Secondary UI after a hesitation

ais523

Imagine a (hypothetical) auction that starts as follows:

{b...1sp1np2spp3cppx}

South's pass over 3!c was very slow (and everyone at the table is aware of this). North's double of 3!c was penalty, and in the expected tempo in this situation (i.e. North has not produced unauthorised information to South).

North has unauthorised information. We would normally consider South to not have unauthorised information, so they can do what they like.

However, South does have some information that they wouldn't have without the hesitation: North's double must be very clear-cut! Assuming North is ethical (and South knows this), North wouldn't double in this situation unless there were no logical alternative to doing so (the hesitation has to suggest taking some action other than passing, and a double leaves all possibilities open, thus double is demonstrably suggested over passing). Thus, South knows not only that a) North considers their hand a penalty double (the usual authorised information on this auction), but also b) North thinks there are no plausible alternative bids other than a penalty double.

My question is: is South allowed to use this additional information later in the auction, and/or in the play? Or is it unauthorised, thus forcing South to bid as though the opposite were true? It's weird to allow someone to learn information that they gained from their own side's tempo; but it's also weird to consider unauthorised information to exist for a player when that player's partner hasn't produced any.

(I have a suspicion that it might actually be extraneous information, being neither authorised nor coming from the player's partner, but am not sure on this, and think that the topic may be worthy of discussion regardless.)

Senior_Kibitzer

While this "Secondary UI" can be an issue in some rare situations, I am not sure that you have given the best scenario. What does South's thinking over the 3 :club: bid suggest to North? Extra strength? Well, possibly, but far more likely a hand unsuited for defending 3 :club: . I might argue that the "hesitation" suggests North bid 3 :spade: and that doubling is the least suggested action. Thus when North does double, there's no secondary UI