Let’s look at 2 example hands:
A) ♠AQJT9,♥32,♦432,♣432
B) ♠K,♥QJ,♦T8543,♣KJ32
Our RHO opponent opens 1♣. Hand B has 10 HCP and Hand A has 7 HCP. Which hand would you rather overcall?
You would rather overcall Hand A by a wide margin. Why?
- First, hand A suggests the only spot where we can reasonably expect to play any sort of contract.
- Second, hand A suggests a lead that we would want against all possible enemy contracts.
- Third, by bidding 1♠, we take the entire 1-level away from the opponents.
Hand B, on the other hand is a very poor overcall. Why?
- First, even if we did want to play a minor, we are unlikely to outbid them in diamonds.
- Second, we do not want partner leading away from a diamond honor.
- Third, bidding 1♦ takes absolutely no space away from the opponents. In fact, it offers them the chance to double to show both majors or to bid one major to deny the other.
- Fourth, our hand is filled with singleton and doubleton honors that have dubious trick-taking potential.
- Fifth, we have length and honors in their suit, which suggests a misfit and a desire to defend.
All totaled, bidding 1♦ on Hand B rates to lose more than it gains, while bidding on Hand A rates to win more than it loses. The important lesson here is to stop being a slave to some range of points when considering whether to overcall and instead consider why you are overcalling and what you expect to gain.