[jillybean]

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Matchpoints. 15-17nt

Do we need an AED? could be a better topic title

[mike777]

One club

Understand one heart

[blackshoe]

I would be inclined to open 1♥ with that hand, except that I would expect my partner to complain that I don't have five hearts. So in the interest of partnership harmony I suppose I have to open 1♣. If partner bids 1 of a suit, I'll pass.

[mw64ahw]

Third seat so 1♣, otherwise Pass

[smerriman]

Everyone seems to open everything these days, but flat 11 counts are still a pass for me.

[jillybean]

We have some nice cards in the majors.

[mikeh]

The old rule of adding your hcp to your spade length and passing if the total was less than 15 has oroven, to me anyway, to be a pretty good rule of thumb, so long as it’s applied with some thought. Here, whether I open depends primarily on partnership style. In my main partnerships this is an automatic opening in 1st and second. Paradoxically that makes riptide at best a borderline opening in 3rd seat. Since partner has denied an 11 count, and I have terrible distribution I’d pass at imps and at mps I might or might not open, depending on my mood, how the game is going and who the opps are.

Now, if partner needed 12 hcp to open, I’d open this hand. My partners don’t.

[DavidKok]

I would pass. I am not a fan of these light third seat openings - partner was already aggressive in first seat.
For me 1♣ would be a close second - this is a good 11, which isn't too far from opening strength. However, I think it's slightly better to pass. 1♥ seems bad to me.

[Tramticket]

I Play Acol (weak NT, four-card majors). We never shade a 1NT opening in third seat - that is asking for a double. So the choice is to pass or open 1♥, planning to pass any response.

The heart suit looks to be a sound lead, so might tip me in favour of a 1♥ opening at mp pairs. Light third-seat openings will often be lead-directing. But do I really want to discourage partner from leading a spade from K10xxx against a NT contract? I pass.

[DavidKok]

Personally I loathe lead-directing bids, and view them to a great extent as excuse in the post mortem. Yes, they can definitely work. Yes, they are popular and widespread. Yes, there are even situations where I will play them. But there is so much bad in with the good. They often don't work even when they come up, and the opportunity cost is tremendous. I draw parallels to stopper based bidding, or suit quality requirements. I am convinced that my lifetime return on these notions is soundly negative. If only nobody had ever taught me of these concepts I would be a stronger player.

[jillybean]

I'm talking exclusively matchpoints here. Bidding is aggressive, most players preempt freely, open all 12 counts, I don't see many club players opening 11 counts.
Holding this hand, doesn't this suggest that by the time the auction gets to you in 3rd seat, HCP is evenly distributed and distribution fairly flat,
or LHO has a rockcrusher. We are competing for the 1 and 2 level contract. Perhaps I'm influenced by playing 10-12nt, but I'm sticking my bid in here. 1C isn't going to create any problems for the ops but it lets partner know we may be able to compete.

[mike777]

DavidKok, on 2025-October-20, 03:18, said:

Personally I loathe lead-directing bids, and view them to a great extent as excuse in the post mortem. Yes, they can definitely work. Yes, they are popular and widespread. Yes, there are even situations where I will play them. But there is so much bad in with the good. They often don't work even when they come up, and the opportunity cost is tremendous. I draw parallels to stopper based bidding, or suit quality requirements. I am convinced that my lifetime return on these notions is soundly negative. If only nobody had ever taught me of these concepts I would be a stronger player.

Wow please elaborate. If I understand your post, stopper-based bidding or suit quality requirements are soundly negative concepts?

[pescetom]

Playing fairly solid 2/1 openings in first (although aggressive when unbalanced) this looks like 1C to me, I have decent cards in the majors and I'm curious to hear what West will say. I see little attraction in 1H here: it's not very preemptive, I don't want to mislead partner about total trumps.

[jillybean]

DavidKok, on 2025-October-20, 03:18, said:

Personally I loathe lead-directing bids, and view them to a great extent as excuse in the post mortem. Yes, they can definitely work. Yes, they are popular and widespread. Yes, there are even situations where I will play them. But there is so much bad in with the good. They often don't work even when they come up, and the opportunity cost is tremendous. I draw parallels to stopper based bidding, or suit quality requirements. I am convinced that my lifetime return on these notions is soundly negative. If only nobody had ever taught me of these concepts I would be a stronger player.

Stopper Based bidding, even 1nt with all suits stopped was passionately taught when I learned the game, and still has a cult like following. It's a hard habit to break.

[thepossum]

I think I am passing
I can't see much point opening

[jillybean]

Who would have thought, this dull 11 count hand is still generating discussion.
At the club today, my partner said he would open 1♥ and said that he and another pard had previously been chastised by a top Vancouver player, and teammate, for opening this sort of hand 1m

[awm]

jillybean, on 2025-October-23, 18:41, said:

Who would have thought, this dull 11 count hand is still generating discussion.
At the club today, my partner said he would open 1♥ and said that he and another pard had previously been chastised by a top Vancouver player, and teammate, for opening this sort of hand 1m

I have to admit, it would not have occurred to me to open 1m. It seems more like a choice between 1♥ and pass, depending on what partner's 1st seat openings look like, and perhaps on vulnerability and form of scoring. My tendency would be 1♥ at NV and pass at V.

[TMorris]

Playing a weak nt the choice is pass or 1nt. I pass. In this position it is all too common for the person sitting over me to have a strong NT If so we will end in some contract doubled or they will play the hand knowing where all the points are.

[mike777]

If there is such a thing as first mover advantage in bridge then NV we should definitely open

If there is some advantage to opening lite in third seat, then we should definitely open

If Not, then pass is easy

If making the opponents overcall rather than open the bidding is advantageous then we should open.

If not then pass is easy

[jillybean]

I don't have a problem opening light.
I did not consider opening 1H and "lying about my major length". This gives me more bids available and another rule to forget.

TMorris , partner may have 9, RHO 11, I'm opening 1nt if 10-12 available