"How Many Calories Fit on a Plate?" Preempts by Marti Ronemus

Have you ever heard of "Poutine?" (Pronounced poo-tin) It's a Canadian contribution to the world of Junk Food. I thought I had personally indulged in every junk food known to man, but I missed this one.

Picture a plate of hot, crispy French Fries, covered with a layer of cheese curds, and the whole thing bathed in gravy. This festival of carbohydrates started showing up in Warwick Quebec in 1957, and is widely considered a hangover cure.

I'm not too sure about this one, folks, but I'm willing to test it and report back to you. Anyone know where I can get some without heading for Canada?

Meantime, this week we're going to look at preempts. The main concept behind preempts in all seats and guises is that they show a BIG suit in a BAD hand. A preempt is an attempt to turn a hand that is a Crummy Dummy into a winner by using that long suit as trump. By hitting high and hard, the preempt gobbles up bidding space. One concept hard for less experienced players to accept is that with a preempt, we don't mind going down. Often we have stolen the contract, and thieves are occasionally punished. Ready?

(PS... this column is dedicated to my Faithful Reader "Janet" (name changed to protect the guilty--but she knows who she is), who is prone to making "suckaroo" preempts.)

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ 5 4
♥ 9 3
♦ A K J 10 9 4
♣ 4 3 2

Q: 1 - South: In first seat, what would you do?

A: 2♦: This is a classic preempt. We've got a VERY good suit and a hand that would be a Crummy Dummy in anything except Diamonds. We promise a six-card suit with top honors. Some require various honor holdings based on vulnerability. Others want at least 5 pts or three honors in the suit. Talk it over with Pard.

Another thought about this hand. Many players have discarded the 2♦ opening and are going directly to 3♦ even with a six-card suit. Reasoning? It's too easy for the opponents to come in with a major over a 2♦ opening. Food for thought... sort of a plate of Poutine.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A 4
♥ 9 3
♦ A K J 10 9 4
♣ 4 3 2

Q: 2 - South: In first seat, what would you do?

A: 1♦: What a difference an Ace makes. We now have too many points to preempt. Most people play preempts between 5 - 9 HCP. With 10 pts and a solid six-card suit, you've got a hand too nice to preempt and with distribution, it can be considered an opening hand. Remember the concept of Crummy Dummy. To preempt, you need a hand that's worthless unless it is in the Big Suit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 9 5 4 3
♥ 9
♦ A K J 10 9 4
♣ 4 3

Q: 3 - South: In first seat, what would you do?

A: Pass: We avoid preempting with an outside four-card major. Why? Let's go back to the concept of Crummy Dummy. If your Pard happens to have Spades, you will be the best dummy at the party. Remember, we get rid of losers by TRUMPING or DUMPING in dummy. This is a spectacular DUMP dummy in Spades. Hardly crummy. We will pass and await further developments. Passing now doesn't mean we can't enter later.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 9 5 4
♥
♦ A K J 10 9 4
♣ 8 7 4 3

Q: 4 - South: In first seat, what would you do?

A: Pass: Once again, we need to await further developments. Why? What are the chances someone is going to bid Hearts? If it is our Pard, our hand has seriously dropped in value and we may well may a Weak Jump Shift. If it is one of the opponents, our hand has hugely INCREASED in value. We may well do something dramatic.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ Q 2
♥ 4
♦ A K J 10 9 4
♣ 8 7 4 3

Q: 5 - South: In first seat, what would you do?

A: 2♦: We can argue about this one. Yes, we've got 10 pts, which is usually too much for a preempt. BUT!! That ♠Q doubleton is worthless enough initially to be downgraded or discounted.

So just to summarize:
We preempt with: A BAD hand with a BIG suit, a hand that would be worthless, a Crummy Dummy, unless it gets to be declarer and name trump. We want (at the two-level) to have a six-card suit with at least 5 pts in honors in it, no outside four-card majors and no voids.

Friday, we'll work on responding to preempts. Now let's play a preempts hand and we'll get to see how terrific they are.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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