Friday, September 23, 2005 11:18 PM

D.S.I.P. - Trapping

PITBULLS:

The Bridge style of trapping is considered old fashioned for those who follow the “Bridge is a bidders game” dogma. In my mind , trapping is an excellent strategy to preserve discipline in the partnership and allow “bidders” enough rope to hang themselves. Trapping means you do not necessarily bid with HCP’s equivalent to an opening bid or better. If you have their suit , or a bad suit or no support for the majors for a T/O double , you trap. Partner must balance to protect your initial non action. Having said that , there is one golden rule for trapping and that is trapping is vulnerability dependent. You do not trap vul vrs nv as you manufacture a bid or an off shape double to get in the auction. With the remaining vulnerability combinations you trap. If they are vul and you are not , trapping is an obvious good strategy. Even if the auction gets passed out at 100 a pop , you make up for your non vul game. If they get doubled , its lottery time for IMPS your way. With equal vulnerability, we trap to preserve partnership discipline. Overcalling 1NT with a stiff or a NT without a stopper in their suit or an off shape double or overcalling on a bad suit on equal vulnerability does not appeal to me. The chance of “getting partner” is not worth the risk of bidding just because we have HCP’s on equal vulnerability.

Re-opening doubles are essentially D.S.I.P. doubles. They do not promises shape or tolerance for unbid suits . These doubles are just action doubles announcing cards so if partner has trapped , the opponents may be in deep trouble. Partner must train herself that if you decide to bid again , the double is the most flexible bid. Like all re-opening doubles , bend over backwards to make a double rather than rebid your suit or selecting a new suit.. Think partner converting for penalty first and finding a trump fit 2^nd.

Balancing doubles are D.S.I.P. doubles also. Do not forget that 10 HCP with some quick tricks is the water mark for a double. Do not make a balancing double just because you have the unbid suits if you do not have defense or enough HCP’s to allow a conversion by partner. Pass is still a legal bid. Without values ,you do not want to encourage partner to convert or double the opponents later in the auction. If partner does not trap vul against nv , there is no need to “balance” . On this one vulnerability only , you are just bidding your own hand in the pass out seat.

BJ and I have an understanding that in one vulnerability only ( they are and we are not ) , all re-opening doubles at the one , two & 3 level are D.S.I.P. and show cards. They do not promise the unbid major or shape but just “cards” for partner to convert for penalty.

Why not trap vul against nv ? Are you not taking a chance by getting into the auction initially ? Experience shows that the opponents “play the vulnerability” . When they see this color , they open on nothing , respond on nothing and need no excuse to pre-empt. There is also a safety factor that partner does not need to balance on this vulnerability. It goes 2♠-P-P-? and vul against nv you know partner would get in there with a decent hand. So if you do not have a good hand , just put the green card on the table as you know you are not missing a game. This strategy avoids some nasty sets .

Trapping and frequent D.S.I.P. doubles is the best defense against light opening bids , bad overcalls , bad pre-empts and balances by the opponents. Rescuing the opponents by bidding is the worst strategy. You are playing right into their hands. Poker elements come into play. They are gambling by their undisciplined style. You gamble right back by trapping ( called sandbagging in Poker ) . Enter the D.S.I.P. double as the flexible bid of choice to discover what is going on. Do not rescue bad bidders by bidding . Always look for the most flexible bid in Bridge – the D.S.I.P. double. Try it , you will like it . J