From ACBL Bridge Bulletin, April, 2006.

Matchpoints, E/W Vulnerable
♠AQ74 ♥KQ86 ♦AJ84 ♣K

What is your call given the above bidding?

Making a splinter bid with a singleton king

A number of the panelists only invite game, despite having 19 high-card points.

Other panelists force to game and are split into two groups: those who show the club shortness and those who don't.

Lawrence bids 3 ♥, calling it "a little conservative and making allowances for the potentially wasted ♣K." He adds, "This hand might be a disappointment if North goes further. It would be nice to have a couple more spot cards."

"If partner passes 3 ♥, we are probably high enough," say the Sutherlins.

"Because of the lack of interior spot cards and a singleton king, the hand doesn't really evaluate to 19 HCP," point out the Joyces.

Cohen calls 3 ♥ an underbid, but says, "We are white at matchpoints -- a time when we don't have to bid every game in sight. My ♣K could be worthless."

"3 ♥," agrees Sanborn. "Technically an underbid, but if partner passes, we are unlikely to make a game."

Even though conventional wisdom cautions against making a splinter with a singleton honor, almost half the panel believes that is the best description.

Freeman bids 4 ♣ and says, "I don't like to splinter with a 'kingleton,' but I'm too good for 3 ♥ and too unbalanced for 4 ♥."

"Must show the club shortness," agrees Robinson. "I would like to have the ♣K somewhere else, but showing shortness is important."

"Do not like to splinter with an honor in the suit," says Montin, "but it shows the shape and strength of the hand. My other option is to jump shift in spades, then jump in hearts, but I like that to show the very strongest hand I could have, namely changing the ♣K to the ♦K."

"Settling for less than game seems wrong," say the Colchamiros who also bid 4 ♣. "We do agree with the concept that you should be cautious splintering with 4-4-4-1 hands since you (often) have no source of tricks."

The third group want to be in game, but want to avoid the singleton honor issue.

"4 ♥," says Soloway. "Treat this as a balanced hand. I do not like to splinter with a singleton honor, especially with minimum values outside."

"4 ♥," agrees Rigal. "Denying a singleton — well, I don't really have one, do I?"

"I'm not going to splinter this hand," says Quinn, "since 4-4-4-1 hands really play more like balanced hands."

If partner has: ♠K83 ♥J974 ♦Q103 ♣8642 he might pass 3 ♥ and miss a reasonable game. Non-vulnerable at matchpoints, he probably won't push.

For other hand types, he might get excited over a splinter bid and get too high.

And still others, partner might sign off in game opposite the 4 ♣ splinter when his club holding is Q-J-4-2 and the hand looks to be ill-fitting. The ♣Q J are tricks once the ♣A is driven out, something he can't know.

The bottom line is that the bid that works best often depends on what partner's hand is. You have to make a bid, therefore, that you think will work well most often.