Trusting Partner

In the last post, I mentioned finding a particular partner inconsistent. A different partner has some set habits that I know I’ll never be able to change, but at least he’s consistent, and I should know how to handle him by now. (That’s another thing to like about Agent 99: at least she’s willing to work at breaking any bad habits she discovers.)

One good habit this guy has is a tendency to hold good suits for his bidding. It’s not always true, but it works often enough to make some decisions surprisingly viable. Look at this. Both sides vulnerable, I dealt and opened 2♣ on:

♠ A K Q J 10 2
♥ A 4
♦ K 7 6
♣ K 9

Perhaps this is a bit aggressive, but I hate to open a hand as good as this at the one level. Partner only needs a couple of queens or so to make game a fair bet. If I open 1♠ and partner says 1NT (face it, he’s either going to pass or say 1NT), what do I bid next? 4♠? Partner is pretty much certain to pass, and yes I’ll make the contract (probably), but also he might have enough for slam, and we won’t find out until we see the dummy. If I had an Acol 2♠ opening available, that would be perfect, but failing that, I’m going with 2♣. Of course partner says 2♦, and after 2♠ he says 3♦. Now what?

This really comes down to whether you can trust your partner. He doesn’t have much, but he has a diamond suit. If the suit has a chance to run, then you have a chance to take six spades, five+ diamonds, and the ace of hearts for a slam. If he might be bidding a garbage suit, you could easily talk yourself past a making game into a no-play slam.

I wheeled out Blackwood and bid 6♠. Partner had ♦AQxxxx, and there were no defensive surprises: opening leader did well to take his A♣ before the rats got at it. This hand was played eight times, six of them in 4♠ making seven, once in 3NT making seven. I think the opening bid gets some credit, but then there’s also my being able to trust his suit.

A questionable habit this guy has is a fondness for playing no-trump when we have a major suit fit. At matchpoints, this sometimes pays well, but other times it leads to a silly result. And he also tends to punt on big hands, not trusting us to construct a sensible auction. The combination can be terrifying: here’s a sample decision.

Nobody vulnerable, 3rd to speak, you hold:

♠ A K Q 6
♥ A J 9
♦ K 9 5
♣ Q 8 6

Partner opens 1♠, of all things, pass on your right.

You could blast straight to Blackwood, on the grounds that you want to be in 6♠ or 7♠ depending on whether partner has one ace or two. You could take a more genteel route to a similar destination starting with a Jacoby 2NT response. Both of these options being available, of course my partner chose to invent a 2♦ response. Now you hear 3♣, so the opener wasn’t psyching, and is probably at least 5-5 in the black suits. So where do you go now? After due consideration, the bid that emerged was 6NT.

This bid is so wrong. It kills any chance of reaching a grand (7♠ is cold). And spades is quite possibly much safer than no-trump. But, given the nature of the field, hardly anyone is going to be in a grand. And 6NT will then beat all the 6♠ bids – except of course it doesn’t, necessarily, because of the overtrick that isn’t there at no-trump. But what do you know – after two passes, we hear double. The opening leader had no idea what that asked for, if indeed it asked for anything specific. His final choice of a heart was less than successful, as the dummy I produced was:

♠ J 9 8 5 2
♥ Q 3
♦ -
♣ A K J 9 4 2

I’m not proud of that sequence from my side either. Of course I should open 1♣.
1♣ - 1♠; 3♠ - 4NT; 6♦ - 7♠;
Smooth as silk, but not in this partnership.

He has two other bad habits in competitive sequences. He always bids “just one more”, and he never pulls a penalty double. Either of those actions may be right or wrong, but you need some flexibility.

At favorable vulnerability, you deal and pass on:

♠ 10 4 2
♥ K 9 6 4 2
♦ 3 2
♣ 8 7 4

Pass  Pass  1♥      1♠
2♥     2♠     3♦     3♠ 
?
Of course you were worth 2♥ - you have to mention five-card support. But who would bid over 3♠?
4♥     Pass   Pass  4♠
Pass  Pass   Dble  Pass
?
Now your partner thinks you have something. You don’t, but since your partner has at most one spade and a diamond suit, we must be making at least eight tricks in hearts, so pulling the double to 5♥ can’t be a problem.
Pass Pass
Of course, and they wrap up ten tricks with little difficulty. Your partner’s crafty 3♦ bid had intimidated them into missing a game that everyone else bid - leaving them in 3♠ plus one would have been a top. Sacrificing in 5♥ doubled would have been above average. Pushing them into the game and leaving the double netted a big fat zero.

But I shouldn’t complain too much – I know he will do these things.