Weak Two Openers

Weak Two Openings - Introduction

In today’s “standard” methods, an opening bid of 2♣ is used as an artificial bid showing a very strong hand. The other 2-of-a-suit openings are normally used to show weak hands, typically with 6 cards in the bid suit, and a HCP range of around 5-10. Weak Twos are preemptive bids, of course, and their primary goal is to disrupt the opponents’ auction by taking away their bidding space.

Some examples:

♠ AQT765 A classic Weak 2♠ bid … a good 6-card suit, and 10 HCPs. This

♥ K5 is at the top end of the range, if the hand were any stronger we

♦ J72 would prefer to open this 1♠.

♣ 98

♠ KQT765 Another Weak 2♠ bid … good suit, but only 5 HCPs, so a

♥ 8 minimum for the bid. This is how we like our preempts to be …

♦ 972 good offensive values, with little or no defense.

♣ 985

♠ Q76432 As we shall see in a moment, this hand is a poster-child for when

♥ A873 not to open a Weak Two … the suit is weak, the hand is too strong,

♦ -- way too much stuff outside, a 4-card major … we might be able to

♣ A75 overlook the odd flaw here and there, but this hand has too many.

Weak Two Criteria

Let’s look beyond the obvious criteria of a long suit and that 5-10 point range. Here are some of the other factors that go into our decision as to whether or not to open with a Weak Two bid. We’ll start with some general observations, and follow it up with some examples:

Suit Quality: Some partnerships have quite rigid requirements for the quality of the trump suit, such as 2 of the top 3, or 3 of the top 5. Of course, it improves the accuracy of our bidding if we can count on a specific trump quality, but, on the other hand, the more rigid we make the requirements, the less frequently we will get to use the bid. We prefer to be a bit more laissez-faire when it comes to suit quality, viewing it as just one on several factors … sure, we prefer a good suit when we preempt, but that is not always what we are dealt.

Defensive Values: The ideal preempt contains not much in the way of defense. In the case of a Weak Two, it’s fine to have an outside Ace somewhere, but if you have much more than that, the hand starts to become more suited for defense, less suited for offense … in other words, it’s starting to look unlike a preempt.

Suit Length: Ideally, a Weak Two has a 6-card suit, no more, no less … with 7 you would be more inclined to open a 3-bid, and with 5 you would be inclined to open with a 1-bid (if strong enough) or Pass. Opening with a 5-card suit is really not a great idea unless all the other conditions are right. Opening with a 7-card suit should be very rare indeed, and we are hard-pressed to come up with a sample hand where it might be a good idea.

Four-Card Major: Some players make it a hard and fast rule never to open with a Weak Two holding a 4-card major side-suit, for fear of losing their 4-4 fit in that major. They have a point, of course, but we rate it as only a small minus, nothing that would prevent us from preempting the auction if the rest of the hand was right.

Suitability of the Conditions

We don’t just look at the cards in our hand when deciding whether or not to open with a Weak Two bid. There is also the vulnerability and the position to consider.

Vulnerability: We all know that it’s more dangerous to compete when we are vulnerable, and vulnerability is a major factor in the decision on whether or not to preempt … when we are not vulnerable, we’ll feel emboldened to preempt more frequently, at a higher level, and on hands which may not be picture-perfect. But, it’s not only our vulnerability that matters, the opponents’ vulnerability is also a factor. For example, when they are vulnerable and we are not (the so-called “favorable” vulnerability), we’ll bend over backwards to get into the auction, and all those niceties about suit quality and suit length get pretty much thrown out of the window!

Position: There is a difference between preempting in 2^nd seat and preempting in 3^rd seat. In 3^rd seat Partner is a passed hand, so we can preempt with impunity, knowing that the disruption caused will be to our LHO, not to our Partner … therefore we should feel free to mix it up a bit, our preempt need not be picture perfect, our passed Partner gives us some leeway. But in 2^nd seat we must be more circumspect … Partner is an unpassed hand, and, if we throw in a mis-descriptive preempt, he may be the one who is inconvenienced by our antics. So, in 2^nd seat, it pays to be quite well-behaved! How about 1^st seat? Again Partner is not a passed hand, but we also have two unpassed opponents … the odds are 2 to 1 on an opponent having the best hand at the table. To summarize, 3^rd seat is best for wild and woolly preempts, 2^nd seat preempts should be more disciplined, and 1^st seat preempts are somewhere in between.

Examples

OK, enough theory, let’s put it into practice. Here are some sample hands, which we’ll put under the microscope in three different situations:

2^nd seat, red versus white: the most inhospitable of all preempting situations, where our bids will need to be rock-solid and almost untainted by defects.
1^st seat, red versus red: now, being in first seat, we are more inclined to preempt than before … and the opponents are vulnerable, which also favors action by us … so we can cut loose just a little, but let’s not go crazy, we are also vulnerable, some caution is therefore indicated.
3^rd suit, white versus red: watch out, here we come, this is the most perfect of preempting situations!

For mnemonic convenience, let’s call A, B, and C, respectively, Adverse, Between, and Congenial.

A. 2^nd Seat B. 1^st Seat C. 3^rd Seat

Red vs White Red vs Red White vs Red

Adverse Between Congenial

♠ KQJT76 2♠ 2♠ 3♠

♥ 8

♦ T96 Even though we have a paltry 6 HCPs, the suit is so good that we

♣ 842 have no qualms about 2♠ even when Adverse. But, when we get to

Congenial, we need to do more, and 3♠ is the least we can do.

♠ KJ8743 Pass 2♠ 2♠

♥ 82

♦ 96 Not really up to snuff for Adverse action, OK in other situations.

♣ K42

♠ QT9542 1♠ 1♠ 1♠

♥ A954

♦ -- Yes, it’s unanimous, this hand is just a good old one-bid,

♣ A86 regardless of the conditions. At Congenial, some players might

feel constrained to preempt with 2♠ or 3♠, but this is not a good idea in our opinion … we would do better to bid constructively, game is not out of the question, and we don’t want to shut out Hearts as a place to play.

♠ Q97654 Pass Pass 2♠

♥ A87

♦ K8 This hand has too weak a suit and too much outside to preempt

♣ T6 under any but the most favorable conditions.

♠ KQJT7 Pass Pass or 2♠ 2♠

♥ 8

♦ QJT6 If you really have to open a Weak Two with a 5-card suit, then

♣ 83 this is the hand to do it on … good shape, good playing strength,

very little defense. Even so, we would not bid 2♠ at Adverse, and would be iffy about bidding it in Between conditions. But, at Congenial, no problem!

♠ QJT954 Pass or 2♠ 2♠ 3♠!

♥ KJT6

♦ 87 We certainly feel highly inclined to bid on that preempt-perfect

♣ 3 suit, but should be nervous about that 4-card Heart suit when

Partner remains an unpassed hand. Nonetheless, it is awfully tempting, even at Adverse, and we admit to being somewhat ambivalent about this one. But, by the time we reach Congenial conditions, this is a full-blooded preempt, even 2♠ is not enough!

♠ QJT954 2♠ 2♠ or 3♠ 3♠

♥ 87

♦ KJT6 This is the same hand with the red suits reversed. Now the hand

♣ 3 is more preempt-suitable, that (relatively minor) defect of the 4-

card major being removed.

What does all of this tell us? Hopefully, that there are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to opening a Weak Two, and that it’s not sufficient to look at just our hand, we must also be aware of the conditions (vulnerability and position). Happy preempting, it drives the opponents crazy!