3NT with a long running minor

City and Polish Club – Thursday Morning 24th July 2025.

As dealer East has a very powerful hand with most likely 10 tricks in his own hand (even if partner has no clubs at all, the odds are the remaining 5 clubs will split 3-2 and he will be able to run all 8 tricks in the suit – see advanced section for a bit more about common odds for suit divisions). Although some might therefore open this hand 2♣, I would start with a gentle 1♣. It’s extremely unlikely that this will get passed out and it’s going to be a lot easier to explore starting at the 1 level (imagine if you open 2♣, partner will respond, you will bid 3♣ and you will only start describing your hand at the 3 level).

West should respond 1♠ here – he is weak and may only be able to make 1 bid on the hand so he should prioritise the major ahead of responding 1♦. North might consider overcalling 2♦ but it’s quite risky with only a 5 card suit and both the opponents almost unlimited. Either way, East has a good rebid available – 3NT! It’s worth appreciating that after a 1 level response this does NOT show a balanced hand. If you had a balanced hand of any point range there are other ways of showing it:

• 11-14 would rebid 1NT
• 15-17 would have opened 1NT in the first place
• 18-19 can now rebid 2NT
• 20-22 would have opened 2NT in the first place
• 23+ would have opened 2♣ in the first place

So you don’t need 3NT to show a balanced hand and a far better use for the bid is a hand like this which is based on a long running suit.  It’s perfect here as West has responded in the only suit East was worried about – spades.  While it’s possible he has responded on 4 small spades and the defenders can take a lot of tricks in the suit, not only is that unlikely but even if they could do so they probably won’t choose to lead a suit bid by dummy.  

On this hand 3NT works extremely well. As expected, East can take 10 tricks in his own hand. What’s more, there is no entry to the West hand at all so in 5♣ he will actually, unluckily, go down (as several pairs did)! Another factor when playing matchpoint pairs is the scoring. 3NT making 10 tricks will score 630 which is more even than 5♣ making 12 tricks (620)! So there is a good reason to try and play no-trumps – playing in a minor suit at pairs should be a last resort.

Of course on this hand West is quite weak and will happily pass 3NT. But if he were stronger he now has a good idea of the nature of partner’s hand and might be able to move towards slam (either 6 of partner’s minor or 6NT).

There are other occasions where 3NT can be used with a long running minor as well – see advanced section for some more discussion.

Key points to note

Hands with a long running minor should always be thinking about 3NT. If the other suits are stopped, it’s frequently the best contract.

Playing pairs only play 5 minor as a last resort – 3NT scores so much more (and it’s easier to make 9 tricks than 11).

Opening 1 of a suit and rebidding 3NT can show a hand with a long running minor – balanced hands of any point range can be bid other ways. Similar considerations arise if you overcall 3NT directly over a 1 level opening.

The “Gambling 3NT” opening conventionally shows a hand with a long running minor and very little else. This gives a good description to partner and may well be a reasonable contract if he has enough to stop the other suits.

It’s worth more advanced players gaining at least a basic understanding of the odds of how suits break (in isolation). This can often help you pick the best declarer play line.

More advanced

I mentioned the odds are the club suit will run for 8 tricks. Although you don’t need to be a wizard at maths to play bridge very well, it is useful to have a broad appreciation for the mathematical odds of how suits may break. Of course it should always be borne in mind that these odds are just the maths on its own with no other factors. In the real world at the bridge table there are nearly always other factors – for example if someone has shown length in one suit it increases the chances they will be shorter in another. Or if someone has bid to show some values, it may be more likely they hold a particular honour card.

In isolation though it’s worth trying to remember the most common splits for the most common fits you might be working with:

• when you have a 9 card fit in a suit, the remaining 4 cards will split 2-2 40% of the time, 3-1 50% of the time and 4-0 10% of the time.
• when you have an 8 card fit in a suit, the remaining 5 cards will split 3-2 68% of the time, 4-1 28% of the time and 5-0 4% of the time.
• when you have a 7 card fit in a suit, the remaining 6 cards will split 3-3 36% of the time, 4-2 48% of the time, 5-1 15% of the time, 6-0 1% of the time.

It’s worth noting in general that when you are missing an even number of cards in a suit, the odds are that they will NOT split equally (3-1 and 4-2 breaks are more likely than 2-2 and 3-3 respectively); but when you are missing an odd number of cards in a suit it is more likely they will split equally (e.g. 3-2 is 68%).

I said there are other occasions 3NT can be used like this. One scenario is as an overcall – at least at the 1 level. Once again big balanced hands don’t need to bid 3NT they can double and bid NT later; a 2NT overcall over a 1 level opening is usually used to show an unusual 5-5 type of hand so 3NT can be used to indicate a gambling type of hand with a long running minor and a stop in the opener’s suit. Responder should usually pass if they can provide a stopper in the other suits. Bear in mind if the opponents open with a pre-empt then this no longer applies, now a 2NT overcall should be natural and a 3NT overcall may be needed as a reasonable shot on a very big balanced hand (one where you can’t afford to start with a double and either find yourself pre-empted out of the auction or find partner jumping beyond 3NT thinking you hold length in another suit).

Another possible use is the Gambling 3NT convention. Here you agree to open 3NT on a hand with a long running minor and, conventionally, almost nothing else. Once again partner passes if they can cover the other suits. Although it’s a hand type that doesn’t come up very often it can be very useful when it does. It’s a difficult hand to bid otherwise – you have lots of tricks yourself but not necessarily that many high card points and potentially almost no defence at all given the opponents are going to be short in your suit. What’s more a 3NT opening can be a very effective pre-empt – the opponents might well be able to make 4 of a major (or more) but it’s going to be very hard for them to start bidding at the 4 level!

Julian Foster (many times NSW representative) ♣♦♥♠