2007-12-27 13:46
Hand Evaluation - Thinking the Game
PITBULLS:
Whenever
the subject of great golfers comes
up , the names of Jack Nicklaus & Tiger Woods
surface. They became the best in their sport by the way they “think the game”. They are mentally tough & think the game of golf very well. They use
their superior thinking powers to
beat the opposition who do not or
cannot put the same degree of thought
to their round of golf.
Bridge is a cerebral game so
thinking the game
of Bridge is what it is all about. Creativity ,
self discipline , competitiveness & character traits all enter the equation
but how you “think the game” of
Bridge leads to success. “Top down thinking”
is what we highly recommend for
the game of Bridge. What is that exactly ? Deductive reasoning is taking the big picture & deducing logical conclusions from it. This term means look
at the big picture of the game of Bridge. Sometimes you are too
close to the elephant to realize that it is an elephant. Step
back a distance & you realize that it is an elephant. Getting mired
in the details of Bridge sometimes obscures the purpose of the game.
Gambling is a part of Bridge as it is in poker. However
, you gamble intelligently.
Bridge is not just a series of taking shots & hope
you land on your feet. You take your plus
in Bridge unless the pot odds are in your favour to gamble. Bridge
judgment is required along with hand
evaluation skills. Poor gambling is just that ,
poor gambling. In Bridge , you take the best result possible
not the best possible result. Bridge
is a game of probabilities.
Think accordingly.
Here is a 12 IMP loss
because the player did not “play
the odds” &
made a poor gamble. ♠AQx ♥Axxxx ♦Qxxx ♣x
& opened 1♥. Partner bid 1NT
& 2♦ was rebid. Partner now bid 2♠
which
shows a strong diamond raise. You have 12 HCP so could not have more of a minimum hand.
Therefore you advise partner of your minimum by bidding the “death response” of 3♦ . No
, you bid the game invitational bid of 2NT & partner carries on to
3NT & goes down 5 vul for –500. You are cold for
+110 in diamonds so you threw away 12 IMPS. You bid your own hand & not
the fact that partner has indicated a good hand
in support of diamonds. HCP’s are good for NT contracts & you have already
shown an opening bid. A 2NT bid is not bidding the same values you have
already shown by opening the bidding.
Statements like , all HCP’s
are either quick tricks or soft values demonstrates a way of
looking at HCP’s from the top down. HCP’s
are very much in the “big picture” of Bridge. The type of HCP’s you hold
measure the defensive value of
your hand. Quick tricks
equals defense & a double of some sort. There are two types of hands in Bridge
, defensive or offensive. This
classification is determined by the type of
HCP’s & their distribution.
In other words , look at your HCP’s to evaluate your hand. Think in quick tricks. Do not just total HCP’s.
Other
examples of top down thinking is whether you “own an auction” or you are competing for the auction. Ownership of auctions is a “big
picture” in the game of bridge. A good player held ♠x ♥xx ♦xxx ♣AKJ10xxx vul vrs
not & her partner opened 1♥. They bid 4♠ nv so she bid a vul 5♣. This bid means that for better or worse your
side owns the auction &
forcing pass theory kicks in. 5♣ gets passed & the 4♠ bidder
St. Alberts to 5♠ so you double as you
do not encourage partner to bid 6♣.
You accidentally pass but partner saves you by doubling 5♠
anyway.
This failure to realize that you “own the
auction” usually leads to a disaster. Partner was close to bidding 6♣
based on your forcing pass.
Another
example of “top down thinking” is counting
HCP’s. In order to determine the balance
of power in competitive auctions , you count
HCP’s during the auction. Also to
reach slam & game you count the HCP’s that partner is indicating on the
bidding to guide you to the correct contract & level. Counting HCP’s should
be done dynamically as they are
played. This helps you find queens as declarer & helps you defend a hand.
Otherwise Bridge would be relegated just to a series of guesses. This counting HCP’s
is a way of thinking in Bridge. Thinking HCP’s helps you judge “duplication of value” as location enters
the picture. Where are your HCP’s ? Opposite partners stiff , in the opponents suit , in your short suits all
determine “thinking” in Bridge. Thinking
HCP’s is a way of playing Bridge.
Another
“top down thinking” is realizing the state of the match. You are leading an IMP match
by 30 IMPS & you have reached the final set of boards. You have had a flat set with only 4 boards to go ,
so the last thing
you want to do is make a swingy bid. If you take a bad gamble
it empowers the opponents & changes the momentum of the match. You hold ♠xx ♥K9xxxx ♦Jxx ♣xx & LHO opens 1♦ & you are equal vul.
Therefore ,do you give the opponents a chance to
extract a huge penalty & get back in the match ? Of course not , you bid in accordance to the state of the
match & pass. If you bid 2♥ you go for –800
& the complexion of the match changes.
By far , the most valuable way
of thinking in Bridge are hand patterns. Hand
patterns are the DNA of Bridge & is
Bridge in most expert’s minds. I think in hand patterns as my primary way of playing the game of Bridge. I have the most common 13 patterns
in Bridge memorized so I “think
in patterns”. My opening leads are not made until I have translated the bidding into a hand pattern. My declarer play is based on hand patterns for
visualizing card combinations , suit
establishment , drawing trump , card reading & all advanced plays like
squeezes & endplays. I could not declare a hand properly without thinking in patterns
first.
Strategy like playing the vulnerability & being a terrorist nv vrs vul is fine. Bidding differently depending on seat position., using doubles for something more than indicating a trump stack & equal level conversion are Bridge strategies rather than Bridge thinking. Hand evaluation skills & Bridge judgment are how you make your Bridge decisions. These skills come from experience so are indicators on how you think the game of Bridge. Fact finding or gathering clues assist you with your Bridge decisions . No not just guess. Inductive reasoning is bottom up thinking i.e. coming to a big picture conclusion from the clues available.
Bidding
is greatly assisted by “thinking in patterns” . If partner has a
balanced hand , she
will indicate her hand pattern
by bidding some number of NT. If
she has a distributional hand patterns, she will show her hand pattern by bidding suits. When the opponents enter
the auction by overcalling or pre-empting, they give you pattern information which you can use to
your benefit. Using the opponents as stepping
stones is gleaning information by applying patterns.
Defense
in the game of Bridge is just
thinking in patterns. Engineers use blueprints to guide them in their building projects. Defense
is translating bidding , opening leads & signals into patterns & just follow your blueprint. An experienced player held
♠AQJxxxx ♥Qxx ♦x ♣xx & opened 3♠ vul
vrs not. I bid 4♠ followed by a 5♦ bid by them which was
passed out. She led the spade Ace & two small appeared on the board. I
played the spade deuce & declarer the ♠10 so what is going on ? Apply a pattern 7-3-2-1
means that declarer should have only one spade as partner raised to 4♠.
Partner is “known count” as the bidding shows his length in spades. Known count means the middle spade
encourages & the other cards are suit
preference. The spade deuce obviously asks for a club switch so you
switch & beat the contract. My partner did not apply a hand pattern on
defense & continued spades , so a defeatable contract made.
Not thinking
in patterns in any facet of the game of Bridge ,
labels you as a weak player. This
means you play Bridge like the masses on a “best guess basis”. This means to the best guesser goes the
spoils. May as well go to a casino rather than play Bridge if the thrill of guessing determines your enjoyment. The game of
Bridge is above just
guessing so maybe Bridge is not for you. Not
using hand evaluation skills , Bridge judgment or your
system is just “Random Bidding”. Bridge bidding is done via a Roulette wheel as straight gambling is the way you “think’ . Wrong game for that …