Overcalling by Matthias Huberschwiller

When an opponent has opened the bidding, you may still want to bid, perhaps to disturb their auction.

This is why you can overcall with fewer points than are needed for an opening bid. But remember, when you overcall a suit at the 1-level, you always need to have at least five cards in the suit.

You can overcall with as few as 8 points, but if you are weak, your suit needs to be nice, to give your partner a good idea of what to lead.

Remember: an overcall at the 1-level shows 8 to 17 HCP and a five-card suit.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A K J 10 6
♥ 7
♦ 8 6 2
♣ J 9 6 2

Q: 1 - What do you bid as South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
?

A: 1♠ - This is a perfect example of overcalling with a hand weaker than an opener. 1♠ lets partner know what to lead and may even enable you to find a Spade fit.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ K J 6 2
♥ A Q J 6 2
♦ 8
♣ J 9 6

Q: 2 - What do you bid as South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
?

A: 1♥ - No problem overcalling with this hand. Start with the longer Hearts.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 8 2
♥ A K J 6
♦ K 8 6
♣ Q 10 5 2

Q: 3 - What do you bid as South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
?

A: Pass - Remember, just because you haven't overcalled, doesn't mean you don't have a good hand. Not overcalling just means "I have nothing to bid".

You need five cards to bid 1♥. Double would be for take-out, showing an opening bid and support for every suit other than Diamonds. You can't do that here without at least three Spades.

Maybe you will be able to bid on the next round.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 10 9 6 3 2
♥ 8 3
♦ A Q 6
♣ K 8 4

Q: 4 - What do you bid as South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
?

A: Pass - Just because you CAN overcall with less than an opener, doesn't mean that you MUST do so each time you have a five-card suit.

When overcalling with a weak hand, you NEED a good suit. You just don't have that here.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ 8 2
♥ J 6 4 3 2
♦ A K 6
♣ A Q 2

Q: 5 - What do you bid as South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
?

A: 1♥ - This time, you need to overcall, even though the suit is weak, because your hand is worth an opening bid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

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

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Overall Results

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