Worst Preempts I've Seen
At first I was a little hesitant to make a file for
this since we all know that preempting is somewhat of an art.
Outrageous preempts succeed from time to time, but frequently result
in the preemptor getting his just desserts too. I firmly believe in
preempting crazily in 3rd seat, or when at favorable. If you see the
little old lady adding in her head to your left, just about any action
is justifiable. However, I just had to put down a few of the most
atrocious preempts I've seen perpetrated by people playing seriously
in flight A competition. (Home games or all-junior tables don't count
for this).
1) I don't know the spot cards on this hand, but I know that none of them
were big enough to be relevant:
2nd seat, all vul matchpoints
K
xxx
xxx
Kxxxxx
I could see maybe preempting this at 3rd seat white, but 2nd seat red
is another story entirely.
2) On this hand the auction proceeded as follows at matchpoints with
E-W vul and East dealing:
East
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Dad
South
1
3N
Pass
|
West
3
Pass
Pass
|
Mike
North
3S
4H
|
I was North on the hand, and West, who was on lead, led the 2, and my father put down the dummy:
-
Q8
AT9753
AKJT7
Both South and West got a kick out of it as I smiled and called for
a small club from dummy. The preempor's hand, over an opening bid no
less, was:
T52
K7
KQ
986543
Unfortunately for this pair, their defense was about as good as their
preempting style and I got out for -50 and 7-/11 matchpoints, since we
really have no making contract. Too bad I couldn't find a negative
double on my 6-5, as I think we would be still counting how big a
number that was.
3) This one might be the worst of all, since it really had nothing going for it at all. At least on the first hand, partner might lead a club and have it be right, and on the 2nd they were 3rd seat, and 3 does have a lot of preemptive effect over 1. This one was at a club game in Laurel, MD. 2nd seat all red:
Qx
8xxxx
Jxx
QTx
Words do not express how bad a bid that is. At least they got what they deserved when their partner led a heart from KT, giving away a trick.