Road sign

What would you do with:
AK9x
9
T97xx
98x

...playing imps (none vul) when your partner opens 1H (11-16, 5+suit) and your RHO doubles?

My guess is that a lot of players would bid 1S, just as if there had been no double. My experience is that in this type of situation, you should pass with shortness in partners suit without 6+ suit or genuine 2-suiter (55+) even with values for bidding.

Being short in partner's suit is road sign for 'danger' and passing *always* leads to better results than bidding. What's most likely to happen is that you go down in a partscore instead of going plus on defence. With a better hand you can/should XX of course.

Here's the hand (from the archives), played in the Swedish top division:

________
______AQJT65
______J85
______AT72
J8753________QT42
432__________K87
KQ6__________A3
J5___________KQ64
______AK96
______9
______T9742
______983

The auction went:

1H - (X) - pass - (2S);
3H - (4S) - X all pass

Ace of H was led but when partner continued with the queen (instead of J/T), I misstakenly shifted to a diamond instead of a club and the defence lost a trick. +300 was a still good for +9 imps then teammates went +100 defending a heart partscore.

As always, a single deal proves nothing. But you can take my word for that passing is the percentage call.

Or don't - the choice is yours.