Wednesday, November 06, 2002 4:18 PM

Hand Evaluation – HCPS ( Tricks )

PITBULLS:

A guy by the name of Milton Work invented the HCP system used in Bridge . He did this by studying thousands of hands where a game makes & came up with the guidelines of an Ace = 4 , K = 3 , Q = 2 and J =1 with a 26 HCP total for a game . These guidelines are reasonably accurate but in practice the evaluation is slightly off . Aces and Kings are actually worth more than his scale indicates , queens & jacks less. Some theorists say assign Aces 5 points & some say 4 ½ , anyway you get the idea. Understanding HCP’s is more than knowing this scale & totaling them . Not all HCP’s are created equal. In fact, you have another job to do when considering an opening bid or a penalty double or a forcing pass etc , you must count your quick tricks !! Be very aware of them as Bridge judgment depends on them. The object of the game of Bridge is to take tricks & the purpose of bidding is to announce your trick taking potential to partner.

Aces & Kings are also called controls or quick tricks so control asking bids , Blackwood & Q bidding attempt to identify them in bidding . These cards are very important for timing in slams & games, entries for squeezes and suit establishment etc . When your hand is “rich in controls” , in other words , a clear absence of queens and jacks , your hand is far more valuable for slam or game purposes & on defense. You give your hand some additional “virtual” HCP & overbid with it . Most of the time positive results occur. Not all HCP’s are created equal unless you do not understand the nature of HCP’s & combinations of HCP’s for trick taking potential. The nature or type of HCP’s ( controls or quick tricks ) have been built into the requirement for an opening bid since Bridge was invented . These controls ( quick tricks ) are valuable on both offense & defense also for timing & defensive trick taking purposes. Understanding all of this will deter you from opening the “modern garbage” as Eric Kokish likes to call those openers. I call them garbage semi-psyches . An opening bid is defined as showing these controls in quick trick combinations or a compensating HCP total for announcing trick taking potential to partner..

Bridge is a trick taking game with HCP’s used to assist you in the job of determining your trick taking potential. Do not get carried with just totaling HCP’s though as counting tricks is a Bridge basic. Potential tricks should be counted during the bidding to assist you in your bidding decision. Here is an example of a trick taking decision by Kiz Fung in Toronto . Kiz held ♠Axx ♥Jxxx ♦Q10xx ♣Qx vul vrs nv opponents & her LHO opened 1♣ . Her partner pre-empted 2♦ & RHO bid 2♥. What is your decision ? Some people would not raise diamonds for fear of “waking the baby” . When partner has ♦AKJxxx for the pre-empt , your hand has wiped out 10 HCP’s for defensive purposes. So what’s the use of bidding diamonds as you would never take a vul sacrifice at the 5 level to a nv game . Your minor suit is lower ranking than their major so it’s a competitive fight you cannot win. You may be just assisting the opponents for their slam bidding decision. Anyway Kiz decides to jam bidding space from the opponents by bidding 3♦ & they bid 3♥. The pre-empter now violates captaincy by bidding 4♣. The reason for doing so is obvious by looking at your ♥ holding . Partner must have a void in ♥’s so is suggesting game in ♦’s when your hand is suitable. They now bid 4♥ so is your hand suitable for an 11 trick contract considering partner pre-empted ? Kiz counted tricks ( losers ) for her decision. With partner void in hearts , it looks like two spade losers & a possible ♦ & ♣ loser also , so she passes 4♥. This contract went two down at most tables as I held ♠xxx ♥void ♦A10987x ♣A10xx , a pre-empt only justified by being vul vrs nv in matchpoints . If Kiz bids 5♦ , she hands the opponents a +500 gift against an unmakeable NV game ! .

O.K. Lorna gave us another hand from Banff . Get into the habit of looking at your HCP’s through “quick trick colored glasses”. This will sway you from the bad habit of just totaling HCP’s rather than appreciating the quality of your HCP’s or their placement in quick trick combinations for trick taking.

♠xxx ♥KQxx ♦AKx ♣Axx The hand is opened 1NT , partner bids 2♦ . You bid 3♥ which in your system shows a maximum with 4♥ . Partner makes a slam try of 3 spades so you play along by bidding 4♣ but partner is “all in” and bids 4♥ . Now what ? Partner is “Captain of the ship” when you open 1NT & she has just signed off in 4♥ . You have already jumped to show your extra & Q bid when asked to do so . You have a 4-3-3-3 distribution which is not a good feature of the hand .

When partner has launched a slam try, she has relinquished her captaincy & allows the 1NT to bid again . Your hand is all controls in quick trick combinations whereas you could have had a number of sub standard queens & jacks but bid the same way based on a maximum HCP total. The only queen in your hand is the trump queen which is also valuable . Your AK of diamonds might be the cards that stopped partner from bidding again . I think your hand is just too rich in controls in quick trick combinations not to make one last try . I would bid 5♦ to see what that does .

Partners hand is ♠A ♥Jxxxx ♦xx ♣KQJ10x , there is a strong case for that hand to make one more try also rather than bid 4♥ . Suggested bids would be 4♠ ( second round control ) or 5♣ ( second round control ) . However , the 4♥ bid should not have ended this auction . The Bartons would have had a field day with their control asking system , the NT bidder would have answered 6 controls which is two above the average of 4 controls for a 1NT opener . Blackwood would have found 3 Aces and the queen of trump – all positives for slam bidding .

