Of course, some hands just don't have major suits. Often these hands bid Notrump according to strength.

N	E	S
1§ . . .	P	1NT	6-10, no majors, balanced hand.
1¨ . . .	P	2NT	12 +, no major suit, balanced.

They're Listening. It's important to remember that opponents are listening intently and will realize at once the lack of major suits when both opener and responder fail to bid them. They will surely enter the bidding in a major.

Make it as difficult as possible for them by bidding Notrump even with hands that are not exactly balanced and may be short of stoppers in all suits.   There's considerable preemptive advantage in this tactic, as opponents can't be sure you aren't ready for them with high honors in the majors, even though you can't bid them because of shortness.

Following these rules, notice the distinction in these sequences:

	N	E	S
A	1§	P	1¨
B.	1§	P	1NT
C.	1¨	P	1NT

A. In hand A., responder has no four card major and no 5+ card fit in Clubs.  The hand is probably weak but without shape (distributional values), as it also didn't bid 1NT or 2NT or any weak jump shift - 2¨ , 2© , or 2ª .  Expect 4 or 5 Diamond cards.

B.  In B., responder likewise denies a four+ card major suit, but suggests a decent hand (6-10 HCP) with no worse than 3-2 in the majors and stoppers in at least one of them.

C.  In C., what can responder have ?  No 4 card major, no raise or pass of Diamonds ? CLUBS, but without the values for a two over one game force bid, and without the length and/or weakness to make a 3 Club weak jump shift.

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(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998  All Rights Reserved