2008-03-25 23:55

Hand Evaluation – Forcing Pass ( Pushing OPPS to Game )

PITBULLS:

In competitive auctions gone amuck , you sometimes push opponents into game intentionally. In these auctions , it is perceived that you own the auction & it is they who are sacrificing. When you own the hand , forcing pass theory applies. 90% of the time the forcing pass action is the double but sometimes bidding or passing comes to the fore. Susan Culham held such a hand tonight ♠Ax ♥xxx ♦KQx ♣AKxxx & Susan overcalled 1NT vul to a spade opening bid . I passed & the opener bid 2♥ which was passed around to me who bid 3♣. They competed to 3♥ so Susan bid 4♣ & they bid 4♥. Since I bid vul & Susan holds 16 HCP , we must assume this is our hand & they are in game. The hearts look like they could be 5-4-3-1 around the table , so the 30 HCP rule applies. Accordingly Susan passes so we might get pushed to our game. I hold ♠Jxxx ♥x ♦A10x ♣J1098x , so I bid 5♣ which they double. This is ice cold for +750 our way.

Change Susan’s hand a bit ♠Ax ♥KQx ♦K10x ♣K1098x so as per forcing pass theory you double to announce the horrible wastage in hearts or to “shut partner up” . This goes for +300 & your 4♣ would fail because of 5 HCP in hearts wasted. Pushing opponents into game is silly Bridge but if you do it , there must be a reason. The reason is that you own the hand so they are not making their game. Enter forcing pass theory.

It is different if you are not competing at the 3 or 4 level. When you accidentally balance them into game , you do not own the auction. They may be cold for 6 for all you know. In Calgary , I balanced Gordon Campbell into game to win 12 IMPS ! They opened 1♣ & partner made a T/O double. They passed which was alerted as a diamond response. I bid 1♥ & they bid 2♣ so around to me. I had 6 HCP with a 6 card heart suit so I bid 2♥. This ignited the auction & 3 bids later the opponents were in 5♦ making 7. At the other table , our partners bid 6♦ making 7 so we had the last laugh.

The green card is useful in auctions where the HCP’s in our hand look like their contract is going to be wrecked against the rocks of distribution. Do not bid one more just because you think you can make your contract when they might be cold for game. Let them make their +170. The exception would be if you own the boss suit spades with appropriate vulnerability. You can push them to game as long as you are willing to pull partners double to 4♠ or bid 4♠ yourself. Let “sleeping dogs lie” when you have figured out the distribution via patterns . Your analysis results in an excellent chance of them making game. Of course , if you have the balance of power , go ahead & bid at the 4 level inviting them to bid again but remember forcing pass theory kicks in.

There are many auctions where at the 3 or 4 level, you may own the auction but the opponents keep bidding anyway. Forcing pass theory is the default way of thinking but modified. You do not have to double 4 of a minor but if you do , they are going down ( trumps ) . 4 of a minor is not game but they cannot get away with murder . When we have the HCP’s , plus wastage in their suit wield the axe. Opponents bid badly sometimes.