Friday, February 07, 2003 11:48 AM
Distributional Freaks
PITBULLS:
Freak
hands quite often are a substantial source of IMPS. If one partnership handles
these types of hands better than the other , huge IMP swings result . Judgment and trusting partner is the order of the day
when these kind of hands surface. I held this hand playing with TOM last nite.
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J |
x |
Q |
x |
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T |
|
J |
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9 |
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10 |
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8 |
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x |
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7 |
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x |
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x |
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I gathered up my stupidity and opened 2♠ first seat . LHO overcalled 2NT and Tom doubled .
RHO bid 3♣ so now what ? Due to
your substandard holding , you are not going to leave in the expected double of
3♣ . So you bid in front of the
double and mention your 5 card diamond suit . LHO passes and Tom bids 3♥ now what ?
Tom has been at the table and he has heard you show a weak 6-5 and chose to
bid 3♥ . He knows more about your hand then you do of his
so your pass. Tom had a big hand with a 7 card heart suit and was not
interested in your 6-5 . If you were 6-6 or 7-6 then you have some
justification to bid again . Bid 4♦ if you had a 7 card diamond suit along with your 6
card spade suit but failing that you have a clear
cut pass .
Playing
against the Vinnies , you hear Vinnie not vul open a strong NT and partner vul
bids 3♣.
Your hand
|
A |
A |
A |
T |
|
K |
Q |
K |
x |
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J |
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T |
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9 |
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8 |
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7 |
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Osama
to your right leaps to 4♠
. I bid what I thought we could make and leapt to our vul 6♣ slam . Osama
doubled and I redoubled . Tom took his 12 tricks for +1880 . O.K. what do you
bid if they decided to trust your redouble and bid 6 of a major ? 7 seems to be risky and 6 of a major
rates to be around 5 down which brings it to the 1100 range . I would try 6NT
over their 6 of a major . All the outstanding points are marked in Osama’s hand
so they should be on side . As it turns out 6NT is cold also . Vince should
beef up his 1NT openers !
The last hand comes from Japan where
nobody handled this freak well but the USA won 12 IMPS .
|
A |
V |
K |
x |
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Q |
O |
J |
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x |
I |
T |
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x |
D |
9 |
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x |
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8 |
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7 |
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x |
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Bobby
Wolff opened 1♦ and LHO passes now what ? At the other table the opponents played in a spade game
which is not the best spot as 6♦ is cold .
So with this freak and 7 card trump support bidding your spade suit just
muddies the water . Wolff’s partner leapt to 4NT and the opener showed 1 Ace .
Now what ? At the table , he bid 6♦ anyway on a 2 to 1 chance that it was not the Ace of
hearts . I think this hand is just a matter of setting it up for exclusion
Blackwood . I would bid 2♦ to
clarify the trump suit then take control of the hand with exclusion Blackwood
in hearts . You now know you have a useful Ace as partner shows it to you .
Anyway , trusting partner is the
key element in handling distributional freak hands . If you show a freak hand and she has heard you , trust her.