When you have 14 HCP’s with a balanced hand , experts look at the quality of the HCP’s . When they are controls & located in the suits rather than shortness or in quick trick combinations , the hand gets upgraded to a strong NT because of trick taking potential. There are some 15 HCP hands that are just awful with queens & jacks and points in doubletons that actually evaluate to a bad 13 HCP . Do not be a slave to the arithmetic of the HCP system. Evaluate your HCP’s with special attention to your controls. & quick trick combinations. Hands are constantly being promoted or demoted depending on the quality of your HCP’s. Some HCP’s are garbage & devalue hands to the point of not being opened. Partner has a right to expect a trick taking standard for an opening bid.

I played with a Tormentee tonight where this hand evaluation is clearly the decision to make. She opened 1♣ with ♠AJxx ♥Ax ♦xxx ♣Axxx , I bid a diamond. My partner chose to bid a spade ( 1NT rebid better ) so I bid 2♥ which brought a 2NT bid. So far so good , I bid 3♥ over the 2NT bid . I am showing a game forcing 6-5 in the reds so now what ? Here is where hand evaluation comes in. You cannot bid 3NT as your hand is all controls . Your two black aces take care of my outside losers so you know that we have a 6-3 diamond fit. 7♦ depends on 2-2 diamond break . When you bid 3NT you indicate to partner than your HCP’s are queens and jacks & a misfit , cards suitable for a NT contract but not partner’s two suited hand. 3NT in these auctions are referred to as the “death response” . Partner has ♠xx ♥KQ10xx ♦AKJ109x ♣void so is “all in” when partner bids 3NT after he has already described the strength & distribution of his hand. Actually with a club lead ( which is what we got against 3NT ) , a spade switch after holding up two rounds , 3NT goes down while 7♦ is lay down ! Bidding is the skill of hand evaluation. The type or quality of HCP’s you hold is a huge factor in many bidding decisions.

You hold ♠KJxx ♥Axx ♦Axx ♣Kxx & the bidding goes 1♦ nv & you are vul & overcall 1NT. They bid 2♦ so partner freely bids 2♠ so now what. 1NT overcalls are not supposed to bid again ( violate captaincy ) unless their hand went up in the bidding. Tom Gandolfo says this hand should bid 3♠ as in Tom’s words “the hand is all controls”. Using many hand evaluation factors along with the controls , I would personally bid 4♠ .

Louise Wildman showed excellent hand evaluation skills the other day against our team. ♠AKxx ♥Axxx ♦Axxx ♣x . She opened 1♦ & partner responded 1♥ . Should you invite with 3♥ or bid game/splinter ? Louise felt that this hand was too rich in controls to only invite . Partner would pass 3♥ with ♥Kxxxx ♣xxx which is enough for game. Partner would pass many 3♥ bids where game or possibly slam might make. Louise bid 4♥ so Piotr bid a baby 6♥ which specifically needs a ♦ lead so 7♥ does not make on a diamond spade squeeze.

Controls equates to suit contracts , soft values to NT. Therefore you can announce the nature of your HCP’s by your choice of bids !! A Tormentee did not use proper hand evaluation with this hand today. ♠Axx ♥Axx ♦K1098x ♣Kx . Partner opened 1♣ & she replied 1♦ followed by a 3♣ bid by partner. Now what ? 3NT is out for many reasons. One is that your hand is all controls so there may be a 6♣ slam. Two , due to the richness in controls you are wrong siding the NT . The lead should come up to partner’s queens. Third , 3NT usually ends all auctions ( death response ) & you have 14 HCP. I would bid 4NT quantitative before even considering 3NT. The correct bid is 3♥ which partner will take as a NT probe or a club slam try. Another bid you could make , which is better than 3NT is a simple 4♣ bid. Since you are bypassing 3NT , this is an obvious slam try. If partner aborts the slam try by bidding 4NT & the contract is right sided. The Tormentee bid 3NT violating all the HCP hand evaluation principles above & claimed 7NT after the opening lead for a bottom. If the opponents asked her partner for the meaning of her 3NT bid , the reply would be “8-12 HCP & soft values “. Not even close. She never announced the nature of her HCP’s to partner.

A tough habit for people to break is just thinking in HCP’s ( totaling ) for Bridge decisions as they were taught as beginners. Experts think in tricks ( quick tricks or controls) rather than just totaling HCP’s. Bidding in Bridge is not just totaling HCP’s for opening bid decisions & most other decisions. A machine could do the totaling better than a human or you with an abacus . Quite often you must count tricks during the bidding instead. Totaling HCP’s are good for evaluating soft values for NT but after that , other hand evaluation skills are far superior. Do not be a slave to the HCP system especially for opening bids. Garbage openers are a result of Bridge HCP ignorance & a lack of appreciation for the importance of differentiating the type of HCP’s you were dealt & how they fit in trick taking combinations. The hand above being “all controls” could even make a slam opposite a 2♣ rebid by opener . ♠xx ♥xx ♦AQx ♣AQJxxx & 7NT is virtually a lay down. When you look at your hand , seek out & count quick trick combinations & controls , followed by counting your HCP’s . All HCP’s are not created equal for determining trick taking potential so evaluate your HCP’s , not just total them !