[jillybean]

---

teams tonight

[mw64ahw]

You have the balance of points so X, otherwise I would expect play to go as as per any agreement versus interference over 1N but I guess that doesn't exist either?

[pescetom]

X, it's what I would have agreed anyway.

[Cyberyeti]

I don't like x simply for the reason that opener could have A♦ and 5 or 6 club tricks, so I could be about to look very stupid.

My diamond would be 4+ and not a weak NT, so I would bid 3♥ (fit), not sure what is standard here.

[apollo1201]

I was gonna say Xers will see DA plus AKQJ 6th of C while realizing they were cold for 4H. But it was pointed out already.

2NT is similar to Truscott but it implies a 5th D and buries H forever. Partner will never guess we have a 5th H if we bid 3H after the likely retreat to 3D.

Those who play transfers here have an easy bid but it is not standard.

2C for majors is popular here maybe you can try this and it will work especially when partner does not bid 2S.

[jillybean]

mw64ahw, on 2026-May-30, 01:06, said:

You have the balance of points so X, otherwise I would expect play to go as as per any agreement versus interference over 1N but I guess that doesn't exist either?

How does Leb work here?

X 8+hcp, pass <8 hcp appears to be popular here in Canada

[jillybean]

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2♠ transfer

[apollo1201]

 jillybean, on 2026-May-30, 06:05, said:

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2♠ transfer

Luckily it was advancer and not overcaller who had Cs. At least we won t write down -180 but we are not clear yet.

If we pass, it should not be forcing (we could have Xed with 9 HCPs so it does not clearly make us majoritary enough for pass to be forcing, right?) but at least it says I cannot X that. And see if partner can move over this. Safe but if it goes pass pass we will regret it (we have to sit if partner Xes). Low risk low reward.

3H now would clearly express our strength but we might have nowhere to go. High risk high reward.

Knowing your opening style (D = 3+ or 4+, C = 3+ or 2+) and if advancer promises 5 or 6 C could help assess the likelihood of H fit opposite.

But let s take the high road anyway.

[mike777]

 jillybean, on 2026-May-29, 23:29, said:

---

teams tonight

Double if they run clubs, so be it

[jillybean]

mike777, on 2026-May-30, 08:01, said:

Double if they run clubs, so be it

They did, 670 in the wrong column.

My auction wasn't exactly like this, I tend to make the worst possible choice when under pressure.
This auction comes up perhaps once every 18 months, I hope that remembering it is the opposite of D0PV will help. (or making a generic CC)
Not all was lost, we won by 2

[mw64ahw]

jillybean, on 2026-May-30, 05:55, said:

How does Leb work here?

X 8+hcp, pass <8 hcp appears to be popular here in Canada

We play a modified version of Hello here (transfer advances?) so with partner I bid 2♦ ♥s and follow up with 3♦ showing x54x forcing to 3N

[mike777]

jillybean, on 2026-May-30, 08:15, said:

They did, 670 in the wrong column.

My auction wasn't exactly like this, I tend to make the worst possible choice when under pressure.
This auction comes up perhaps once every 18 months, I hope that remembering it is the opposite of D0PV will help. (or making a generic CC)
Not all was lost, we won by 2

Did you lead a heart vs 1ntx?

The fact that they did not run, tells me they are ready for a d lead...but....

[pescetom]

jillybean, on 2026-May-30, 05:55, said:

X 8+hcp, pass <8 hcp appears to be popular here in Canada

X 8+hcp, anything else competitive NF is still non-expert standard AFAIK. Certainly easy to agree and play.
It's not hard to imagine ways to do better, but there are lots of variables to pin down and this is a relatively low frequency situation.

"Perfection is the enemy of Good" (Voltaire)

[mikeh]

jillybean, on 2026-May-30, 05:55, said:

How does Leb work here?

X 8+hcp, pass <8 hcp appears to be popular here in Canada

Only amongst weak players. Wtf do you think makes 8 hcp a penalty double? Does an opening bid of 1D promise a strong notrump?

I know a lot of players, some very good, who double with 9 counts. Not me. I want my penalty double to say that they are usually going down, not to say that we have close to half the deck….which in my experience rarely leads to beating 1N.

I guess I’m out of touch. But I like my results.

[mikeh]

jillybean, on 2026-May-30, 08:15, said:

They did, 670 in the wrong column.

