What’s your call?
| 1♣ | 1♦ | 1♥ | 1♠ | 1NT |
| 2♣ | 2♦ | 2♥ | 2♠ | 2NT |
| 3♣ | 3♦ | 3♥ | 3♠ | 3NT |
| 4♣ | 4♦ | 4♥ | 4♠ | 4NT |
| 5♣ | 5♦ | 5♥ | 5♠ | 5NT |
| 6♣ | 6♦ | 6♥ | 6♠ | 6NT |
| 7♣ | 7♦ | 7♥ | 7♠ | 7NT |
| Pass |
Cohen says he likes to preempt to the four level with eight-card suits. “Yes, I see the many negatives, but it is unlikely the hand would handle well in spades, even opposite five of them! I wish my clubs were better and I wish my heart singleton wasn’t the king. I could easily be talked out of this one, though.”
“Gotta bid ‘em up!” is Sanborn’s rallying cry as she opens 4♣. “5♣ would be too much – except at favorable vulnerability.”
Rigal: “4♣. We don’t play this as Gerber, do we? My opening bid may be restricted by my spot cards. 2♣ and 6♣ seem slight overstatements, so it’s 4♣ or pass. I tried the latter once and didn’t like it.”
Kennedy likes 4♣. “Pretty descriptive.”
Meckstroth, too: “Crazy hand calls for a crazy bid.”
The Sutherlins say their choices are to pass and hope to find a 4–4 spade fit, or preempt and make things harder for the opponents. They choose to preempt 4♣.
Meyers, however, waits patiently. “Pass. I have time to bid later.”
Colchamiro waits less patiently. “Pass. These kinds of problems are nightmares at the table and silly in bidding forums because no one knows what’s right. With four reasonable spades and the singleton ♥K, I’ll try to figure things out later. Without the ♥K, I would guess 3♣ or 4♣. Here, there are just too many flaws to preempt – and as everyone knows, I’m an aggressive preempter.”
Stack passes defiantly. “I refuse to preempt us out of our spades if there is indeed a fit there. This is a great hand to pass and then bid a lot later.”
Boehm passes gently. “Musicians are comfortable playing the rest by ear.”
Next up, the 1♣ers:
Hampson: “With the master suit, I want to give partner a chance to show spade length before getting very high in clubs.”
Korbel: “I’m not sure anybody really knows what to do with these freaky hands, especially when you start throwing in things like singleton kings.”
Lee is cornered into 1♣. “I don’t think I can describe my hand after an initial pass, and any number of preemptive clubs is a bad description.”
Robinson: “Because I don’t know how many clubs to bid, I might as well go constructive with 1♣.”
From among the club family, Falk selects 3♣. “My suits look like Swiss cheese, so even with 8–4–1, I’m not bidding higher than 3♣ to start. If it does go 3♦ back to me, I can consider 3♠, but probably I’ll just raise the white flag. I don’t normally like preempting when I have a side four-card major, but I remember the late Mike Cappelletti Sr.’s maxim: ‘What do you call an eight-card suit? Trumps!’”
Lawrence is also a 3♣ bidder. “An unusual start. If partner bids 3NT, I can, if I wish, bid 4♠. Can’t do that if I open 4♣. This is not a hand I am familiar with.”
