Wednesday, July 09, 2003 5:18 PM

Hand Evaluation – Passing ( Misfits )

PITBULLS:

Expert players use the green card when appropriate . Quoting an unknown Bridge player “anybody can bray like a Jackass” . Passing is both an art & a science as well as a hand evaluation concept. Passing is a part of “playing the vulnerability” & buying into Garazzo’s axiom of “do not enter a fight that you cannot win”. How does the pass work in “playing the vulnerability” ? If you are nv vrs vul , you bid to disrupt your auctions. With the 3 other vulnerabilities , you revert to disciplined bidding. On these vulnerabilities , sometimes silence is golden. You are vul & partner passed. You have a pre-emptive 2♠ bid . Why bid it ? This is a fight you can not win , so all you are doing is helping the opponents !! Do not tell them that there finesses are going to win as partner holds outstanding cards. Do not tell them their stiff spade should be upgraded or that 6 of your 13 cards are spades so they can play the hand better. Your suit is not much of a lead director anyway in many cases.

Sometimes I feel the silent opponents are tougher to play against than the terrorists. As declarer , I have no clues to locate cards or distribution so I must make the guesses. I prefer people braying when they should not , to help my declarer play. These terrorists also give you options of penalty doubles. They are trying so hard to disrupt your auction , they bid vul on bad suits opposite a passed hand partner. This is a recipe for disaster but they do it anyway. The “lemming principle” or “catch me if you can “ principle I believe it is called.

The “art” side of passing is reading opponents & “smelling” misfit auctions. There are standard auctions that suggest a misfit , so you can stay out of those auctions. Astute players can read vibes that indicate the hands are not fitting well for the opponents so a pass would be a good bid to make . Peter Jones makes more passes then any other Bridge player alive . He is quite often right . I think this is a skill he picked up from Texas Holdem where passing is a must . Self discipline & passing goes hand in hand . You earn a lot of IMPS by passing when it is right !! Do not rescue bad bidders by bidding. A double should be your main bid if you wish to compete again.

The science is ( you guessed it ) applying patterns during the bidding. Translating the opponents bidding into patterns allows you to bid again or discretely pass . Take this hand

x	x	A	K
x		K	Q
x		x	x
		x	x
		x

Strong NT to your right , LHO is a passed hand. You decide to pass & await developments . LHO transfers to hearts so RHO bids 2 hearts which is alerted as not liking hearts . Do you now back in with a double or 2NT for the minors? Apply patterns so you get your answer . The hearts are most likely 5-5-2-1 around the table with partner holding 5 of them . Give her 3 or 4 spades with her 5 hearts so that means she is dangerously short in the minors for you to bid . Put the green card on the table.

A	A	x	Q
K	K	x	x
x	x
x	x
x

1♦ to your left , RHO bids 1NT which you double. LHO bids 2♣ , partner passes so RHO bids 3♦ . Do you double again ? Apply patterns in order to “bid the table” . LHO is probably 5-5 in the minors so very short in the majors. RHO bid 1NT going in & jumped in diamonds , therefore is also very short in the majors . Partner is marked with no HCP’s on the auction but she does hold length in the majors . Double again as you might have an excellent major suit spot.

x	A	x	x
x	K	x	x
	J		x
	10
	9
	8

Not vul my partner Scott Brinsmead opened 3♠ , vul RHO overcalled 4♥ !! Has Christmas come early ? Wait a minute , the 4♥ bidder has a partner . What defense do you have for 7 of either minor ? I passed quickly so LHO went into a tank . A pass card eventually hit the table so we took our +300. LHO had a void in hearts with nice minors . He definitely would bail to his makeable minors , if I doubled.

x	A	A	x
x	K	K
x	x	x
x	x	x

One spade by RHO , you pass if you have not bought into equal level conversion . 2♠ by LHO , all pass & your bid . Apply the spade pattern , 5-4-3-1 so partner has a singleton spade . This gives her 12 cards that might fit your hearts or diamonds . I would double & pull partners 3♣ to 3♦ if necessary . A pass is not right when all your cards are working on offense.