My auction wasn't exactly like this, I tend to make the worst possible choice when under pressure.
This auction comes up perhaps once every 18 months, I hope that remembering it is the opposite of D0PV will help. (or making a generic CC)
Not all was lost, we won by 2

What did you lead? I can’t imagine not leading a heart

[P_Marlowe]

jillybean, on 2026-May-30, 05:55, said:

How does Leb work here?

X 8+hcp, pass <8 hcp appears to be popular here in Canada

Your lower floor depends heavily on how freq. you open submin. hands.
I think 9HCP is closer to the mark, but again if you believe in opening all
... you should raise the floor.

At the end you only need 50% to make the X worthwhile, the main problem is,
how high the X generates a forcing pass.
And if later doubles are penalyt of T/O, I prefer T/O.

You dont need Lebensohl, weak single suited hands can bid their suit direct,
it is a common idea, to play 2C as majors.

If they run to clubs, you can bid 3D, you have a fit, you should show the fit.
Partner will have at most 4 clubs, this means they have a club fit, and you have
a diamond 8+ fit.
Going for blood at lower levels with a fit is seldom a good idea.

[jillybean]

mike777, on 2026-May-30, 14:14, said:

Did you lead a heart vs 1ntx?

The fact that they did not run, tells me they are ready for a d lead...but....

mikeh, on 2026-May-30, 14:54, said:

What did you lead? I can’t imagine not leading a heart

No, I said my auction wasn't entirely like this.

mikeh, on 2026-May-30, 14:53, said:

Only amongst weak players. Wtf do you think makes 8 hcp a penalty double? Does an opening bid of 1D promise a strong notrump?

I know a lot of players, some very good, who double with 9 counts. Not me. I want my penalty double to say that they are usually going down, not to say that we have close to half the deck….which in my experience rarely leads to beating 1N.

I guess I’m out of touch. But I like my results.

I would not call the player who recommended xw/8 weak, but perhaps you would, you are in a different class.
It didn't work here because opener had a very minimum hand and perhaps, as was suggested on another thread earlier, we may need to adjust some agreements if we are making these light openings or its a cost and hopefully the net result is a +.

I'll post the full hand later

[mike777]

I think in general you think about doubling 1NT with 10+, not fewer. Of course you need not double with all tens.
.

[mikeh]

jillybean, on 2026-May-31, 08:54, said:

No, I said my auction wasn't entirely like this.



I would not call the player who recommended xw/8 weak, but perhaps you would, you are in a different class.
It didn't work here because opener had a very minimum hand and perhaps, as was suggested on another thread earlier, we may need to adjust some agreements if we are making these light openings or its a cost and hopefully the net result is a +.

I'll post the full hand later

When you hold 8 hcp, RHO shows a strong notrump sitting over your partner, who has most of the defensive assets and whose normal strength is 11-14 (didn’t open 1N, if playing the usual NA 15-17) do you really think that you are favoured to go plus? Partner will be minimum more often than maximum…the closer one is to 10 hcp, the more common your hand. And when an opponent promises 15-18, opener will be even more likely to be minimum.

You need to become somewhat more sceptical about advice that a few minutes of reflection should tell you is at best problematic. That’s not to say that one will never go plus doubling on 8 but who gives a damn about going plus, say, one time in 4 when you’re getting a zero the other times. Unless your declarer is hopeless, I promise you that doubling on 8 hcp will not be a net plus. In fact I’d expect them to make an overtrick more often than they go down.

[awm]

mikeh, on 2026-May-31, 10:07, said:

When you hold 8 hcp, RHO shows a strong notrump sitting over your partner, who has most of the defensive assets and whose normal strength is 11-14 (didn’t open 1N, if playing the usual NA 15-17) do you really think that you are favoured to go plus? Partner will be minimum more often than maximum…the closer one is to 10 hcp, the more common your hand. And when an opponent promises 15-18, opener will be even more likely to be minimum.

You need to become somewhat more sceptical about advice that a few minutes of reflection should tell you is at best problematic. That’s not to say that one will never go plus doubling on 8 but who gives a damn about going plus, say, one time in 4 when you’re getting a zero the other times. Unless your declarer is hopeless, I promise you that doubling on 8 hcp will not be a net plus. In fact I’d expect them to make an overtrick more often than they go down.

I feel like some very old bridge books advocate doubling on 8. Perhaps openings were more sound in those days (it may go back to Roth/Stone or something).

In the modern style it does seem like 10+ is more sensible.