[Jinksy]

---

Also, suppose you managed to bid your way to 6♥, and E leads the Q♠. What's your plan?

If you draw trumps, W shows up with JT3, and E discards a couple of nondescript spades.

If you ruff out the second spade, west will follow with the 5 and 3 in some random-looking order.

[LBengtsson]

decent? google search = acceptable, ok. need ♥ not 4-0, but need finesse, ♣ split or ♣drop, need endplay, need guess? more lucky than ok. i take 4♥, not 6

[msjennifer]

The small slam has a good chance to make if hearts are not 4/0,the DK is in finesse and one makes a correct guess in clubs..No! I,personally,would not like a 6H contract.The North hand is just a winner short of a standard 2C opening and South has a 9 losers hand so I do not think there is anything wrong with the bidding as It went .Had the club king been with South the chances increase a lot becoming almost a certainty if hearts are not 4/0 and the DK is in finesse..

[Tramticket]

This is a very heavy 1H opening. And the alert seems to imply that it isn't even a maximum.

It's either north or "system"! Has north shown a four-loser 22 count with all four aces and a side-suit singleton?

[helene_t]

Playing Fantunes, it might actually be possible to bid this slam, since S has enough to raise.

It's not a very good slam, though.

[Jinksy]

I think people are underestimating the slam. In a constructive auction it would have been maybe 48% (the location of the K♦ doesn't matter if you're taking the C finesse), but E's preempt raises the chance both of the finesse working and of hearts being 4-0. I don't know how to do the maths properly, but my intuition is that the club situation is more important, since that's positive EV for every fraction of a club you take from E (who a priori had 2.5 in expectation), and only makes the slam worse if you give him 2 full hearts (at which point admittedly it seems to make the slam unmakeable).

[PhilG007]

Jinksy, on 2017-December-02, 20:53, said:

---

Also, suppose you managed to bid your way to 6♥, and E leads the Q♠. What's your plan?

If you draw trumps, W shows up with JT3, and E discards a couple of nondescript spades.

If you ruff out the second spade, west will follow with the 5 and 3 in some random-looking order.

IMHO North is the villain here. I consider his hand far too good for a mere 1 heart opening.
I would open 2 clubs holding the North cards immediately proclaiming a very powerful hand.
This would embolden South into action knowing there was a powerhouse facing him.
The bidding could go 2♣3♠ 4♥ ends. If 12 tricks were made,it wouldn't make any
difference. The majority of the field would settle for game rather than risk a dodgy slam which would
give a horrendous score if it failed.

[Jinksy]

Given that 2!C would show 10-13 points and 5+ clubs, I think there are better descriptions of the hand.

[PhilG007]

Jinksy, on 2017-December-03, 08:03, said:

Given that 2!C would show 10-13 points and 5+ clubs, I think there are better descriptions of the hand.

What system are you playing that shows this(?) Come to think of it,
the opening poster didn't mention what bidding system was being used.
I was assuming it was SA the dominant system here on BBO

[maartenxq]

As it is north and south are stuck. Slam is decent but wil be down once in a while. North should however open 2 ♣, bad suit but too much point and controls.
2 ♣ - 3 ♠ - p - p
4 ♥
does not make this easier.
south could venture 5 !h and the slam will be reached.

As for play ♠ 2 rounds of trumps cash ♣ ace, cross in ♥ and ♣ jack. No ♦finess. If ♣ finesse looses you need the bare king.

Maarten Baltussen

[steve2005]

I think opener can make 1 more try with 4♠.
Slam doesn't look that great but opener's hand is worth another try.

[steve2005]

msjennifer, on 2017-December-03, 01:01, said:

,the DK is in finesse

You always lose a ♦ even if K♦ finesse works as they will cover setting up 10.
So need to find Q♣. I think you can pick up 4-0 ♥.

