When not to open

Questions and talk about interesting deals and situations.
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rod
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When not to open

Post by rod »

Playing with the robots today, I picked up this hand as dealer, white vs. red.

♠ K54
KQ75
A64
♣ 852

Would you open?

I hate passing with 12 high-card points. But I did, because in close situations I count losers* and this has 8 of them. My philosophy is that 7 is marginal and 6 is a definite opening.

LHO opened 1, passed back around to me. I balanced with 1NT and played there.

Partner's hand was:

♠ A86
AJ104
985
♣ KJ6

I scraped by with an overtrick in 1NT where the other table played 4 down 2 tricks after my hand opened 1♣. I see no way to stay out of game if you open.

One handy advantage of passing in a close situation is that it limits your hand, allowing you to take action later without partner getting too excited.
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* A "loser" is a missing Ace, or King in a 2-card or longer suit, or Queen in a 3-card or longer suit.
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