Monday, November 07, 2005 3:30 AM

Hand Evaluation – DBLS ( Scrambling )

PITBULLS:

The art of scrambling from doubled contracts seems to be a lost art. I have seen so many partners & team mates get slaughtered by staying in a doubled contract instead of scrambling to a better spot , I cannot count them. If there ever was a time to believe the opponents , it is when they have converted for penalty especially at the one level. I was playing with a good Edmonton player against Curtis Stock and his partner. The auction went 1♠ by my partner , T/O double & Curtis Stock passed converting for penalty. Partner had 12 HCP’s with a 5 card spade suit & quickly passed. I had a 6 card diamond suit with not enough HCP’s to respond with a stiff spade. When the smoke cleared we were –800 in 1♠X. 2♦X actually makes on this hand ! It is not the responsibility of responder to pre-rescue these auctions. Opener must scramble by bidding NT ( implies minors ) or a SOS redouble implies the other major(s) or simply by bidding clubs so partner gets the message.

The 1NT overcall or 1NT opening bid when doubled with nothing showing up in the dummy is a horrific place to play a hand. Playing against Susan Culham my partner opened 1♠ , Susan overcalled 1NT & I doubled. The board showed up with ♠xxx ♥xxxx ♦xxx ♣xxx , he shrugged his shoulders as accepting his fate & bad luck that he got doubled. Some people play DONT rescues but if you do not have a toy , scramble to 2♣ with these type of hands. Partner may have a 5 card suit or a 4 card suit with a hundred honours or somewhere better than 1NTX. You know that 1NTX is going to be a disaster but partner does not. From partner’s perspective, you may have a flat 6 HCP so your pass means you expect to make 1NTX. Susan did have a 5 card diamond suit so if partner starts a scramble to 2♣ they escape !! They got a zero for 1NTX as it went for a telephone #.

Scrambling from 1NTx when partner gets you into trouble is an art. Most partnerships double 1NT with a strong hand with a single suit. A double of 1NT is co-operative penalty so partner must have some scattered values to leave it in. ♠J10xxx ♥xx ♦xxx ♣xxx & RHO XX’s the 1NTX. Bid 2♣ with this hand not the highest ranking suit spades. Partner or the opponents may rescue you & you can always bid 2♠ later. Partners hand ♠A ♥J10x ♦AJ109xx ♣AQx so the opponents will probably not double the 2♦ bid. They have no trouble doubling 2♠ , however which goes for -500.

My partners in the CNTC zone finals had a disaster at the one level. You hold ♠xxxx ♥Kxx ♦xxx ♣xxx , partner opens 1♦ so you pass . A balancing double by the opponents & they convert for penalty. If you play that a diamond opener may have 3 , you must run somewhere as partner is playing this in a 3-3 fit with a 6-1 or 7-0 diamond break ! Even if you play that a 1♦ opener must have 4 , you should scramble . Why ? because you have knowledge that the diamond suit is breaking horribly. You have a king so you have at least 16 HCP for your side so somewhere else might be cheaper. The other suits do not have to breaking as badly. The next higher suit starts the scramble in these sequences. You bid 1♥ , they double and its back to you. You now make an SOS redouble so partner bids 2♣ & that gets doubled. Partner had ♠Qxx ♥xx ♦Kxxx ♣AQJ9 which is not a very good opening bid but 2♣X plays better even at a higher level. The spade AK is to your right as is the club king and 10. The heart Ace is onside so they would be very lucky to beat you for 500 . In fact –300 is a strong possibility with a spade , a heart trick & 4 clubs for your side. 1♦X was a disaster for –800 with a horrible diamond stack. My partner & I were in 4♥ for +450 at the other table so -300 would be a nice pickup. –800 was not a nice pickup. Partner may have had 4♠ so you might have escaped completely !

I learned the art of scrambling playing rubber Bridge from the master Lee Barton. He psyched so often that you learned all the techniques of scrambling & trying to land on your feet when you played with him or against him. Scrambling is table feel in rubber Bridge as you infer from how happy they look or how quickly they double but the fact remains get out of the initial penalty conversion .That is usually the worst spot & you would be surprised how often the opponents rescue you J. PT Barnum said always give a sucker a chance to go wrong . This applies in Bridge as well. By scrambling , you give them maybe up to 3 more chances to go wrong . Go for it !

2♣ is just the start of a scramble so can be any number of clubs. If they double & you actually had clubs , you play it there. The S.O.S. redouble goes hand in hand with the scrambling 2♣ bid. You XX to tell partner to scramble to another suit. I held ♠Axxx ♥KQJ10x ♦xx ♣xx & I passed originally. The auction went 1NT passed around to me again. I was playing with my regular partner & we have a systemic bid for the majors but if he has a decent hand , they may get punished in 1NT doubled . No such luck as partner had a relative nothing so he lets me know by scrambling to 2♣. I convert to 2♥ , we avoid –180 or –280 with a decent heart partial. Playing the scrambling 2♣ , I had the option of trying for a set partner permitting.

Sometimes you balance against NT & they make a systemic XX. This can be converted so around to you. If the probability is very high that you are setting the contract , of course you pass. Scramble to 2♣ with doubtful cases as the price is quite steep if they make it. If it is just 1NTX , its best to gamble as if they make it , it is not a hard loss to swallow.