2007-10-15 09:48

Hand Evaluation – Partnership ( Bad Habits )

PITBULLS:

When you are new to the game of Bridge you learn “bad habits” which you must get rid of as you mature in Bridge. One bidding habit I notice with the Tormentees is the bad habit of not bidding your own hand & assuming partner is not bidding her hand. I call it the 10 HCP in reserve bad habit. Tormentees seem to have the annoying habit of showing 10 HCP hands via a pass. In other words zero & 10 HCP’s are both shown with the same bid , a pass. Where did they get this habit ? I had to do some thinking to come up with an answer. Their partners must be grossly overbidding their hands so they like to have 10 HCP’s in reserve to compensate for their bad overbidding habit or bad declarer play. I was playing with a Tormentee a while back & the auction went

1♦-P-P-x

2♦-P-P-2♥

P-3♣-P-3♥ all pass making 5♥ by me.

The Tormentee for her original pass had 11 HCP & prime cards at that. I said I could not figure out her pass had 11 HCP & asked how she would bid if she had zero HCP. A different Tormentee held ♠Jxxx ♥xxx ♦AKQxx ♣x & they opened 1NT strong ( Maurice ) . I doubled to show my 16 HCP & LHO ran to 2♣. The Tormentee passed & I passed. They went 4 down in 2♣ & we had 6♦ lay down. I asked my partner if it was systemic that her pass showed 10 HCP with a good suit. I expected you to bid again was her reply. How are you going to make up for lost time & make me believe you passed such a hand ? Silence. Same Tormentee & the auction went 1NT & her vul partner bid 2♣ which was a systemic bid of some sort. They bid 2♥ & the Tormentee held ♠K10xx ♥QJ109 ♦K ♣Jxxx so true to the pass shows 10 HCP rule , she passed. Partner now bid twice by coming in vul 2♠. So do you now bid 4♠ or at least 3♠ ? No , you pass as you have already shown your 10 HCP & 4 card fit by passing twice !!

In a recent match , a Tormenttee & her partner won IMPS because they pushed the opponents one level too high up to 4♦ & they went down one for a partial swing . Bad habits again surfaced though. The auction went 1♦ & the Tormentee held ♠Kx ♥Kxxx ♦Ax ♣KJxxx & decided that a T/O double was not very good . A 1NT overcall or a 2♣ bid did not appeal to her either so she passed. LHO also passed & partner made a balancing double with ♠Jxxx ♥Qxx ♦xx ♣Axxx . This is incorrect. The rule of thumb in the balancing seat is too overbid by 3 HCP . You normally would double with 13 HCP so a double with 10 HCP ( with controls ) is permissible. This is a clear cut pass. Anyway , he doubled & the Tormentee made an incorrect bid of 2♥. A jump after a double is an invitational bid under an opening bid. This hand qualifies for a Q bid which shows a hand too strong to make an invitational jump. Anyway , they pushed the opponents up to 4♦ & the Tormentee passed her 14 HCP at the 4 level after partner had doubled. This is an impossible auction but two wrongs made a right. As partner did not have his double , passing 4♦ with 14 HCP was the correct action. If partner had his bid, you own the hand as you have 25 HCP. They cannot buy the hand at the 4 level undoubled.

You can not compensate all the time for partner not having her bid. This means that you are not bidding your hand properly. Two wrongs making a right is not the way to go. The wrong should be corrected. Give partner his bid ( throw in the ♥A) to get him up to 10 HCP & they bought the hand in 4♦ undoubled & you make 4♥ or they go for –300. Lack of discipline destroys partnership Bridge. This must be corrected & not compensated for by making wrong bids yourself.