Wednesday, December 20, 2006 2:55 AM

Hand Evaluation - Good Bidding Habits

PITBULLS:

Expert players have good bidding judgment derived from good hand evaluation skills. Here is a summary of most of the hand evaluation skills & bidding judgment mentioned in previous articles. These bidding habits & philosophy make up & guide our bidding system. We try to keep our bidding system in agreement with the following hand evaluation concepts.

1) Not all HCP’s are created equal . Aces & Kings ( controls) are far more valuable then queen & jacks. Controls should be the basis for determining your opening bids. Unsupported queens & jacks should be demoted.

2) Hand patterns – There are defensive hand patterns & there are offensive hand patterns. Bid distributional hands to the limit & tread lightly with flat hands. Describe your distribution first by bidding NT if you can. Double with defensive hands & quick tricks & bid with offensive hands. Bid shape before strength except if NT involved.

3) Law of Total tricks – Assign value to the 4^th trump with a major & the 5^th trump with a minor. Have your system indicate the 4^th trump with majors or a 5^th trump with minors. Appreciate trump length rather than HCP’s

4) Duplication of value – Misfit hands can be determined by splinters. Showing singletons in your system find out if the hands fit well. Have singleton showing bids imbedded in all parts of your system.

5) Fits – Distributional toys find your fits fast. If you have a two suited fit , keep bidding. If you do not fit partners response or opening bid suit , slow down your bidding. If you have a good fit , accelerate the bidding.

Fit showing jumps as a passed hand

6) Location , location & location - Where are your HCP’s ? Are they located in the opponents suit ( bad ) , your suit ( good ) , partners suit ( good ) , your short suit ( bad ). Are your HCP’s behind a known huge hand ?

7) HCP’s – A over-rated hand evaluation tool but a guide nevertheless. There are 40 HCP’s in the deck and around 33 needed for slam , 25 for game. Very rough estimate but better in NT contracts. Quantitative bidding quite accurate for NT . Count HCP’s while defending or declaring a hand.

8) Bridge is a game of suits – Appreciating the quality of your suit & the length of your suit is a hand evaluation skill. Look at your spot cards , tens and sequences . Long suits get evaluated upwards. Have bids in your system to show good suits ( jumps ). Have jump bids in competition show long suits instead of splinters.

1) Voids – Exclusion KCB is a fine way to take control with a void. Have Exclusion KCB embedded throughout your system. 4 level if possible but if not the 5 level for sure.

2) Q bids – Show either 1st or 2^ND round control. KCB sorts things out later. Use 3NT as a Q bid to show serious slam interest if you have a major fit.

3) Play the vulnerability – Openers , pre-empts & overcalls are vulnerability dependent.

4) Table position – Bids change depending on whether partner is a passed hand.

5) Depending on context – The meaning of bids like Q bids , doubles , 4NT , 3NT & minor suit KCB depend on the context of the particular auction.

6) Equal level conversion – Overcalls should show single suited hands. More than one suit with defense should be shown with a T/O double. Equal level conversion sorts things out.

7) Competitive doubles – Trump stack doubles are extinct as an initial bid if you do not own the hand. Double to ask permission to bid again in competition. Do not rescue opponents by bidding again.

8) Forcing Pass theory – When you own the auction , forcing pass theory applies.

9) Trapping – Avoid trapping vulnerable vrs not , manufacture a bid. On all other vulnerabilities trap with their suit & see if they get into trouble.

10) Misfits – “Fools rush in where experts fear to tread” Identify misfit auctions & let the opponents play them.

11) Blind leads – Leave blind leads to 3 famous mice. Lead a bare Ace if you must.

12) Balancing – Do not punish the balancer – she has bid all your hand already.

13) Rebidding your hand . Do not rebid your same values you have already shown. Partner has heard you. If you must rebid your hand , do it with a double.

14) Discipline – Bridge is a partnership game. Paint a picture of your hand to make joint decisions. Solo artists normally crash & burn. Avoid deceiving partner. Disciplined openers , pre-empts & overcalls on most vulnerabilities. Repeat your bids time after time.

15) Show where you live – Open suits where your values are , especially in 3^rd seat. 4 card majors instead of bad minors in 3^rd or 4^th seat.

16) Opening leads – Be very opening lead conscious with your overcalls & bidding. Lead directing doubles should be frequent.

17) IMPS vrs matchpoints – Two different games , so bid , play & defend differently !!!

18) Fast Arrival – Avoid jumping to high levels to show strength. Conserve bidding room & jump if you are not interested in slams. Fast arrival as a “death response”.

19) 2/1 - Non forcing to game if suit rebid. Avoid forcing NT with good two suiters or a good one suiter. Stretch to make a 2/1.

20) Right side contracts – Be aware of the opponents opening lead. Bid NT to right side contracts or to prevent a ruff by the opponents.

21) Transfers – Do not just have transfers after a NT bid. Use transfers after a T/O double of your major & use Rubensohl instead of Lebensohl.

22) Relays – Fix holes in standing bidding via relays. Multi 3♣ strong jump shift , escaping out of NT contracts & helping with 2♣ openers ( two suiters )

23) Patterning out – Harness your natural bidding system by showing your pattern with invitational range hands ( forcing 1NT auctions ) .

24) NT Openers – Use hand evaluation techniques to promote or demote hands . Anticipate rebid problems by opening 1NT.

25) Patterns – The DNA of Bridge . “Think in patterns” during the bidding , opening leads , declarer play & defense. Patterns define the game of Bridge.

26) Take your plus – When in doubt , take your plus. Leave guessing for your opponents. 5 level belongs to the opponents

27) Mask Splinters - Use splinters for slam tries. 3♣ shows a minor splinter , 3♦ shows a splinter in other major.

28) Limit Raise or Better – Jacoby 2NT , 2NT by responder , Q Bids & inverted minors all should be limit raise or better. Add escape sequences for non forcing to game hands.

29) Quick Tricks – Base opening bids , balancing , T/O doubles vrs overcalls on quick tricks. Be aware of your quick tricks.

30) Rote Rules – Substitute above hand evaluation concepts for rote rules. Do not be a slave to HCP’s.