A Game Decision
With neither vulnerable in a Sectional Swiss Teams, you are fourth to speak holding 
T6 
AKQ953 
853 
KQ. Your LHO opens the bidding with 1 followed by two passes. You make the balancing call of 2 and partner raises to 3, both opponents passing.
How do you feel about this? Do you have any extras for your bidding so far? Most importantly, what do you call?
I have extras, so I would bid 4H.
September 11, 2006 Big Bidder
One thing I read recently (perhaps Mike Lawrence?) is that this balancing bid shows about 14 points. In that case, I have exactly as expected, and I must review the rest of my hand. Good is that my points are combined in the same suit and thus will work together, and I have particularly nice trumps. Bad are my 3 low diamonds as well as my balanced shape. Altogether I think the negatives outweigh the positives, and I should not bid 4H. But these negatives are more applicable to suit play than to notrump. If I were to accept this invitation, I should certainly consider 3NT - a nice partner needs only Qxx, xxx, Kxx, Axxx, or perhaps AQxx, xxx, Kxx, xxx for me to make game.
Initially, I considered only the two choices 4H and pass and was leaning towards a pass. But the more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to talk myself into bidding 3NT. Life’s a gamble, isn’t it…
September 15, 2006 Mark Kinzer
Pass. I have a little more than a minimum, but I could certainly have a bit more still, and partner could have bid 3D with a strong invite. Hands with strong trumps and no shortness are not improved as much by a raise as are distributional hands with somewhat less solid trumps.
An interesting question would be what advance you would expect partner to make with the example hands Mark gives. If 3H, then the 3NT bid Mark is tempted by is quite reasonable. (Partner may pass when it’s down, but 4H will also be down.) Or would partner have bid 2NT? Or would he have bid 3D? I would consider AJxx Jxx xx Jxxx plenty for a 3H advance, so the example hands do have “extras”. (The other way I know they have extras is that, while they are passes of a 1H balance, they are close to advancing even that.)
December 5, 2006 Christopher Monsour