What to do?

Playing matchpoints. Both sides are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠73
♥974
♦T8632
♣Q72

Three "Passes" to your Partner who opens the bidding 2♣. The Opponents do not come in the auction. You respond with a 2♦ "waiting" bid. This shows zero or more points. Now Partner bids 2♥. They should have a five card suit.

You have a TERRIBLE hand. What is your call?

Show Answer

If you have a second negative bid I'm okay if you want to bid that. If you don't know what a second negative bid is you don't play it.

Otherwise you've GOT to support your Partner's suit!

Bid either 3♥ or 4♥ -- depending on what Partner thinks is weaker.

But you've GOT TO BID!!!

If you "Pass" 2♥ Partner will play there (unlikely the Opponent's are coming in!) and take twelve tricks!

Yes, twelve tricks with your lousy hand.

You even take three tricks yourself!

Partner's hand:
♠5
♥AKQ32
♦AKQ
♣AK54

Maybe you are thinking Partner should have shown a stronger hand. But they did open 2♣. They show a strong hand when they open 2♣. They don't want to jump to 3♥ over your 2♦ bid because they don't have enough ♥ to do this. That takes up too much room in the bidding also.

No. Partner should rebid 2♥ and TRUST YOU to bid again. Then they will bid their game.

If Partner needed you to have some points to make a game they would have opened the bidding 1♥. Now if you have nothing you will "Pass" and you won't be too high.

If Partner wants to be in a game if you have no points they start with a 2♣ bid. That forces you to bid -- even with nothing!

What to rebid?

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠A
♥AKQ97
♦A6
♣AQ872

You are Dealer. You decide to open the bidding 2♣. You do have 23 HCP (High Card Points) and a very unbalanced hand. The Opponents are silent during the auction.

Over 2♣ your Partner responds 2♦. You play this as just a waiting bid. Partner could have no points but they also could have a little bit of something.

Over 2♦ you decide to bid 2♥. You do have a five card suit. No need to jump because 2♥ is a forcing bid. Partner MUST bid again.

Over 2♥ Partner bids 2♠.

What is your call?

Show Answer

3♣.

Show your other suit.

No need to jump. Partner will bid again.

You also don't want to do anything crazy like bidding 4NT. Partner has NOT shown any values at all. Show your other suit and see what Partner does.

If you do bid 3♣ Partner will get very excited. They also have five ♣! You might even bid the slam!

Responding to a Strong 2 Club bid

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠743
♥96
♦8432
♣9542

Partner opens the bidding 2♣. You play a STRONG 2♣. This is an artificial bid saying "I am strong Partner!" The Opponents are silent throughout the auction. You bid 2♦ which is just a waiting bid. Shows zero or more points and just asks Partner to tell you just WHY they have such a strong hand.

Partner now bids 2♥. This says "I opened 2♣ because I have SUCH a strong ♥ suit I was sure we'd miss a game if I opened it 1♥ and you didn't have enough points to respond. So since I'd HATE it if you passed, I opened 2♣ to make sure you didn't!"

What is your call?

Show Answer

If you can make a second negative bid to show Partner you have absolutely NOTHING in your hand that's a good bid. But that's a little advanced for this blog so I'm going to ignore that bid. (Unless you know it and bid it -- good job!)

So for those who don't have that second negative bid in their bidding arsenal, this is a tough one but I'd suck it up and raise ♥.

But honestly I am good with almost ANY bid but PASS. You CANNOT PASS Partner's 2♥ bid! They opened 2♣ to make sure you WOULDN'T "Pass" them when they showed their ♥ suit! If they were okay with you passing when they bid their ♥ suit they would have opened 1♥.

Since you MUST take a call over 2♥ you have limited options. You can't bid another suit. You don't have another suit.

You hate to bid 2NT because if the hand should be played in NT then you want PARTNER to be the one playing it. Besides you have no tricks in any suit and Partner does not guarantee any either. Sure they have a strong hand but they don't have to have any values in the ♠ suit for example.

So since I can't bid another suit and I don't want to bid NT I'm going to raise Partner's suit even with only two. Maybe they have six in their suit. Who knows?

P.S. On this particular hand Partner has:
♠KQT
♥AKQT3
♦AKQ5
♣7

They take 11 tricks in ♥ (even on their 5-2 fit) but only 8 tricks in NT. (The Opponents take four ♣ and the A♠.)

Responding to a Strong 2 Club bid

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠J96432
♥
♦652
♣T732

Partner is Dealer and opens the bidding 2♣ to show a very strong hand. The Opponents are silent during the bidding. You respond 2♦ which is just a waiting bid. You don't want to show a nice hand and any other bid would. Plus you are curious -- just WHY did Partner open the bidding 2♣? If they have a strong, balanced hand you probably can make 4♠. Partner now bids 2♥. This means they opened 2♣ because they have a very strong hand with a nice suit.

What is your call?

Show Answer

2♠?

If you play second negatives you can do that also. (If you do not know what they are you do not play them.)

But one bid you CANNOT make is "Pass". Yes, you have nothing. Yes, you don't even have trump but PARTNER opened 2♣ to tell you they have a strong enough hand they don't NEED anything from you in order to make a game.

If they needed a few values from you to make a game they would have opened the bidding 1♥. That way if you had to "Pass" because you had no values you would not have missed a game.

Believe it or not Partner can take 10 tricks if ♥ are trump. If you "Passed" 2♥ they will not get a chance to bid again.

If you bid (anything) they will bid 4♥. Now you can "Pass" and you have reached your game.

Bidding a STRONG hand

Here is your hand:

♠AKQJT7
♥AKQ
♦6
♣KJ9

Playing matchpoints and you are vulnerable.

You have a VERY strong hand. You decide to open the bidding 2♣. The opponents are silent. Your Partner raises to 3♣. You have agreed that that shows a GOOD five card suit with two of the top three honours.

What is your call?

Show Answer

Count your tricks.

You have SIX ♠ tricks.

You have THREE ♥ tricks.

You have FIVE ♣ tricks. (Partner has a five card suit to the AQ remember?)

You have 12 tricks. Why not bid 4NT (asking for Aces) right away?

If Partner shows two Aces you can safely bid 7NT. You will have one additional trick in ♦ and more importantly the control of the ♦ suit.

If Partner shows one Ace only you can safely bid 6♠. You should be able to play in that suit even if Partner does not have any ♠. Your suit is good enough. But do NOT bid 6NT if Partner has only one Ace -- you might not have control of the ♦ suit!

In this case Partner shows two Aces and you can safely bid the grand. You are unbalanced and might prefer to play in a trump contract but if you can count 13 tricks go for the NT. The extra 10 points is very important at matchpoints.