Friday, January 12, 2007 3:26 AM
Hand Evaluation – HCPs ( Arithmetic & Ownership )
PITBULLS:
Ownership is a hand evaluation
concept. Overbidders steal the opponents
blind who do not realize they have
the balance of power. Trapping & balancing depend on the
ability to know when your side
has the majority of HCP’s.
Whenever the opponents rest in a final contract
of 1NT or some other partial , you can
assume they have ½ the deck . Using the 40
HCP in the deck rule , you can just count how
many HCP’s your side should have.
Ray
Grace opened light tonight with ♠AKxx ♥KJxxx ♦xx ♣xx & I manufactured a 1NT
response with ♠J ♥Qx ♦J10xxx ♣J10xxx & bought the
contract . I went two down for –100 so a Tormentee
& her partner lost
12 IMPS. Why ? because
the concept of trapping
& balancing is not
in their bidding repertoire. The Tormentee’s partner
has a good heart opening bid of 15 HCP’s so she passed the 1♥ opener as would most
Bridge players ( she had a stiff club & 5 ♥’s) . When the 1NT contract comes around to her, she should now double 1NT to show the heart trap. The tormentee
had 10 HCP’s so asked what should she bid if partner doubled. Pardon me !!! Your partner shows an opening bid or better ( probably
the latter) & you asking what should you bid ? Arithmetic time.
The opponents are in a misfit auction
of 1NT with partners 14+ HCP in hearts sitting over the heart opener & you have 10 HCP
? You should have game
in NT your way .
You close your eyes , pass & lead a heart.
I
played against the same tormentee a while back &
Perry nv opened a weak NT .
My RHO doubled & I had about 4 HCP. I bid 2♣ to escape , the Tormentee
had a flat 10 HCP &
passed. I played the contract in 2♣ down two & they make game the other direction. They lost 10
IMPS . Actually RHO had 14 HCP for her double so just
adding HCP’s during the auction , they had a minimum of 24 HCP vrs
our 16 HCP. Why are we playing this contract
undoubled
? If the Tormentee just held 6 HCP, they are favoured to have ½ the deck . So
with 10 HCP it is their hand so with partners HCP’s located behind the opener game is very likely. Location ,
Location & location.
There
are only 40 HCP’s in the deck . A good player had this hand ♠J109xx ♥AKQxx ♦Ax ♣x , his LHO opened 1♣
so he decided not to Michaels with an intermediate hand & overcalled 1♠.
They bid 3NT to his left so around to him again. Everybody is NV so what is
going on ? Arithmetic time.
There is 13 HCP to his left
, he has 14 HCP & his
RHO has shown 13 HCP . This gives
me zero HCP. He now bids 4♥ which got doubled.
He hit me with a magical hand ♠x ♥xxxx ♦xxxx ♣J109x &
the spades were 5-5-2-1 so he went for –300. If I was dealt ♠xx ♦xx ♦xxxxx ♣J109x , he could have gone for his life. Knowing I had a hand in this HCP range , a lead directing double is obvious. We get +300 for
a 12 IMP swing, if
he doubles to negate a spade lead.
Same
player who held ♠AJ ♥Q9xx ♦AKxx ♣AJx , with everybody vul. They opened 1♣ to his left ,
I passed & they bid 3♣ alerted as a limit raise. Abacus
time. LHO has 13 HCP , RHO has 8-11 HCP &
you have 19 HCP. This leaves me with zero HCP. If you bid ,
we are in the –800 range. So of course , you pass
& beat 3♣ one trick for +100 . This is a 13 IMP swing as they got
into trouble at the other table.
A Tormentee had 14 HCP ♠Kx ♥Kxxx ♦Ax ♣KJxxx & RHO opened 1♦ . This was passed
around to partner who balanced with a double. This actions shows 10 + HCP so
your side is in the game range ( 25 + HCP) so you Q
bid describe the strength of your hand. The opponents compete all the way to
the 4 level when you “out gun” them by a substantial margin probably
25 HCP to 15 HCP . How can they play this contract undoubled
unless you suspect a 9 card suit or similar distribution by them.
If this is the case , you certainly have game or slam
your way.
HCP’s
& your abacus are used to
determine who owns the
auction. Owning the auction turns on forcing passes ,
allows you to punish the opponents who are out of line & prevents your
rightful contracts to be “stolen” from you. You cannot use the green card until you have made this
determination. You also should not bid again until you have made that determination. Is
it our hand or is it their
hand ?