This Week in Bridge
(562) Other Balancing Actions
©AiB Robert S. Todd
Level: 4 of 10 robert@advinbridge.com
General
When our left-hand opponent opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, we have a big decision to make – should we get into this auction, or should we leave the opponents to play at the 1-level? We have a variety of bidding tools to help us compete in the bidding, but we need to use our judgment about when to compete in the bidding and when to keep quiet. Here we look at some of the classic bidding situations where we have a difficult decision and then overview some of bidding tools in these auctions.
Simple Overcall
When our LHO opens the bidding, the auction passes around to us, and we have a long suit, we often compete in the bidding with our long suit. We bid in the passout seat more aggressively than normal because we do not want to let the opponents win the contract too low.
In this balancing seat we may have to make an overcall with a suit quality or hand quality that is weaker than we normally would in the passout seat.
Example 1
1♥ P P __
♠ 83
♥ A5
♦ QT873
♣ KJ63
Here is a hand where we would not overcall 2♦ in the direct seat, but in the balancing seat we would overcall 2♦ to try to compete in the bidding.
We keep in mind that these balancing seat actions might need to be done with less than ideal hands, because it is a now or never situation.
Takeout Double
In the balancing position we can use a takeout double to show a traditional 3-suited hand:
3-5 cards in all the other suits;
Shortness in the opponent’s suit
The one thing that is different is that we can make a takeout double with fewer HCP than we would normally have – about 9 HCP is enough.
Note: A double can also be used when we are planning to “double and bid” to show a big hand, but we remember that “double and bid”, which normally shows a good 18+ points, can be made with a good 15+ HCP in the balancing seat, since we are borrowing 3 HCP from partner.
Michaels Cuebid
A Michael Cuebid is used to show a 2-suited hand with one bid. The bid shows at least 5-5 distribution. In the direct seat the values needed to use a Michaels cuebid are either minimum (6-11 HCP) or maximum (16+ HCP).
Example 2
♠ AQ983
♥ 5
♦ AK542
♣ 76
1♥ P P __?
We can bid 2♥ here, since if we “borrow a King” from partner, we would have 16 HCP – Maximum Michaels values.
Pass!
Pass is literally a 4-letter word, but not figuratively one! When the auction passes around to us, we are our side’s last line of defense, but we still do not need to bid on every hand. In many situations, pass can be a good decision. There are two classic situations where we bid bad things can happen:
Example 3
1-Major P P __?
If we take action and Opener then jumps to 4-Major, we may have just allowed them to bid and make game that they otherwise would not have bid. So, we need to make sure that we have some defense if we come back into the bidding.
Example 4
1-minor P P __?
One of the common hands that Opener holds in this auction is a balanced 18-19 points. If we come back into the bidding here, then the Opener may get to improve the contract by rebidding 1NT, instead of leaving them to play in their 3-3 or 4-3 minor suit fit. We need to be careful coming back into this auction when we have length in their minor suit.
The bottom line is that sometimes it is right to pass the auction out, so we should not be afraid to do so.
Bidding Tools Overview
When our LHO opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, we have a variety of bidding options. We generally “borrow a King from partner”, so that affects the ranges we have for bidding. (The HCP we have listed here are actual values that we hold.) Here is a list of our bidding tools:
Pass – Bad hand or decent hand with a good holding in their suit
1NT – 11 to 15 (16) pts with a balanced hand and usually a stopper in the opponent’s suit
Simple Overcall – Decent suit
Jump Overcall – Intermediate values, 13-16 HCP with a decent 6+card suit (almost a double and bid hand if we borrow a King
Michaels – 5/5 hand (both Majors or Major – minor, depending on the auction) and 13+ HCP (always the Maximum)
Double – 3-suited hand, about 9+ points (or occasionally the big “double and bid” hand)
Conclusion
When LHO opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, we are our side’s last line of defense. We need to have good agreements with partner about our options for how to compete in the bidding and then we need to use good judgment about which bidding tool to use or to just let the opponents play at the 1-level. This can be a difficult decision!