In many auctions, clubs and hearts are connected (♣—♡) while spades are connected to diamonds (♢—♠). The links can work both ways. The most common is that a bid of clubs shows something in hearts and a bid of diamonds shows something in spades, but in some auctions bidding hearts shows clubs and bidding spades shows diamonds.
We refer to these connections as satelinks. The ‘sat’ comes from South African Texas, where 4♣ is transfer to hearts and 4♢ a transfer to spades, while ‘elinks’ signals that there is a virtual link between these suit types.
Where are satelink bids used? The possible range of use cases is endless, but here are some common examples.
- After a 2N opening, a jump to the 4-level can be a satelink transfer.
- After a 2N opening and a Puppet Stayman or Muppet Stayman auction, various 4-level rebids can be used as satelink transfers.
- After a 1N opening, 4♣ and 4♢ can be played as satelink transfers (similar to Texas transfers).
- After a Multi 2♢ opening and a 2N inquiry, 3♣ and 3♢ show maximum weak two bids in hearts and spades.
- In some 2♣ auctions, 3-level bids can be played as satelink bids.
- When the responder to a 1N or 2N opening has shown 5-5 in the majors, 4♣ and 4♢ can be satelink bids to show a maximum hand in hearts and clubs respectively.
Whenever an action is defined as a satelink bid, the point is that bidding clubs shows hearts, diamonds shows spades, hearts shows clubs, and spades shows diamonds.