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Balancing Bid (Double) - A call made based on the opponents' calls indicating
their collective weakness. The balancing player may be said to
"borrow" strength from one's partner when making a reopening bid in the passout seat; some use the cliché to "borrow a King" (3 HCP). Of
course, partner must remember to deduct the offsetting points when making
subsequent calls.
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 A 10 9
 K 2
 9 8 7 6
 A Q 4 3 |
|
Q 3 2
Q 8 7 6
K Q 2
K J 2 |
|
J 6 5 4
5 4 3
5 4 3
10 9 8 |
| |
K 8 7
A J 10 9
A J 10
7 6 5 |
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North has 13
HCP but no comfortable bid, missing a 5 card suit to bid
or the required 3 cards in the unbid suits needed to Double.
South has only 10 point but by borrowing strength from partner in the
balancing seat to keep the auction alive, South can open the bidding. While
a Reopening Doubling is often appropriate, in situations such as this
one the balancer does better to bid 1 Notrump without a
stopper under Left Hand Opponent's bid suit - better to have partner
with stoppers behind the opening opponent. With the favorable position of the cards here,
South can actually make 3 Notrump.
Also see Books on
Doubles,
Balancing |
