Hand of the Week, Vol. 3 No. 4

This Hand of the Week is from the Saturday evening (30 January) pairs game at the Cabin Fever sectional. The lesson here is "don't get in over your head with a misfit."

Dealer East None vul	Q J T 8 7 6 A T 8 2 T 3 5
4 3 K J 7 6 5 4 3 8 6 8 4		K 5 2 — A K J 7 2 A K J 7 6
	A 9 Q 9 Q 9 5 4 Q T 9 3 2

You didn't open 2 as East, did you? While you do have a 4-loser hand, you have only 19 HCP, two suits you'd like to show, and are likely to need two tricks rather than one from partner to make game since your hand is minor-suit-oriented. Start with 1, planning to jump to 3 next if you get a response from partner.

Now, how should West evaluate his hand? 7 hearts and a weak hand looks like a preempt -- but even as preempt hands go, this one is a really lousy one. 2-7-2-2 shape is a minus, and so is the lack of spot cards in your heart suit. If I held this hand in first seat at equal vulnerability I'd consider it almost a full trick too weak to open 3.

If you play weak jump shifts, you can jump to 2 over 1. If you don't, start by passing; if you get a chance to come back in later, partner should know you have a very weak hand with a long suit. Not playing weak jump shifts, my suggested auction on this hand is

West	North	East	South
		1	Pass
Pass	1	3	Pass
3	Pass	Pass	Pass

Don't dream of running from 3 even with a void: partner has said he is hopelessly weak, and he doesn't have 3-card diamond support, and he has a long weak heart suit. You can be pretty much guaranteed that 3NT or 4 or more of a minor will go down worse than 3 will. With a misfit it's usually better to have the weaker hand's long suit be trump -- your aces are winners in a heart contract, his small hearts are not winners in a club or diamond contract.

If you play weak jump shifts, you might pass out 2 -- or double North's 2 for penalty! -- but rebidding 3 is reasonable too. This lets you find a 5-3 minor fit (if there is one -- no such luck today), rather than what could be a 6-0 major fit. My suggested auction for WJS pairs:

West	North	East	South
		1	Pass
2	2	3	Pass
3	Pass	Pass	Pass

As the cards lie, you are going to take 7 or 8 tricks no matter what is trump. The cheaper you get out, the smaller your penalty will be, and the less likely you are to be doubled.

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