Not dull

Do you ever find that some days all the hands seem kind of boring and other days so many of them are really interesting.  Yesterday the hands were interesting.   Here is an example.  In first chair with favorable vulnerability you have this hand:

I think there is an argument for opening it.  But if you open 1♣ and partner bids 1♠ are you going to reverse into 2♥.  So I suppose if you open it you are going to open 1♥ .  It seems to me that sometimes it is better to come into the auction later on when you hold this sort of hand and I decided to pass.  I am not sure this is the right approach.  Any thoughts?

Francine opened 1♦ in third chair and once again I had a dilemma.  To bid 2♣ or to bid 1♥ .  I can see an argument for both.  We do have a system over 2♣ which might make it easier to handle.  2♦ by Francine shows four diamonds or more and a minimum (and not the right hand for 2NT).

ould be a reverse showing extra and might present a problem.  So my plan was I bid 2♣ Francine bid 2♦ and I bid 2♥ .  There!  Do you think 2♥ is a better choice?  Anyway Francine inconveniently bid 2NT bud it does promise a heart stopper of some kind and two (and quite likely more) hearts.  So I decided I was safe enough as a passed hand to bid 3♥ .  This worked out well when Francine bid 4♥ .  Somehow I wasn’t sure my plan was that good even though the result was fine.

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ 6 ♥ A8542 ♦ 4 ♣ A108653
West ♠ J985 ♥ K ♦ Q10763 ♣ J74		East ♠ AK1072 ♥ J76 ♦ J98 ♣ Q9
	South ♠ Q43 ♥ Q1093 ♦ AK52 ♣ K2

Perhaps the most bizarre hand was this one.  Here is my hand:

I passed in first chair with nobody vulnerable.  I am not opening a weak two in first with four good spades.  Our side was silent and this was the auction.

My thinking (which you might characterize as “strange”) was that I was going to get a diamond lead which was not likely to be good for our side.  East didn’t have many spades and a spade lead seemed the way to go.   I knew hearts wasn’t breaking.  On a very good day they run to something we can really take care of.  Declarer redoubled and so the game was on.  Francine led a spade which I ducked to the ♠A.  The hand is cold for two down.  1000 for the good guys.  Francine thought the bid was gutsy.  What do you think?  Oddly a diamond lead doesn’t change anything.

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ K1096 ♥ K105432 ♦ 2 ♣ Q3
West ♠ QJ632 ♥ 9 ♦ Q9754 ♣ 96		East ♠ A ♥ QJ876 ♦ A106 ♣ AK54
	South ♠ 854 ♥ A ♦ J10872 ♣ KJ83