Why did you choose the
suit for Iota? Is it because you had most of the honors in the 's? Or, because of a general rule?
I choose
![Spades !S](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_spades.gif)
simply because if I got a negative response, I'd be doing a new suit Iota at 3
![Hearts !H](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_hearts.gif)
. Whereas if I went with
![Hearts !H](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_hearts.gif)
first and got a negative response, I'd be doing a new suit Iota at 3
![Spades !S](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_spades.gif)
. Trying to conserve bidding space is always a good idea with asking bid sequences.
Could you have Iota'ed in
![Hearts !H](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_hearts.gif)
first? Since only one step separates the two suits, and we are talking Iota Asks, I do not think it's a big deal which you go with first but certainly
![Spades !S](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_spades.gif)
works best here. Where it really matters is when it is Alpha and there two or three steps separating the two suits. In that case, since a negative Alpha is one or two steps, you preference should be with bidding the cheapest of the two suits first. Example:
1
![Clubs !C](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_clubs.gif)
-1
![Spades !S](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_spades.gif)
and you hold a two suiter [5-5] in
![Clubs !C](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_clubs.gif)
&
![Hearts !H](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_hearts.gif)
and plan on using Alpha. Here Alpha in
![Clubs !C](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_clubs.gif)
because if you get a negative, 2
![Hearts !H](http://ocp.pigpen.org.uk/smf/Smileys/default/icon_hearts.gif)
will always be there for you next TAB.
Hope that helps, in general, OCP relies lots on judgment and less on rules than other systems. That can be good or bad depending on how tightly one is wound.
Prior to playing OCP I was more tightly wound than a woodpecker's butt hole, now I am as loose as a bovine's butt hole. Pardon, the pigpen humor.
John