Vulnerable Preempting: Risk and Reward

Preempting vulnerable should be "sound". It is unnecessary to be too aggressive at this vulnerability, the focus should be on quality hands. One big bonus to this is, when you open say 3♠ , your partner can confidently raise to 4S and expect to make it, with a moderate hand.

Key considerations when preempting vulnerable

Suit quality - Suit quality is paramount. 10's and 9's are critical filler cards. 

This suit is not good enough for a vulnerable weak 2. 

This suit is still not really good enough, though some might scrape over the line with it depending on the rest of the hand

This is a good example of a sound weak 2.

Similarly, this is also acceptable. Partner can gauge your trick count well when he is looking at the  ♠ K, knowing it will probably come to 6 tricks. 

Suit quality summary - 2 of the top 3 honors is generally needed for a vulnerable preempt. 10's and 9's are also very important cards, it may not be a great idea to open without those cards. 

A top US expert recently opened 2♠ with this suit, as it lacked intermediate cards too much, he was not willing to open on the three level. 

Second consideration - shape. 6322 or 7222 is very bad shape to preempt on. Its typically a bad idea to preempt on these shapes. 6331, or 6421 are much better offensive shapes, your chances of making contracts skyrocket. 7321 should generally be the minimum shape for a three level vulnerable preempt. 

This is a respectable 2 ♠ opening

This would not be adequate for a 3♠ vulnerable opening, due to the 7222 shape. 2S would have to suffice.

Final consideration - cards in the majors. If you have good holdings in the majors, its generally not a good idea to preempt. Good holdings include three decent cards. For example

You should notice two things about this hand. The suit quality isn't good enough. But also, your spades are too good. The idea is that, you may preempt and partner has one card in your suit, while holding 5 card spades. Spades may be a significantly better contract. Even if the heart suit quality was good enough, its advisable not to preempt with three good cards in the other major. It may affect your chance of bidding a making vulnerable game. 

Where to next

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