I dealt and passed - LH opponent passed, partner passed and RHO opened 1 Heart. Holding:
♠ K98 ♥ 109 ♦ A986 ♣KJ2 can I double as this is the first opportunity to do so?
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I'm assuming that the cards in the question are your cards, in the conventional ordering of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. You certainly can make a takeout double at this stage - you have a shortage of your opponent's bid suit, and no major shortages elsewhere - but the question is, do you really want to? With such an uninspiringly flat hand, only 11 HCP, and a partner who has already indicated that she doesn't have an opening hand, it seems unlikely you're going to be able to seriously compete in this auction, even in the best case scenario. Supposing you force your opponent to bid here - do you really want to end up in 2C or 2D with a marginal fit and about 20 points between you? (Not entirely a rhetorical question - maybe if you have 60 below the line, or your opponents have 70 below it, you do!) If you're not worried about ending up in a miserable minor-suit partscore or, even more likely, giving your opponents a little more information about the lie of the cards than they previously had, then this doesn't seem an actively diabolical bid. In general though I would adhere to the rule of thumb "third hand low, fourth hand high": given that your hand in the fourth seat is so unexciting I'd usually just keep quiet and hope for more interesting cards next time around. |
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My answer is yes, to the "first to bid" part, and not quite to the "should I double" part. My personal requirement for a takeout double is 14 points. You have 12, (11 in HCP, one for the doubleton in hearts), which I consider too weak for such a bid. Change the hand slightly to: ♠ KT98 ♥ --- ♦ A986 ♣KJ92 and I'd double in a heartbeat, with three points for the void, and at least four cards in each of the other three suits. Note that you seem to be missing a card in the original question. If the missing card is a low spade (so that you have four), that would make a better case for a double, even with your hand. And if the missing card were the queen of spades, then I'd certainly double with 13 HCP and a doubleton in the opponent's suit. |
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