Mike’s Bidding Quiz

What should have been done differently? South has a good takeout double, but it is not good enough to double and then bid 3♣. This auction would be all right if South had one fewer spade and the ♣Q. As it is, 3♣ is an overbid for two reasons. You have only five clubs, and you have too weak a hand. Those are two serious strikes against you.

If you double 2♥, it is still for takeout. If you double the same suit twice in a row without hearing from partner, the second double is takeout
promising a king or so more than your original double promised.

South doubled and got a 1NT response from North. 1NT shows a few points, but it is nothing special. When South bid 2♥, he promised an 18-point hand with good hearts. This hand has neither of the requirements. South should overcall 1♥ and hope that he can show spades later.

South had way too much to bid 1♠ on the first round.

Double, therefore, was the correct way to come into the auction, but South bid too weakly on the second round. He should have bid 3♠, showing a hand that is almost worth a game. If North has anything to speak of, he will go on to game.

South went through the usual thinking that he would double to show an opening bid and then would bid spades, forgetting that this sequence would show a very good hand. What happened was that South was not able to bid his spades at all. He doubled 1♦, West raised to 2♦ and North bid 2♥. This bid can be made with 6 points and four or more hearts, so it does not promise much. South, who had hoped to be able to double and then bid 1♠, found that he would have to bid 2♠. And that was before East bid 3♦, which meant that South would have to bid 3♠. South knew that his hand was not that good.

North continued to 3♥, something that is fairly common, and South now had to decide whether to leave North in 3♥ or to bid 3♠. Neither bid had much to recommend it and South chose to pass.

Regardless of whether this was a success, the auction was a failure.