Monday, April 04, 2005 10:52 AM

Hand Evaluation - Doubles ( Taking Fixes )

PITBULLS:

D.S.I.P. competitive double theory was not designed for competing against bad bidding opponents who want to commit suicide. D.S.I.P. doubles do not allow you the luxury of directly punishing bad bidders for their indiscretions in a competitive auction. You cannot have your cake & eat it too unless partner doubles showing defense so you convert. There are times where you just must take your fix & reluctantly pass when you know they are going down. When you do not , you risk allowing partner to bid again & ruin the party.

2♥-P-3♥-3♠

4♥-?

You have ♠xxx ♥AKJ ♦xxx ♣Jxxx so is it a double ? No , unless the vulnerability & weird auction turns on forcing pass theory by partnership understanding. 99 % of the time a double would just be “card showing” with AKJ of diamonds rather than hearts. Playing the D.S.I.P. “style” of doubles , you should not double & just pass 4♥ quietly with this hand. You pickup +100 at their table & +150 at our table for +6 IMPS . Trump stack doubles are a hard habit to break but we cannot have it both ways. Do not mislead partner with an old fashioned trump stack double. Just take our fix & plus. With all your points in hearts , your side can not make anything anyway. You cannot make trump stack doubles unless partner doubles & we convert. With bad bidding opponents, we will get burned once in a while. In this auction , partner may double 4♥ saying he has defense. 4♠ is probably going down if she does not double showing extra anyway. The opponents are offering you a 6 IMP gift by judging wrong in a competitive auction , so just take it & get out of Dodge. Do not double & allow partner to now go wrong !!

You have been playing the old style of penalty doubles for years. You now have a new saying in competitive auctions , I could not double as I had a trump stack in their suit. Sounds very weird but you hope partner re-opens with a double. Gone are the days of bad bidding opponents giving you a bonanza you do not deserve in competition. Take your fix !!

If this auction went to the 5 level 2♥-P-4♥-4♠

5♥-X-P-P

by all means double . This is the old fashioned trump stack double as 5 level rules kick in.

A competitive auction means neither side owns the hand. It should not be too much of a burden to throw away trump stack doubles in competition. Unless you are in the weakest field imaginable , trump stack doubles are silly & a waste of a otherwise useful bid.