All News

Gamble…with a king!

There was a bit of gambling taking place with this deal today when it occurred during the recent Gold Coast Teams. There were many declarers and dummies who held their breath before the opening lead was made but perhaps there was a way to bid this South hand which involved less stress.

What say our Panel?

 

We asked our Panel what they thought of South’s first two bids and then what should they do next after North’s 3NT bid.

The hand is awkward because it does not comply with a Gambling 3NT opening which in first and second seats at least should be a solid long minor suit but without an outside ace or king.

Generally, our Panel approved of the 1 opening but were less enthusiastic about the underbid of 3 which followed. There was surprisingly little mention from the Panel of opening 5:

Nigel Kearney “ 1opening looks normal to me. But opening 5 is a decent second choice and could easily work even allowing for missing slams sometimes.”

Kris Wooles “ The Multi 2 I used to play with John Wignall, included a strong two in a minor  but it never came up. Belatedly this would be the hand! Otherwise I would open 1.”

Bruce Anderson “ Not happy with 1 but unless the partnership has a bid to show a strong hand in a minor I can see no alternative; the hand is too good to open 3NT showing a solid seven card suit and little outside. So 1 it is.”

Stephen Blackstock “ 1 opening looks normal. Some may open 3NT, but for me the hand is too strong.”

 

Peter Newell : “I agree with the 1 opening.  While 3NT is an option, it is a better hand than most 3NT openings and opponents know how to defend against 3NT openings these days though the K may be a surprise.”

The rest of the Panel either approved of 1 or made no comment. There were some 3 supporters at one's second turn:

Nigel Kearney “ I agree with the 3 rebid. When opponents are silent, I am not too worried about missing game  if partner passes 3.  We can still right-side 3NT if partner has nothing in clubs. If I bid more, e.g. 3NT, partner might then bid too much, playing me for an extra card, e.g. Kx x AKQJxxx Kxx.”

Kris Wooles “ The 3 bid has an extra diamond more than I might normally have but I do not seem to have an obvious alternative bid.”

Bruce Anderson “ Again not that happy but cannot see an alternative to 3. An immediate 4NT sounds like RKC agreeing hearts.

Agreed. 4NT is certainly not an alternative here. There is though surely an alternative to 3 since a jump to 3NT does not mean 19 hcp balanced: 2NT rebid covers that 18-19 range.

3 gets “the Cornell treatment.”

Michael Cornell “ Clear cut 3NT rebid.  3 is pathetic. Do I expect partner to bid 3NT with a handful of points and a singleton diamond?”

 

Peter Newell  “ 3NT is the obvious bid.  I do not want partner to pass 3 and a black suit lead looks likely against 3NT. So, there is a fair chance my K will be vital. We may need to "right side" things from my hand and partner could have a diamond void.”

Anthony Ker “ The jump to 3NT shows a solid minor, and at least one outside stopper (With no stoppers open a gambling 3NT). So we take a chance on the spades - no one overcalled maybe they are 4-4?. In Precision it’s a 2 opener and 3NT rebid also.”

Stephen Blackstock “ 3 is a big underbid. 3NT is the normal action to show a solid suit with game values.”

Lysandra Zheng “ Would have rebid 3NT, which for me would basically be a Gambling 3NT with too many side controls to open 3NT.”

Leon Meier “ I held this hand and rebid 3NT rather than 3.”

Andy Braithwaite “ No, I don’t like the bidding at all. Either you play a gambling 3NT as a long running minor without a stop or with a maximum of one outside stop.

Either way you rebid 3NT not 3 which should be a broken suit but 15+ points. So, whereas we are probably in the right spot, the path was somewhat uncertain.”

3NT seems a fine alternative to 3 here. Whereas the opening 3NT lacks outside controls, so this rebid is a stronger hand, also with a solid minor, but with controls. How many? Well, if you have the luxury of including a strong single-suited minor in your Multi 2, then this jump to 3NT is weaker, say around the hcps of the above South hand.

Where though can we go after North’s 3NT call? The answer seems to be “nowhere”.

Bruce Anderson “Pass. Taking into account that partner does not want to make a move beyond game after I bid 3, which shows 16-18 high card points, I see no reason to disturb 3NT.”

Kris Wooles “Pass: I would not try and play catch up by bidding over 3NT and would pass.”

A similar response from Leon Meier. 

Anthony Ker “Pass: On the actual auction I am faced with an uncomfortable guess. Spades could be wide open - or no problem at all. 6 is cold opposite Axx Axxxx x Axxx but 5 will fail opposite KQx KJ10xx x QJxx. I will pass and try to look more confident than I feel.”

Nigel Kearney “Pass: Obviously I pass 3NT. We can very easily have a cold 3NT and three or four top losers in a diamond contract.”

We have one mover:

Stephen Blackstock “5: Just a guess, we might be off three top tricks with 3NT easy. However any of the other three suits could be fragile in 3NT and a diamond void and no club ace opposite could be embarrassing. Even if 5 is theoretically down on top, an accurate cash-out may not be straightforward. 

5 also leaves open a raise if partner has lots of controls. 4 or 4NT won't help him much and pass is so very final.”

Guessing the problem is:

Lysandra Zheng "Pass. Tempted to say that because you've given it as a problem that I'll bid the slam (I'm now very suspicious there's some kind of heart splinter situation here), but realistically I'll pass 3NT.

 

The rest of the Panel saw no reasons to move from 3NT. That is because the wrong member of the partnership bid 3NT. The semi-gamble of 3NT by South leaves North with an opportunity to either find a better game contract or explore for slam.

One option is to allow responder to bid 4 in the same way they can after the opening Gambling 3NT. There, it asks opener to bid a shortage. Responder is presumed to know which minor their partner has. Here, the minor is confirmed by the opening bid and on the actual deal, South could respond 4 and North could bid confidently to the right slam.

 

 

It was not spades that was the danger in 3NT but declarer’s own suit, hearts. However, the defence could only take 4 tricks (3 with North the declarer) so that 3NT was safe. The singleton heart meant that 6 was unbeatable. For many, though, it was unbiddable!

Of the 156 tables in the Open Teams, only 31 North/Souths bid and made a slam including 6 in the somewhat fragile 6NT. 87 played in a no-trump game where those who avoided a heart lead, often made all 13 tricks, with East releasing their club hold to hang on to the A. A further 28 played in 5 and a few in miscellaneous games and part-score including one unfortunate pair who received a heart lead to 4NT.

As Kris Wooles said, such hands are rare though the semi- gambling rebid of 3NT is worth remembering as long as 2NT covers 18-19 hcp hands.

Richard Solomon

Go Back View All News Items