Do 2 of 19 polled Passing make Pass a Logical Alternative?
Hi
I have a ruling to give and have taken a poll.
I had 19 responses, 2 of whom chose to Pass.
Is that enough to make Pass a logical alternative?
It's always been clearer cut than that before.
Many thanks
Peter Bushby Suffolk
Comments
It sounds borderline. Did you ask them all what they considered? If a significant proportion of them considered Pass and two out of nineteen selected it then I think that satisfies the requirements of the law. If almost none of them, other than the two who selected it, considered passing then I think it is not. White Book 8.16.6 might help clarify the matter.
Did any of the 19 disagree with the earlier actions, or are there other reasons for reconsidering whether the pollees were 'peers'? This may swing it one way or another.
But as Gordon said, further questioning of the bidders ("what do you think of passing here?") should give weight to the "would seriously consider aspect of the decision.'
I would say it would depend on what the non-passers thought. If, say, 8 or 9 of them thought that passing was reasonable (even if it wasn't their first choice), I think passing would be a logical alternative. If all of them thought that pass was ridiculous, I would think it wouldn't be. I'm not sure where the borderline between these two possibilities goes.
As Robin_BarkerTD mentions, it's usually best to reduce the weight / discount the opinion of anyone who disagreed with the previous bidding, as they're probably not going to be the best at predicting what that particular player would have done.
Thanks all. That's very helpful. It's the first time I have had to decide based on the 'would you consider' question. Although I knew the theory it's always been more clear cut in the past
Peter Bushby Suffolk