[eagles123]

In my opinion this is a clear no blame

Both n and s have unexpected extras the hands fit perfectly and still slam is far from laydown

IMO looking for blame on this is somewhat pointless it’s just one of those things

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

I dont know Fantunes style systems and have no real experience with it or similar
systems, hence take the following with lots of salt ...
I would say, that 4H by South is an overbid, X is not really promising that much more than
what was already shown.
Given that South is an unpassed hand, the X is just reopening, it wont be bare min,
but it surely does not show 20+ either. Just lets assume, South has a bal. 18HCP with
spade doubleton, would South really pass it out? Even Spade wastage is possible.
A simple 3H may have given you the chance to show the combined strength, and maybe avoid
some silly 4H contracts.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[steve2005]

P_Marlowe, on 2017-December-03, 10:39, said:

Hi,

I dont know Fantunes style systems and have no real experience with it or similar
systems, hence take the following with lots of salt ...
I would say, that 4H by South is an overbid, X is not really promising that much more than
what was already shown.


A simple 3H may have given you the chance to show the combined strength, and maybe avoid
some silly 4H contracts.

I think your right X is pretty well just balancing not 20+.
The only difference with Fantunes South needs less to act over 3S. So catching a slam hand isn't as likely. but with 20+ don't need much from south,.

I don't see how you can say 4♥ is an overbid, what else can be bid. 3♥ as you suggested isn't legal.

[P_Marlowe]

steve2005, on 2017-December-03, 11:03, said:

I think your right X is pretty well just balancing not 20+.
The only difference with Fantunes South needs less to act over 3S. So catching a slam hand isn't as likely. but with 20+ don't need much from south,.

I don't see how you can say 4♥ is an overbid, what else can be bid. 3♥ as you suggested isn't legal.

my fault. unfortunatly you are right, still it my be worth a try ...
Since in this case 4H does not promise anything, ... it is touch and go, if opener moves,
and passing it out is not stupid, just cautious.
The alternative to X is 4C describing the shape, but I would take this as 55.

I voted other, they caught N/S with the well timed preempt.

[Cyberyeti]

LBengtsson, on 2017-December-02, 23:34, said:

decent? google search = acceptable, ok. need ♥ not 4-0, but need finesse, ♣ split or ♣drop, need endplay, need guess? more lucky than ok. i take 4♥, not 6

The decent slam is 6♣ not 6♥

[rmnka447]

The preempt worked.

IMO, it put enough fog into subsequent bidding because of lack of bidding space to make slam exploration all but impossible. The reopening double shows a good hand but not necessarily a 4 loser 22 pointer.
4 ♥ could be bid on virtually anything. There's just too much uncertainty to bid further.

[nige1]

Jinksy, on 2017-December-02, 20:53, said:

Also, suppose you managed to bid your way to 6♥, and E leads the Q♠. What's your plan?
If you draw trumps, W shows up with JT3, and E discards a couple of nondescript spades.
If you ruff out the second spade, west will follow with the 5 and 3 in some random-looking order.

It's hard for North-South to reach the borderline 6♥..

In 6♥, I like LBengtsson's line:
Win ♠A, cash ♥AQ (hoping they break), cash ♣A, cross to ♥K and run ♣9.
If RHO wins ♣Q, you need a miracle in ♦s.
On the bidding, you should probably choose to play for ♦K singleton offside, rather than ♦Kx doubleton onside.

---

[P_Marlowe]

PhilG007, on 2017-December-03, 09:15, said:

What system are you playing that shows this(?) Come to think of it,
the opening poster didn't mention what bidding system was being used.
I was assuming it was SA the dominant system here on BBO

You are right, but there was a hint, 1H was alerted as forcing and explained
as showing 14/15+.
In a standard system context the hand is super max. for a 1H opening,
but it is 2 1/2 suited, i.e. a 1H opener is not completly out of this
world.

If we exchange the 1H opening with an Acol 2H opener, we will have a similar
hard problem, the direct 4H raise will not promise anything except a fit and
some good luck wishes.

With kind regards
Marlowe