This week's deal of the week again comes from Saturday's Barometer Pairs. After the game, someone approached to ask what I would open with  AK  Q9xxxxx and nothing on the side. My initial response was that he should pass. But I decided to look up the hand in question when I got home.
Here is the deal:
Apparently, my questioner opened 3, his partner passed and they made six!
Despite having a seven-card suit, the West hand has several defects for a preemptive bid. It has too many losers to open 3 at unfavorable vulnerability. It also has two defensive tricks outside the heart suit. Another defect is that it is as balanced as possible (7-2-2-2), given the fact that the hand contains a seven-card suit. 7-3-2-1, 7-3-3-0 and 7-4-1-1 are much better distributions. Hands that are as balanced as possible are never as good as you think they are. There are just too many defects to open this hand 3.
In order to gauge if one should preempt, and how high the preempt should be, we usually use the rule of 3 and 2. When not-vulnerable, we overbid by three tricks; when vulnerable, two. The rule is really only valid when the vulnerability is equal for both sides.
At unfavorable vulnerability one should be more conservative. If you are doubled and go down just one trick, you lose 200 points - more than any part-score the opponents can make is worth. If set two tricks, doubled, the 500 you lose is more than any game the opponents can make.
At favorable vulnerability, you can take more chances. Some people overbid by four tricks when the opponents are vulnerable and they are not.
How do you know how many tricks your hand is worth? It's pretty simple. Count your losers and subtract from thirteen. A loser is defined as any missing Ace, King or Queen in each suit. No suit is considered to have more than three losers.
This hand has:
Suit |
Losers |
 AK
|
0 |
 Q986543
|
2 |
 J6
|
2 |
 63
|
2 |
a total of six losers and therefore seven winners (13-6 = 7). According to the rule of 3 and 2, at equal vulnerability, it qualifies to open 3 vulnerable or 4(!) non-vulnerable.
Conclusion: I hate to pass hands like this. Because of the defects mentioned above, especially the fact that the hand has two quick-tricks, I would opt to open 1, not 3.
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Barometer Pairs
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Don't forget our Barometer game every Saturday. This is a fun game and it is becoming our most popular game of the week!
I am currently working with a gentleman man in England to enable a Swiss Pairs program to run with our hardware. Stay tuned for news about this exciting new game. |
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815 NE 15th Ave
Just a reminder, due to a previous commitment by St. Demetrios, Bridge Ace will be closed next Tuesday, September 23.
