June 2008 - 35

It's Your Call

for offense. The majority of the panel
bid 2.
"2," says Lawrence. "Passing
will leave you wondering later if you
should have bid. This is your chance."
"Might as well have my say now,"
agrees Kennedy.
"With 6-5, come alive?" ask the
Colchamiros.
"With 6-5, come alive," answers
Meckstroth.
"I would like to have better hearts
or a better hand, but too bad!" declares Baze, who also bids 2. "I
have the club void and 6-5 pattern, so
I have to get us into the auction."
Sanborn agrees. "Close whether to
bid with such poor suits, but 6-5 is
too tempting," she says.
"Dangerous to bid, dangerous to
pass," says Cohen. "The deciding
factor is my void in their suit. Partner
could easily have enough for game,
such as:
A 8 7 A 10 2 J 9 8 4 K 7 3."
What does a fifth grader think?
"2," says Jeng. "I have six hearts
and a distributional hand."
Others don't agree with 2.
"Pass," says Falk. "They are in a
forcing auction; I may as well listen.
I can always bid later, possibly with a
better shot of showing both my suits.
Holding 6-5 with no texture and no
real high cards is just a four-digit
number waiting to happen."
"Pass," agree the Coopers. "We
have to wait a round before bidding.
Partner may have a club stack or the
opponents may have a big spade fit.
Who knows, but let's not lie to our
partner about our strength."
"I can't see any percentage in trying to declare, and I'm not even sure
I want either of these suits led," says
Walker, who also passes. "If partner
can't enter the auction, it's unlikely
we're missing a game."
Two experts bid 3.
"It's not a classic 3 bid," says
Rigal, "but I want to make their life
tough. Maybe it will end up making
my own life tougher!"
The Sutherlins agree with 3.
"If we bid 2NT, it would be unclear
as to whether it is natural or for the
two lower unbid suits," they say. "If
we pass, our next chance to bid may
June 2008

be over 4 or 5. 3 is risky, but
necessary."
"2NT," says Robinson. "This shows
the red suits, and I'm treating my
hearts as a five-card suit."
Several experts considered 2NT,
but didn't think it showed a twosuited hand.
The panel majority admit that their
hand is weak in high-card values, but
can't resist entering the auction.
5. IMPs. North-South vulnerable.
J K Q 9 7 6 5 A J 9 A K J
West
4

North
Pass
Call
Dbl
5
4NT
5
6

East
Pass

Votes
14
4
0
0
0

South
?
Award
100
50
0
0
0

Double or bid your long suit?
You have a choice between doubling and bidding your six-card suit.
Four experts choose 5.
"I think this is close between 5
directly and 4NT followed by 5
(showing extras)," says Meyers, "I
don't have quite enough to bid 4NT
first, so settle for 5."
"5," agrees Falk. "Double, followed by 5 would show a much
better hand. I am never going to pass,
so I make a straightforward bid."
"5," echoes Rigal. "Close my
eyes and hope I have an understanding partner. If I double, my partner
will realize that
8 7 4 J 8 4 3 K 7 5 4 6 4,
makes 5 a good bid, and:
10 8 7 4 4 3 7 5 4 2 7 6 4,
makes 5 a bad bid, but that is another matter!"
Robinson sees the danger in
doubling and agrees with 5. "If I
double, partner is supposed to pass
with a balanced hand,
8 7 5 J 8 4 3 Q 7 6 4 7 4,
for instance."
The majority choose double.
"Double," says Sanborn. "To bid
5 is too unilateral. I don't have just

a one-suited hand. Sure, it rates to go
all pass, but that could be right too."
"Double," agrees Meckstroth. "I
don't have much luck bidding 5.
We could easily belong in a minor
suit, or defending 4."
What does a fifth grader say?
"I double because I have a lot of
points, and I can protect my partner,"
says Andrew.
"Double, but not happy with it,"
says Boehm. "5 could lead to a
makable slam - or a disaster. Pox on
those pesky preempts!"
"Double keeps all the options open,
unlike 5," say the Stansbys.
Baze agrees with double. "I have
to enter the auction, and I cannot
possibly put all my eggs in the heart
basket when there are three other
places in which we should be playing
or defending."
"We may belong in either five of
partner's minor, or 4 doubled,"
agrees Freeman.
"I understand 5, but double is
more flexible," says Cohen.
When you have to enter the bidding
at a high level, choose the flexible
bid.
So, how did you do? Are you
smarter than a fifth grader? Thanks to
Andrew and Richard Jeng for joining
our panel this month.
r
You can participate in It's Your
Call. Go to www.acbl.org and
click on My ACBL. You can submit
answers each month until the 21st,
at which time the next month's
problems will be available. The top
scores for April are:
John Doucette, Aurora ON
Charles Durrin, Madison AL
Jarek Wyganowski, Fargo ND
Ken Cohen, Philadelphia PA
Arbha Vongsvivut, Godfrey IL
Edwin Katten, Cave Creek AZ
Don McCarthy, Saskatoon SK
Robert Morin, Montreal QC
Luc Gagnon, Baie-Comeau QC
Ragnar Paulson, Barrie ON
Gary Bush, Dallas TX
Bo Xiao, Fremont CA
Rajeev Gupta, San Mateo CA
Kevin Lane, Long Beach CA

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2008
