Friday,
January 12, 2007 3:26 AM
Hand Evaluation – HCPs ( Arithmetic & Ownership )
PITBULLS:
Ownership
is a hand evaluation concept. Overbidders
steal the opponents
blind who do not realize they have
the balance of power. Trapping & balancing depend on your
ability to know when your side
has the majority of HCP’s.
Whenever the opponents rest in a final contract
of 1NT or some other partial , you can
assume they have ½ the deck . Using the 40 HCP in the deck rule , you can just count how many HCP’s your side should have. Use arithmetic to make your determination ! You now know when this is your hand or it is safe to compete.
Ray Grace ( my
partner ) opened in 3rd seat tonight with ♠AKxx ♥KJxxx ♦xx
♣xx & I manufactured a 1NT response with ♠J ♥Qx ♦J10xxx ♣J10xxx & bought the contract . I went two down for –100 so a Tormentee & her partner lost 12 IMPS. Why ?
because the concept of trapping & balancing is not in their bidding repertoire. The Tormentee’s partner has a good
heart opening bid of 15 HCP’s
so she passed the 1♥ opener as would most Bridge players ( she had
a stiff club & 5 ♥’s) . When the 1NT contract
comes around to her,
she should now
double 1NT to show the heart trap.
The tormentee ( her partner
) had 10 HCP’s so asked what should she
bid if partner doubled. Pardon me !!! Your partner shows an opening bid or better ( probably
the latter) & you asking what should you bid ? Arithmetic time.
The opponents are in a misfit auction
of 1NT with partners 14+ HCP in hearts sitting over the heart opener & you have 10 HCP
? You should have game
in NT your way .
You close your eyes , pass & lead a heart. When you make game , they go for -800 . The arithmetic of scoring in Bridge.
I played against the same Tormentee a while back & Perry nv
opened a weak NT . My RHO doubled & I had about 4
HCP. I bid 2♣ to escape
, the Tormentee had a flat 10 HCP & passed.
I played the contract in 2♣ down two & they make game the other direction. They lost 10
IMPS . Actually RHO had 14 HCP for her double so just adding HCP’s during the auction , they had a minimum of 24 HCP vrs
our 16 HCP. Why are we playing this contract
undoubled
? If the Tormentee just held 6 HCP, they are favoured to have ½ the deck . So
with 10 HCP it is their hand so with partners HCP’s located behind the opener game is very likely. Location ,
Location & location. Use arithmetic
to figure things out.
There are only 40 HCP’s in the deck .
A good player had this hand ♠J109xx
♥AKQxx ♦Ax
♣x , his LHO opened 1♣ so he decided not to Michaels with an intermediate hand & overcalled 1♠. They bid 3NT to
his left so around to him again. Everybody is NV so what is going on ? Arithmetic time. There is 13 HCP to
his left ,
he has 14 HCP & his RHO has shown 13 HCP . This gives me zero HCP. He now bids 4♥ which got
doubled. He hit me with a magical hand ♠x ♥xxxx ♦xxxx ♣J109x
& the spades were 5-5-2-1 so he went for –300. If I was dealt ♠xx ♦xx ♦xxxxx ♣J109x , he could have gone for his life. Knowing I had a hand in this HCP range , a lead directing double
is obvious. We get +300 for a 12 IMP swing, when he doubles to negate a spade lead.
Same player who held ♠AJ ♥Q9xx ♦AKxx ♣AJx , with everybody vul. They opened 1♣ to his
left , I passed & they bid 3♣ alerted as a limit raise. Abacus time. LHO has
13 HCP , RHO has 8-11 HCP & you have 19 HCP. This
leaves me with zero HCP’s. If you bid , we are in the
–800 range. So of course , you pass & beat 3♣
one trick for +100 . This is a 13 IMP swing as they got into trouble at the
other table with the big hand.
A Tormentee
had 14 HCP ♠Kx
♥Kxxx ♦Ax
♣KJxxx & RHO opened 1♦ . This was passed around to partner who balanced with a double. This
actions shows 10 + HCP so your side is in the game range ( 25
+ HCP) so you Q bid describe the strength of
your hand. The opponents compete all the way to the 4 level when you “out gun” them by a
substantial margin probably 25 HCP to 15 HCP . How can they play this contract undoubled unless you suspect a 9 card suit or similar
distribution by them. If this is the case , you certainly have game or slam your way. The tormentee passed which is an “impossible “
bid on the auction.
HCP’s & your abacus are used to determine who owns the auction. Owning the auction turns on forcing passes ,
allows you to punish the opponents who are out of line & prevents your
rightful contracts to be “stolen” from you.
You cannot use the green card
until you have made this determination.
You also should not bid
again until you have made that determination. You translate the bidding around the
table into HCP’s . You follow with arithmetic. Is it our hand or
is it their hand ?