Sunday, May 02, 2010

Hand Evaluation – Doubles ( Captaincy )

PITBULLS:

        Penalty doubles are based & defined on the Bridge partnership concept of "captaincy" . When one partner has what the doubler can reasonably expect on the auction , she lets the "captain" decide the fate of the auction. This treatment makes very good sense of course because the "captain" is the person in the know. She is looking at her hand and has heard the bidding at the table . So she decides that a penalty double is in order . Here is a hand from the Moose  Jaw regional where there was a  blatant & dangerous violation of "captaincy".

        I opened a weak NT everybody vul with ♠xx ♥QJxx ♦AJ10 ♣A10x & LHO doubles with ♠AKJxx ♥Kxx ♦Qxx ♣QJ . Perry passes with ♠Q10xx ♥A10x ♦Kxxx ♣Kx which is systemic requiring me to redouble. The double gets passed to me so I redoubled. The original doubler has what she announced . A flat 16 HCP is more than enough to double a weak 1NT . Since she has her bid , partner is now captain of this auction. Perry had little trouble finding a green card so even with me playing the contract , 12 HCP should be enough to make 1NT. Now for the decision by the captain of this action, in the pass out chair. This was the renowned "hog" from the Moose Jaw area playing on the Kenny Gee team . He held ♠x ♥xxxxx ♦xxxx ♣xxx so he knows his side is in big trouble. The expected lead is probably going to be a spade so he is almost 100 % sure this XX'd contract will make probably with many overtricks at 400 each. He knows he cannot pass as that will be suicidal but out comes the green card anyway !!!

        His partner leads 4th best spade so I insert the ♠J  which wins. I lead a diamond to my Ace & lead the ♥Q covered by the King. I cash 4♥'s ending up in my hand & finesse the ♦Q . When the diamonds break 3-3 , I win 1♠ , 4♥ , 4♦ & 3♣'s & make 6NT for a disaster heading for the record books. 5 redoubled overtricks is 2000 , 500 for the game bonous , 100 for the insult , & 360 for xx'd partial. This comes to the sum of 2,960 & almost off the IMP scale.

        In a partnership game like Bridge , the captain of the auction should be trusted for a rational Bridge decision. The captain has all the information at the table so should act accordingly by pulling the double to 2♥. A set their way pales in comparison to redoubled overtricks & a game bonous. Partner had what she announced ( 16 HCP ) so this reckless decision got what it deserved or did it ? The hand held by the Hog was his real hand . The doublers hand in reality only held 13 HCP's . 8 spades AKQ & and ♥A was enough for +1600 their way. The Hog on the last board won +14 IMPS for violating captaincy just enough to win the KO match by 1 IMP ! . Our team never recovered from this cruel twist of fate & did not play up to our previous level of play for the rest of the tournament. Perry asked the Hog why he left the XX'd contract in . Hogs answer , drum role please " are you stupid or something I had nothing ! " The Hog was last seen leaving for Cincinnati with the Kenny Gee entourage to practice more of his Bridge magic.