[patroclo]

May someone tell me when the fourth of hand may bid, after an open and a reply by opponent ?

Ex: 1m pass 1M ?

When to pass or to double or to bid something.
Thanks

[helene_t]

Similar to direct seat overcalls but a tad sounder:

Suit at 1-level: Decent five card suit, or maybe not so decent suit but a good hand.
Suit at 2-level: Good suit, almost certainly 6 cards (especially when vulnerable)
Dbl: 4-4 in the unbid suits (one of the suits can be longer but with a decent 5-card suit that can be bid at the 1-level, just bid it).
1nt: At least a good 16-count. Some play this as conventional because the natural 1nt never comes up, or is too dangerous. Depends on the opponents' style.
2M (RHO's suit): Natural!
2m (LHO's suit): Probably 5-5 in the unbid suits but discuss this with partner.

[patroclo]

helene_t, on 2015-October-14, 12:06, said:

Similar to direct seat overcalls but a tad sounder:

Suit at 1-level: Decent five card suit, or maybe not so decent suit but a good hand.
Suit at 2-level: Good suit, almost certainly 6 cards (especially when vulnerable)
Dbl: 4-4 in the unbid suits (one of the suits can be longer but with a decent 5-card suit that can be bid at the 1-level, just bid it).
1nt: At least a good 16-count. Some play this as conventional because the natural 1nt never comes up, or is too dangerous. Depends on the opponents' style.
2M (RHO's suit): Natural!
2m (LHO's suit): Probably 5-5 in the unbid suits but discuss this with partner.

And a dbl after a second bid at 2 level. How has to be interpreted ?

1s-pass-2h-dbl

[billw55]

patroclo, on 2015-October-15, 06:37, said:

And a dbl after a second bid at 2 level. How has to be interpreted ?

1s-pass-2h-dbl

It is still takeout for the unbid suits. The hand needs to be quite a bit stronger than an ordinary takeout double though, because it forces us the three level with a partner who has very little or nothing.

[ayebee]

A useful rule of thumb for suit overcalls is the SQOT (suit quality overcall test)
Add number of cards in suit (minimum 5) to number of honours in suit to get the level to which you can bid.
e.g KQ543 5 card suit + 2 honours SQOT = 7 so a safe 1 level overcall

KQ1053 or KQ6543 have sQOT = 8 so are suitable for a 2 level overcall

Vulnerable or in the "sandwich" situation as here I'd want fairly decent honours - J109876 satisifies SQOT for a two level overcall but I wouldn't advise it in this situation

[Vampyr]

An important point to remember is that you should be very leery of wandering into a live auction, especially when the opponents have not found a fit. If the auction peters out at a low level, it is likely that you and/or partner will have another chance to act. If the opponents are strong, you may end up in serious trouble.