Second Hand Low

Dealer:  West Vul: E-W	Kathleen ♠KQT843 ♥AKT3 ♦4 ♣T7
Irene ♠976 ♥J9852 ♦KQ93 ♣K		Freddie ♠J5 ♥Q4 ♦8762 ♣A9432
	Michael ♠A2 ♥76 ♦AJT5 ♣QJ865

South	West	North	East
Michael	Irene	Kathleen	Freddie
	Pass	1♠	Pass
2♣	Pass	2♥	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♥ 5

Playing with a friend, Kathleen, at a local club we had this hand come up. When dummy came down I figured I had 9 tricks if spades split - 6 spades, 2 hearts, and a diamond. But there's no immediate danger so I might as well try for some overtricks. Clubs look like a possible candidate, so after winning the initial ♥ in dummy, I led the ♣T at trick 2. Freddie thought for a little while and then played his ace. I don't know why he didn't follow the rule of "2^nd hand low" but it really cost him this time.

As you can see, Irene had to play her singleton ♣K under her partner's ace. Not only that, but now I knew Freddie had the ♣9, so I could finesse clubs and get my ♣8 good. I ended up getting 6 spades, 2 hearts, a diamond, and 3 clubs, to make 6. Needless to say, this was a very good result for us.

Moral of the story - play 2^nd hand low unless you have a good reason not to. (or you are playing against me. I'm always happy to accept gifts.  :-) )

How Could You Double With Only 3 Points?!?

Dealer:  South Vul: N-S	Michael ♠865 ♥J872 ♦J753 ♣J6
Charlie ♠932 ♥653 ♦KQ86 ♣KT3		Betty ♠A7 ♥K9 ♦T94 ♣A98754
	William ♠KQJT4 ♥AQT4 ♦A2 ♣Q2

South	West	North	East
William	Charlie	Michael	Betty
1♣1	Pass	1♦2	2♣
Pass	Pass	Double	Pass
2♠	All Pass

1♣¹ = 16+ Points
1♦² = 0-7 Points

Opening Lead: ♣ K

At a local club game, William and I had this hand come up. The title of the post comes from the comment Betty made when I put down the dummy, "How could you double with only 3 points?!?!"

First, some background. We are trying to learn Precision and so were trying it out at the club. In Precision, all strong hands are opened 1♣. The idea is that you know the approximate point range of the partnership, and therefore if you belong in game or not, right away. However, a disadvantage is that a strong hand doesn't get to show its suit until the second round of bidding. The opponents can take advantage of that by interfering.

Since we are new to Precision, we haven't had much experience with competitive auctions. While this isn't a rare situation, it is new for us. We hadn't discussed what bids meant after a fourth seat overcall.  Put yourself in my shoes. William opened 1♣, showing 16+ points, and I responded 1♦, showing 0-7 points. Betty then overcalled 2♣ and it passed around to me. What would you do with:

♠865 ♥J872 ♦J753 ♣J6

Do you agree with Betty? Was I crazy to double with only 3 points?

My thinking was, defending 2♣ won't be a good score for us. William has strength, and I have support for all the other suits, so making a double should be safe even though I'm broke. Plus there is a slim chance that William has a good clubs suit and wanted to double 2♣  for penalty, but couldn't double directly because it would be takeout.

It's really easy to be "point-blinded". i.e. just pass because you have a weak hand or keep bidding because you are strong. Shape can make up for a lot of points. Especially at low levels, you should be willing to compete when you think you have a fit (and slow down when you don't)

Of course, there were a lot of other questionable decisions on this hand. Should William have bid directly over the 2♣ bid? Should Charlie have raised Betty? And why did Charlie lead the ♣K?!? This cost them a trick when Betty was convinced Charlie was short in clubs and tried to give him a ruff. The net result was a very good board for us.