Few Options – Bidding Solution
Thanks to those commenting early. Like Joe, I did a Deal Master simulation and found slam to be about 2/3. So what should you bid?
Part of my reason for bringing up this problem is part of my philosophy. I do not try to place a burden — perhaps impossible — on partner when I have a good idea of the most likely contract. I like to believe that my partners play better with me than with others, partly for this reason. It is a partnership skill that is under-appreciated. It is pretty easy to torture partner and get plenty of wrong decisions.
When I gave this hand to a group of regular partners and teammates in Vegas, they were bidding 4 
and one even tried “double!”
It is pretty easy to imagine minimum balanced hands where partner will have no idea that a move is in order. Furthermore, three small spades may be plenty. A hand with the diamond King and strong clubs and three little spades might work, and you have only used 8 HCP. We are careful to have 2 QT’s for opening bids, and that helps.
When I gave the hand to my expert guru’s, the popular call was 5 
with the idea that they would bid slam regardless of the response, but a grand might be there. Quite a difference between “peers” and “pros”.
Here is what is wrong with 5 . You are not in a bidding contest and you are not behind screens. It is an early Spingold round. Do you really expect partner to make the right decision? In tempo? Get serious!
The rules, perhaps unwisely, do not permit you to “file a flight plan” with your 5 call. If partner bids a slow 5 you are trapped.
For these very practical reasons, you should bid 6 .
Here is what you bought:
Q J 4 K 5 2 
A K 4 
J 9 8 2.
The table comment was “What a great buy” but I do not agree. I would have traded nearly all of the non-club honors for stronger cards there.
So now you get to play 6 on a heart lead. Perhaps this is too easy, but give your plan.
I like the effort to help partner avoid a problem. I don’t think there is any such problem if you bid 5S though – I am passing whatever partner bids, no matter the tempo in which he bids it. I don’t see a reason to be so unilateral when 6S makes less than 2/3 of the time, and there are reasonable possibilities of finding a better contract.
August 14, 2008 Anonymous
Anonymous — a 5S bid often asks a specific question. In my partnerships it might ask for second-round control of the enemy suit. When that is clearly not relevant, it might say I have controls, do you have good trumps. Other times — partner can tell — it says I have a great hand with solid trumps, how are your controls?
In this case, how would you expect partner to evaluate a hand like xxx, Kxx, Kx, KQJxxx? No first-round controls and bad trumps. When partner cannot make the right answer, why ask the question?
Having said this, I recognize that many would agree with your solution!
Thanks,
Jeff
August 14, 2008 Jeff Miller