At Table 1, after West’s normal pre-empt, no-one took any further action. The defence cashed their 5 tricks, which were A and K of spades, A and K of clubs, and A of diamonds. One down, for a score of 100 to North/South, an unremarkable result.

At Table 2, North was devoted to the idea “Make a take-out double with any opening hand”. South then counted up 10 points and bid game, and East closed the auction with a penalty double.

West led the AH, then the KH, and switched to a diamond. South as declarer, surveyed his dismal prospects, grabbed the AD, and played AS, KS, and a third round, hoping that the suit was breaking 3-3, and that maybe the QC would drop….

When none of this happened, East made 2 trump tricks, 2 diamonds, and the QC. Together with the two heart tricks, this made 7 tricks for East/West, and a whopping penalty of 1100. Note that even if South had bid a conservative 3S, and been doubled, the penalty would have been a sizable 800.

North’s double is a dangerous and costly action. Here is the arithmetic: West has shown a weak hand; maybe 7 or 8 points. North is looking at 13, so that leaves about 20. Unless South has the lion’s share of these points, and a good suit, game seems a long way off. As it was South had 10 points, but it was not nearly enough.  

Useful advice in this situation is: when considering a take-out double over a 3-level major suit opening, wait until you have 4 cards in the other major, and around 15 points or more. In the above example, North at Table 1 took her best opportunity by settling for a small penalty rather than trying for an unlikely game.