Law of Total Tricks

Friday, February 13, 2004 6:01 AM

Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( The Law of Total Tricks )

PITBULLS:

The “law of total tricks” has some merit . Mike Lawrence says that partner has a right to know if your major raise is predicated on a 4 card suit or a 3 card suit. Partner needs to know that information in order to evaluate her own hand properly for game tries, penalty doubles or competing again. Bergen invented a system around the concept where a simple raise MUST show 3 trump . In overcalls , even if you have not bought into the Bergen system for openers , you should never make a simple raise with 4 trump. A jump raise to the 3 level is pre-emptive or systemic as well as a raise to the 4 level. These jump bids show 4 or more trump not HCP’s.

Lorna held a hand tonight which shows the principle in action. ♠Jxxx ♥KJ10xxx ♦xx ♣x . Maurice opened 1♦ , they overcalled 1♠ . You can not bid 2♠ with this hand as you have 4 trump with a 6-4 distribution. A 2♠ bid does not even come close to describing this hand. You have a choice between 3 & 4♠ . Most experts would leap to 4♠ given the distribution but say you bid 3♠ . Partner holds ♠AKQxxx ♥void ♦Kxxx ♣xxx so will bid 4♠. Say you had only 3♠ ♠Jxx ♥KJ10xxx ♦xx ♣Qx & bid 2♠ . Should partner leap to 4♠ with the hand he had ? No way , as the hand is not even close to being the same, knowing there is only 3 trump over there.. With a trump lead on the 2^nd hand, 4♠ doubled could go 3 down against nothing. With the 4^th trump , 4♠ x is odds on to make !! These hands occur over & over again so bidding theorists have based a law of total tricks on the concept.

Show your extra trump length by raising the level of the bidding. Partner has a right to know if your raise is based on 3 , 4 , or 5 trump. The more trump you have the better it is for offense & you detract from partner’s hand defensively so hiding trump length from partner is very silly. Combined trump length equals pre-emptive value , in other words , you take useful bidding room away from the opponents. Here is an auction recently involving a Tormentee against the Gartaginis. 1♣ ( forcing ) by Judy , 2♦ by partner , 2♠ by Nick ( game force ) & the Tormentee held 5 of partners trump . Time to make a tactical bid in diamonds to take bidding room from the opponents so you bid 4 or 5♦ , correct ? The Tormentee bid 3♦ to allow the Gartaganis room to investigate a slam which they did & reached 6♠ making. Judy said if the Tormentee pre-empted to 4♦ so would have passed & they probably would have played 4♠. You cannot make the same bid with 5 trump as you would with 3 trump . Describe your trump length to partner & use the pre-emptive value !!

Appreciating extra trump length in partner’s bid suit has been the subject of countless articles on hand evaluation. By not evaluating your trump length , you are a slave to the HCP system. Not appreciating trump length, is the worst known affliction a player can have in order to remain a novice at this game. Evaluate your trump length by jumping. ♠KQxx ♥xx ♦AKQxxx ♣x & a Tormentee vul vrs nv opened 1♦. Partner bid 2♠ (WJS) so what do you bid ? Surely partner has ♠AJ10xxx for his bid so you can count only 3 losers in your hand so +620 is cold.. However , due to your extreme trump length , there is another danger lurking. If the spades are 6-4-3-0 , their sacrifice makes as you only have two defensive tricks. One bid that you can not make of course is 3 spades . Partner will pass so you miss your cold game but worse still you allow them to back in & find their fit. On the hand they bid 4♣ over 3♠ which was raised to 5♣. The only pair to find their –50 sacrifice against the +620 so a well deserved zero in matchpoints & -12 IMP loss in IMPS. The Tormentee counted her 14 HCP & bid 3♠ rather than appreciating her trump length in partner’s suit & the playing value of her 6-4 & her solid suit.

A Tormentee held this hand which shows the ultimate in “hiding your hand” from partner. 1♣-1♦-P-? & you have ♠AKxxx ♥xx ♦xxxxx ♣Q so you bid 1♠. They bid 2♣ so around to you. She bid 2♦ which is so bad as to be labeled a psyche as you are hiding your 4^th & 5^th trump from partner & the stiff club from partner. Partner now bids 2♥ so you now hide your hand again by bidding the death response of 3♦ which again can be described as a psyche. 5♦ is of course cold with a chance for slam & you made a partial. When in this auction have you shown your phenomenal length in partner’s suit , source of tricks in spades & a stiff in the opponent’s suit ? You have done an excellent job of hiding your hand from partner & not allowing him to make a right decision. You just counted up your 9 HCP’s oblivious to the fact that you have 5 trump , a stiff in their suit & a 5-5-2-1 with a side suit headed by the AKxxx !

