 | Balancing After A Simple Overcall |
Slightly more risk.
Cautions
Before you continue with this article, please be sure you have read and understood the first article in this series—Balancing Bids: General Principles.
Before you start to engage in balancing bids, be absolutely certain that your partner understands both the general principles of balancing, and the meaning of the specific balancing bids described below. As discussed in the “general principles” article, the biggest hazard to balancing is your partner (when he doesn’t understand the concepts).
Introduction
This article applies to balancing in situations where you have opened one of a suit, your left–hand opponent has made a simple overcall (at either the one level or the two level), and both your partner and your right–hand opponent have passed. This article does not apply when your left–hand opponent has made a weak jump overcall.
Warning! This article assumes that you and your partner use negative doubles after a direct overcall. If you don’t use negative doubles, strongly consider learning them and then come back to this article. The guidelines in this article do not apply if you do not use negative doubles.
This article does not apply if you have opened 1NT, or when your left–hand opponent has made an overcall that shows two suits.
The reason that this balancing position poses “slightly more risk”, as shown in the subtitle, is that your partner may genuinely have a bad hand.
However, do not let this slightly greater risk deter you from balancing with a suitable bid of your own (as described below). You may get the occasional poor result, but you will get more consistently poor results by not balancing.
If you have a hand that isn’t suitable for any of the bids discussed in this article, you should choose Pass instead of stretching to bid.
Balancing Positions
Here are some common balancing positions when you open the bidding and your left–hand opponent makes a simple overcall:
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| 1♥ | 1♠ | Pass | Pass |
| Balancing |
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| Pass | 1♥ | 1♠ | Pass |
| Pass | Balancing |
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| Pass | Pass | 1♥ | 1♠ |
| Pass | Pass | Balancing |
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| Pass | Pass | Pass | 1♥ |
| 1♠ | Pass | Pass | Balancing |
The common factor in each of these auctions is that a pass by you will end the auction.
Consider Your Opponents
Balancing after a simple overcall is riskier against less experienced opponents, for two reasons:
- The simple overcall may be made with an unsuitable hand. If you balance, this may come back to haunt you.
- Many newer players are uncertain how to respond to an overcall by their partner. If they pass when they should have bid, your balancing bid will again be more dangerous.
On the bright side, less experienced opponents frequently make simple overcalls with hands or suits that are too weak. Look even harder for the opportunity to make a penalty double (more on that shortly).
As usual, balance more freely against experienced opponents; you can put more trust in their bidding.
Consider Partner’s Pass
Partner’s pass after the opponent’s overcall shows either of the following types of hands:
- A weak hand with no desire to bid. This is the slightly greater risk you take when you balance. Partner will bid if he is forced to, but he won’t like it much.
- Partner has a fair to good hand, but the overcaller has just bid partner’s best (longest) suit. This is what you are normally hoping for when you balance.
How Do I Balance?
Reopening Double
Balance with a reopening double whenever you have two cards or less in the overcalled suit. This double is for takeout.
You are hoping that partner has a fair to good hand with length in the overcalled suit. When partner has that hand, partner will pass, creating a penalty double.
If partner has a weak hand, partner must bid something (provided the original overcaller does not bid again, in which case partner can and should pass). Remember that whatever partner does is based on a weak hand. You will probably get a bad score unless the opponents rescue you by continuing to bid.
Example 1
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| 1♥ | 1♠ | Pass | Pass |
| ?? |
| ♠ 4 ♥ A J 8 4 3 ♦ A 7 6 ♣ K J 4 2 | Double; it is highly likely that your partner has spade length and is waiting to penalize the opponents. Do not bid 2♣; the odds of a good penalty are too high. |
| ♠ — ♥ A J 8 7 4 3 ♦ A 7 6 ♣ K J 4 2 | Double again, but your spade void is actually a liability. You will be unable to lead spades through declarer, so your partner will need better spades than in the previous hand. Again, do not rebid 2♥ or 2♣. |
Pass
Don’t balance with a minimum hand (12 to 14 points) and three or more cards in the overcalled suit. With that many cards in the overcalled suit, partner is unlikely to have a fair to good hand with length of his own in the overcalled suit. Partner almost certainly has a weak hand (less than six points), so it’s time to give up.
Example 2
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| 1♥ | 1♠ | Pass | Pass |
| ?? |
| ♠ K J 4 2 ♥ A J 8 4 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ 10 6 | Pass. Partner cannot have spade length, since you hold four of them. Your hand is not nearly good enough to rebid 1NT (see next section). |
Rebidding 1NT
When a one–level overcall is passed around to you for balancing, remember that a 1NT bid by you shows 18 to 19 points and one (preferably two) stoppers in the overcalled suit.
Do not balance with 1NT when you hold a minimum hand (12 to 14 points). If you have the required stoppers (presumably with some length), partner will have a weak hand (less than six points). Do you really want to play 1NT? I didn’t think so. Pass.
Example 3
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| 1♥ | 1♠ | Pass | Pass |
| ?? |
| ♠ A Q 7 ♥ A K J 8 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ 10 8 4 | Bid 1NT, showing 18 to 19 points and stoppers in the overcalled suit. |
Rebidding Your Suit
Do not rebid your suit with a minimum hand. Partner had the opportunity to raise, but didn’t. That means partner either has a weak hand with no real support for you, or a fair to good hand with length in the overcalled suit. Prefer to double rather than rebidding your suit unless you have a particularly strong hand and you are not interested in penalizing your opponents.
Example 4
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| 1♥ | 1♠ | Pass | Pass |
| ?? |
| ♠ 10 4 3 ♥ K Q J 10 7 4 ♦ K 7 ♣ A K | Bid 2♥. You don’t need a lot from partner to make game (the ♦A and ♠K could well be enough). |
| ♠ 10 4 3 ♥ A K Q J 8 7 ♦ A 7 ♣ A K | Bid 3♥. One trick from partner will make game. |
Cue Bid
Cue bid the overcalled suit with a good hand and good suit, and the desire to play 3NT if your partner has a stopper in the overcalled suit. Your partner bids 3NT with a stopper, or raises your suit without one.
Example 5
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| 1♥ | 1♠ | Pass | Pass |
| ?? |
| ♠ 3 ♥ A K Q 8 7 4 3 ♦ A Q ♣ K 9 4 | Bid 2♠ to ask partner for a spade stopper. If partner has a spade trick, you will make at least 3NT. If partner does not have a spade stopper he will bid 3♥ (or possibly 4♥). Regardless, you should pass partner’s bid. |
Bidding A New Suit
Only bid a new suit with a relatively strong two–suited hand where you are not interested in penalizing your opponents.
Example 6
North dealer, neither side vulnerable
| North | East | South | West |
| 1♥ | 1♠ | Pass | Pass |
| ?? |
| ♠ 3 ♥ A K Q 8 7 4 ♦ A Q 8 4 2 ♣ 4 | Bid 2♦ to show a good two–suited hand. If the opponents continue bidding and partner passes, bid diamonds again on your next turn. |