for partner where 3NT makes but 4H is down.

[jodepp]

Is opening 1NT crazy? Is ANYTHING crazy nowadays?

I'd guess there were pro's and con's, just like with any other bid. When faced with a hand like this, I have a weird solution: I ask myself 'how mad will partner be if this doesn't work out?'

If partner is the type who is willing to forgive something unorthodox than doesn't work, then maybe I do it; if partner is the type who will get grumpy, then I don't. Since I can stand a transfer to spades, and if I was in a frisky mood, and if partner could tolerate a potential misadventure, maybe 1NT is 'ballpark'.

[crdshrk]

Figures an Eagles fan would consider opening this 1N

But first priority in game bidding is to reach 4 of a major. And by lying about your major suit length with a 1N bid, you go completely against that. Plus you are lying about your point count.

1N is a recipe for disaster as much as having Bradford or Sanchez as your QB. But feel free to bid 1N on that when you play against me.

Tony Romo

This post has been edited by diana_eva: 2015-July-08, 20:08

[SteelWheel]

A similar sort of situation once befell me. In a regular (yet still mostly "we're basically winging it") partnership here on BBO, I opened 1NT 15-17) with a five-card heart suit. Pard was right there with 2♦, transfer to hearts. We had no agreements to play any sort of pre-accepts. Still, there I was about to play a ten-card heart fit . Surely, bidding 3♥ couldn't be so horribly wrong, could it?

The more I looked at the hand though, the more I realized that if pard couldn't do anything over 2♥, eight tricks was probably the limit for the hand. I meekly accepted and so it came to pass that I took my eight-only tricks for a top score.

Gotta love this game sometimes!

[1eyedjack]

 SteelWheel, on 2015-July-09, 06:30, said:

A similar sort of situation once befell me. In a regular (yet still mostly "we're basically winging it") partnership here on BBO, I opened 1NT 15-17) with a five-card heart suit. Pard was right there with 2♦, transfer to hearts.

One would hope that in this enlightened age the auction up to this point was replicated around the room - except where some might not have been playing 15-17. Opening 1N with a 5 card Heart suit is absolutely routine and mainstream. Doing it with a 6 card major per thread title is slightly more avant-garde.

Some decades ago, when it was starting to grow in popularity to open 1N with a 5 card major (in a generally weak 1N environment where I played) it tended to hinge on the quality of the 5 card major. Supposedly having a particularly weak suit enhanced the benefits of opening 1N. The opening hand in this thread brought back recollections of that time. Personally I have never been convinced by that argument, either in theoretical terms or in experience born out in practice. My recollection is scoring at least as well by opening 1N with values in the 5 card major as without.