One of the worst bidding sins is hiding your trump length from partner. A simple raise in a major shows 3 trump , in accordance with the law of total tricks. I repeat a simple raise shows 3 trump. You do not make the same bid with 5 trump as you do with 3 trump. This is hopelessly wrong. A Tormentee held ♠xxxxx ♥x ♦Axxx ♣Qxx with the non vul opponents opening 1♥ . Partner vul overcalls 1♠ & the opponents bid 2♥ so the 30 HCP rule comes into effect with your stiff in their suit. You could bid 3♥ but that overstates your values. Most players would show their 5 th trump via the law of total tricks & bid 4♠. Appreciate & advise partner of the trump length in her suit !! Lose a 26 IMP swing as the opponents were allowed to play 4♥ making when you were cold for +620 in spades for a double game swing !! The Tormentee said she only had 6 HCP ! This was very true , she did hold 6 HCP opposite a minimum overcall but we can make game. Any message there ?

The very next hand ♠x ♥AKxx ♦Qxxx ♣xxxx , the auction goes 1♠-2♣-2♠ & again the 30 HCP in the deck rule comes into effect & the law of total tricks with your 4^th trump. Do not make the same bid you would make with 3 trump & 7 HCP & compete to 3 clubs. You have 9 HCP , rich in controls , stiff in their suit & a 4 th trump !! Your hand evaluates to a 3♠ Q bid taking the non HCP factors into the decision. This hand makes 6♣ so you lose a 24 IMP swing as you may have reached 6♣ & the opponents only reached 5♣. This hand was played in a 3♣ partial at your table so lose 10 IMPS. The Tormentee ignored all hand evaluation concepts except HCP’s. She totaled 9 HCP’s in her hand & bid accordingly. Very wrong.

Law of Total Tricks

The Law of Total Tricks is a fairly complex set of principles that experienced bridge players use to decide how high to bid in competitive auctions. Two entire books are devoted to "The Law" (To Bid or Not to Bid and Following the Law by Larry Cohen), but there are some basic elements of the Law that beginners can adopt.

Described here is a simplified version of a guideline you can use to decide if you should pass and let the opponents play in their partscore, or if you should bid one level higher in your suit. It operates on the principle that "trumps are (almost) everything" and high-card strength is not critical. In its simplest form, the rule is:

On partscore deals (where each partnership has a combined total of about 17-23 high-card points):
the number of tricks you can take on offense is equal to the combined number of trumps you hold.

In practice, this means that if you and partner have only an 8-card fit, you should usually stop at the 2-level. If you have a 9-card fit, you can safely bid 3 of your suit if the opponents try to force you one level higher.

Using the Law

    Partner  RHO   You   LHO

(1)   1H     1S    2H    2S

(2)   1C    Pass   1S    2D

      2S     3D     ?

In Auction (1), partner should take the "push" to 3H only if he has a sixth heart, even if he has a bare 11-12 pts. If partner passes, he's showing a minimum opener with only 5 hearts -- when this auction comes back to you, you will bid 3H only if you have an extra trump (4 hearts instead of the 3 you've promised). Again, points don't matter -- if you have 4-card heart support, bid 3H, even with a weak hand (♠43 ♥10854 ♦AJ94 ♣Q86).

In Auction (2), partner should never be the one to bid 3S because he can't have an extra trump (the auction has told you he holds a minimum opener with exactly 4 spades). The decision is up to you. If you have the high-card strength to make a game, go ahead and bid 4S. But if it's a partscore deal (one where you have a weaker hand of 6-10 pts. and wanted to stop in 2S), you should bid 3S now only if you have a 5-card suit (one more than you showed with your 1S response). You would bid 3S here with ♠J10843 ♥K4 ♦654 ♣QJ2 . You should pass with ♠QJ43 ♥K64 ♦J54 ♣QJ2

Note: In competitive auctions like those above, the partner who bids at the 3-level is not inviting game nor showing extra points. He is merely competing, and the other partner should always pass. If you have extra values and want to invite game, you must make a game-try bid in a new suit.