Thursday, April 20, 2006 5:51 AM

Forcing passes - Passed Hand

PITBULLS:

Good players open very light in 3^rd seat for opening lead purposes. Should there ever be a forcing pass situation after a 3^rd seat opener ? In my opinion , forcing pass theory should still exist but with a restriction. The passed hand must have made a strength showing bid like a 2/1 or a Q bid or a leap to game after an opponents pre-empt. In addition , you have reached game and the opponents must be bidding at the 5 level .

P-P-1♠-3♥

4♠-5♥-? This is a forcing pass auction for a multitude of reasons. The opponents bidding turns on forcing passes & they are at the 5 level. They have pre-empted and a passed hand partner has bid at the 5 level . Even if they make their contract , more power to hem but forcing passes have been turned on . Partner has contracted for game with a strong bid ( do not pre-empt over a pre-empt) with them most likely sacrificing at the 5 level.

After a 3^rd seat opener and they are interfering at the 4 level and opener has had a chance to pass , I do not think forcing passes should apply.

P-P-1♥-1♠

2♠-3♠-P-4♠

?

This auction should not turn on forcing passes . If partner had freely bid game and they bid 4♠ , forcing passes would be turned on.

What about the mixture of vulnerability and passed hands ? If you bid a vul game against non vul opponents , forcing passes always apply passed hand or not. With other vulnerabilities , the 5 level rule should apply . In other words , forcing passes are not turned on unless they are at the 5 level afteryou have reached your game.

Forcing passes are not 100 % fool proof. However , a 3^rd seat opener & you reached game with them being at the 5 level is enough for the “forcing pass “ gamble. If you double them & they make it , just say “lose 4” when you compare with your partners. The other 9 times out of 10 say “win 12” .