Sunday, November 20, 2005 12:17 AM

Hand Evaluation – Reverses ( Phony )

PITBULLS:

Reverses are a natural bid showing at least an Ace above an opener with the first suit longer than the 2^nd suit. Reversing is painting a picture of your distribution as well as your strength .Reversing to a 3 card suit is an ugly practice & causes confusion. Experts do it because of the shortcomings of a non club system with big hands too strong for jump rebids in their suit. You open 1♦ on ♠x ♥AKx ♦AKQJ10xx ♣Jx , partner responds 1♠. You are too strong for a nonforcing 3♦ bid & leaping to 3NT may pre-empt you from slam , so you temporize with a heart reverse. This is an ideal hand for an ACOL 2♦ or even a light 2♣ opener..  We detest phony reverses so hopefully we have rid our system of these bids

♠AKx ♥AKQJ10x ♦Q10x ♣x again another hand for a phony reverse to 2♠ after a 1NT response. Instead ,we use the club jump shift & pull the relay to 3♥ to describe this hand. After a club opener , partner responds 1♦ , a 3♦ jump raise is a game force. ♠x ♥AKx ♦AJxx ♣AK10xx so we do not need a phony reverse to 2♥.

With strong raises in partners major with semi-balanced hands, we do not need a phony reverse. ♠AKxx ♥AJ ♦AQ10xx ♣xx You open 1♦ , partner responds 1♠ some people would reverse to 2♥ & support spades as this hand is too strong for a jump raise. This is a 2NT rebid to show the HCP & balanced hand in our system. Support spades later. No need for phony reverses with these hand types either.

OK after a club opener . there might be a phony reverse as you do not have the 3♣ jump shift available. No ! We feel that if you have a hand too strong for a 3♣ rebid , open 2♣ & back pedal. ♠x ♥AJ10 ♥Kx ♣AKQJ10xx . This understanding leaves no hand types that you need to resort to a phony reverse. When after a club opener , you have a hand too strong for a jump raise of partners major , bid 2NT ! ♠AKxx ♥AQx ♦xx ♣AJxx 1♣-P-1♠-p 2NT .

A Tormentee held this hand today. ♠AQ10 ♥KQx ♦x ♣AKQ109x & opened 1♣. Partner responded a heart so she bid 1♠! . This landed her in 4♠ down one & 3NT is cold. You do not have a rebid in standard bidding so make the best lie of opening 2♣. Partner bids 2♦ so you bid 3♣ followed by 3NT from partner. +600 was trivial in 3NT. With the club suit , you do not have the luxury of the 3♣ SJS so anticipate your rebid problem & open 2♣.

All reverses with these above understandings are natural . You do not need to go thru hoops or worry whether partner is reversing into a 3 card suit or a two card suit for that matter. Take partners reverses to the bank. When partner opens , reverses & bids a 3^rd suit , she has a singleton in the remaining suit. Natural bidding at its finest ! There are no hand types in our system where we need to make a phony reverse. As an aside , we use Lebensohl after reverses except reversing into a minor where the unbid major serves as Lebensohl to right side the NT.

Phony reverse’s are used in our system in one instance. You have an 8 card suit & you forced to open at the one level. ♠x ♥KQJ ♦x ♣AKJ10xxxx . I would open 1♣ & reverse into hearts.