[phil_20686]

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So you are playing agricultural ACOL, so please don't complain too much about the terrible methods. What does 4!h mean on this sequence? And what would you bid now? You can select multiple options in the first poll if you think there are several "reasonable" options that could be chosen by agreement.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

looks like an autosplinter - the 2NT response generated a game forcing
sequence, so natural is out, you can bid 3H, and bid 4H a 2nd time to
show 6-5, similar is true for a minor 2-suiter.

Depending on your agreement set, I would also assume, that 2C denied
primary spade support.

With a strong 1-suiter North could have bid 4C.

That leaves? No idea, best guess is a auto splinter with a lots of clubs,
and I am bidding 6C - glp, and good bye.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Cyberyeti]

P_Marlowe, on 2011-June-09, 03:41, said:

Hi,

looks like an autosplinter - the 2NT response generated a game forcing
sequence, so natural is out, you can bid 3H, and bid 4H a 2nd time to
show 6-5, similar is true for a minor 2-suiter.

Depending on your agreement set, I would also assume, that 2C denied
primary spade support.

With a strong 1-suiter North could have bid 4C.

That leaves? No idea, best guess is a auto splinter with a lots of clubs,
and I am bidding 6C - glp, and good bye.

With kind regards
Marlowe

Depends, you could also play 4♥ as a bad 6-5 with 3♥-?-4♥ as better. With a strong 1 suiter he probably had a strong jump shift available although might be just below that in strength, but 3♣ is also forcing over 2N so he could have done that. I can't visualise a hand that would want to autosplinter that couldn't bid 3♣ first time, and isn't happy doing so second time.

Also the splinter seems vanishingly unlikely in that one opp has doubled spades, and the other has not bid hearts at the 2 level with at least 5 of them and most likely 6 (even if he is R/W).

On that basis, I'd guess partner has the hearts, whether he's up to 3♥...4♥ being better than a direct 4♥, only the OP can guess at.

[Free]

For me this is an autosplinter, showing a long ♣ suit and short ♥. I have a nice hand for him, so I'll bid 4♠ (5♣ would be the weakest option). If partner wants to ask Aces now, I'll be able to show my Aces and perhaps ♦K. I haven't thought it through but at first sight we shouldn't eliminate grand slam imo, my offensive hand may be worth a lot.

[MrAce]

4♥ should not be natural here. I am not familiar with this system so i dunno if he denied or can still have ♠ fit.

What worries me is 6♣ maybe going down on ♦ lead since the lead is obvious. Can pd have something like KQJ x xx KQJxxxx ? 6 NT by us looks decent then, but if he has some thing like Kx x Axxx KQxxxx then 6♣ better.

I think i may just bid 5NT and let him decide which slam, he also knows i shd play the hand when he holds xx ♦.

[Lurpoa]

phil_20686, on 2011-June-09, 03:31, said:

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So you are playing agricultural ACOL, so please don't complain too much about the terrible methods. What does 4!h mean on this sequence? And what would you bid now? You can select multiple options in the first poll if you think there are several "reasonable" options that could be chosen by agreement.

♥
Yes I agree that the best use for that 4♥ bid is an autosplinter.
But really that is something your partnership should have agreed upon begore using that sequence.

[gnasher]

phil_20686, on 2011-June-09, 03:31, said:

So you are playing agricultural ACOL, so please don't complain too much about the terrible methods.

Is it OK if I complain about the spelling? "Acol" is the name of a road, not an acronym, so it should be written "Acol" rather than "ACOL".

If your flavour of Acol includes Delayed Game Raises, I suppose he might have a 4135 13-count. However, I'd assume that it was a splinter for clubs.

[TWO4BRIDGE]

phil_20686, on 2011-June-09, 03:31, said:

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It sure looks like a classic auto-splinter for ♣.
What bothers me is that Responder is forcing to the 5-level missing 3 bullets, not to mention the ♦K.

And if he is void in ♥, that means the Opps have 11 between them ... why aren't they bidding them ?

[Free]

Lurpoa, on 2011-June-09, 06:37, said:

♥
Yes I agree that the best use for that 4♥ bid is an autosplinter.
But really that is something your partnership should have agreed upon begore using that sequence.

Agreed upon? No, because it's pretty standard imo. It's like sitting with a pickup partner, you open 1NT and he responds 2♣. How are you going to interpret this?

[Lurpoa]

Free, on 2011-June-09, 07:43, said:

Agreed upon? No, because it's pretty standard imo. It's like sitting with a pickup partner, you open 1NT and he responds 2♣. How are you going to interpret this?

♥

Isn't that expecting a little too much from partner ?

[paulg]

Need more info. Was the 4♥ bidder you or your dad?

[gwnn]

LOL @ autosplinter. Probably 6 clubs and 5 hearts. In most systems other than Acol I wouldn't take it like this, though.

[hrothgar]

Normally, I would expect this to be an autosplinter, however, i am having a great deal of time rationalizing this given the opponents bidding (or lack thereof)

I have a doubleton heart.
If partner has a stiff, then the opponents have 10 hearts between them.
How can there not be some bidding?

[phil_20686]

paulg, on 2011-June-09, 11:09, said:

Need more info. Was the 4♥ bidder you or your dad?

Douglas Piper.

For those not in the know, he has played in the Europeans and the Camrose for Scotland. He is sometimes a little inventive in the bidding. (But I was more concerned about what it should mean than what he actually had (which is beyond absurd: xx QT9xxxxx xxx Void).

I got a lot of stick for bidding 6C, apparently it was "obvious" to Pass according to the other players at the table.

[TWO4BRIDGE]

phil_20686, on 2011-June-09, 11:42, said:

Douglas Piper.

For those not in the know, he has played in the Europeans and the Camrose for Scotland. He is sometimes a little inventive in the bidding. (But I was more concerned about what it should mean than what he actually had (which is beyond absurd: xx QT9xxxxx xxx Void).

I got a lot of stick for bidding 6C, apparently it was "obvious" to Pass according to the other players at the table.

Ask Doug if he considers the following as self-splinters:

1C - 1H
1NT - 3S!/4C!/4D!

.... because they ARE !

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For the given hand, I agree with P_Marlowe.

2NT you said established a GF auction.
Sooo, 3H by Responder would have been forcing.
Thus, using the generic definition: 4H! is a "jump-over-a-forcing bid "( 3H ), and thus, is a splinter.

[mr1303]

First rule of being sensible - don't punt slams when you're not sure what's going on. Hence I tried 5C. If this is meant to be a splinter agreeing some suit or other, then at least we've found a playable spot and partner may be able to raise if slam's there and at least we know he has clubs...

[helene_t]

I don't think partner will bid slam over 5♣. We have three aces, it is our duty to bid slam.

Anyway, I chose 5♣ because I am not convinced that it is an autospliter. It might be 5-6 as Csaba says.