Gambling 3NT

28th May – Board 14: Love All. Dealer East.

Historically an opening bid of 3NT shows a solid seven card minor with nothing outside. It’s aim of course is to pressurize the opponents while giving a fairly clear blueprint of the hand to partner. That’s the theory at any rate.

	North: S 7 3 H J 10 5 4 D 8 5 3 C K J 4 3
West: S 8 5 2 H A K Q 8 6 3 D 2 C A Q 5		East: S 10 6 H 9 D A K Q J 9 6 4 C 10 6 2
	South: S A K Q J 9 4 H 7 2 D 10 7 C 9 8 7

West	North	East	South
		3NT	No
???	End

That East hand is ideal for an opening 3NT but it does give West a headache. He can:

1) Pass and hope the opponents cannot take more than four spade tricks.

2) Bid 4H, to play, but which would be defeated by intelligent defence.

3) Bid 4C asking partner to pass or correct. (He knows partner has diamonds of course but that is what you have to do!) Anyway that would be the wimpy selection!

4) Bid 5C asking partner to pass or correct. This would need partner to have no more than two spades and would be the winning action as it happens.

5) Bid 4D – which asks partner to cue-bid a singleton. (4NT with a singleton diamond.) That would enable the partnership to reach a slam if opener had a singleton spade and would deserve to succeed if that were the case.

I know that at the table West passed 3NT – and I have huge sympathy for that decision because spades might not be led or they might break 4-4 – but in any case South knew what to do. I hope they led 4^th highest as a joke!