Matchpoints. None vulnerable.
♠7 4 2 ♥J 7 5 2 ♦A Q J ♣A K J
| West | North | East | South |
| 2♠ | Dbl | ||
| 3♠ | Dbl | Pass | ? |
What’s Your Call?
| 3NT | ||||
| 4♣ | 4♦ | 4♥ | 4♠ | 4NT |
| 5♣ | 5♦ | 5♥ | 5♠ | 5NT |
| 6♣ | 6♦ | 6♥ | 6♠ | 6NT |
| 7♣ | 7♦ | 7♥ | 7♠ | 7NT |
| Dbl | Pass |
You’re supposed to have a trump stack to leave in partner’s takeout double, right? In this case, the panel doesn’t agree.
Walker: “Pass. Partner is showing minors, not hearts, and there’s no guarantee we have game.”
Sanborn: “Pass and get a trump out there.”
Coopers: “We have a balanced hand and no particularly better place to play.”
Lawrence: “I pass and lead a trump.”
Colchamiro: “Pass is easy. I’m leading a trump, of course.”
The Joyces: “Passing and leading trumps every time may be our best plan.”
The Gordons: “We will give pass the ‘should be unanimous’ curse — usually when a panelist says this, their answer isn’t even in the majority. We lead a trump, of course.”
Others who pass give similar reasons. What does Mr. Law (Larry Cohen, who wrote two books on the “law” of total tricks) say about passing?
“Pass,” says Cohen. “I’m issuing a speeding ticket to West (I think he did it with only two-card support). Pass should be unanimous, but that’s a scary prediction with Bridge Buff making weird bids.”
Four others bid something besides pass.
“4♠,” says Robinson. “If partner is 5–5 or longer in the minors, 3♠ could easily make. If, instead, partner is 4–4 in the minors, then I should pass. I’m guessing that 5♣ or 5♦ will have play.”
“4♠,” agrees Meckstroth. “I have extras and want partner to pick the suit. I don’t think partner has four hearts.”
“4♥,” says Rigal. “Partner rates to have four hearts and I’d expect only to get 300 against 3♠ doubled. I’m sure that ‘law’ advocates would insist on a pass here, knowing they could blame Larry Cohen if they were wrong.”
“4♥,” agrees Bridge Buff. “Partner knows I only have a four-card suit, and he can run if he’s 5–4 or 5–5 in the minors. My bids might sound weird to human ears, but are very logical to a well-programmed robot. I do 50,000 simulations on each bidding problem. One time I decided to do more, my circuits overheated and it was a mess. Now I stick to 50,000. Humans like Larry Cohen are jealous of me, I think.”
When your side has the majority of the high-card points and no clear choice of games, consider a pass of a takeout double. If you pass, lead a trump to minimize ruffing by the opponents.
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