2007-11-11 04:32
Hand Evaluation – HCPs
( Purpose of Bidding )
PITBULLS:
The purpose
of bidding is to describe one of the 39 hand patterns that exist along with
your HCP strength in part measured in quick tricks to partner. Partner , now with your input , contracts for a partial ,
game or slam in the appropriate strain.
You may also double the opponents , XX or just pass.
Beginning players have difficulty
with the basic idea of
bidding. They bid when they should be passing & they pass
when they should be bidding. They bid when they should be doubling for penalty
& double for penalty when they should be bidding. They paint a wrong picture
of their hand pattern & strength due to lack of bidding discipline or knowledge so end up in the wrong contract
at the wrong level. They forget that they are bidding for partners
benefit not their own as they are looking at their own hand. How
will partner interpret my bid ? This does not seem to
enter their mind so ambiguous bids
are quite often the norm.
Bridge teachers
know that beginning players have no hand evaluation skills & no Bridge judgment developed yet. Therefore ,
they translate their own & experts hand
evaluation skills & judgment into HCP’s
& systems. Beginners are taught rote rules with HCP’s as the base to substitute for their
lack of judgment & hand evaluation
skills. Totaling HCP’s is a beginner way of
playing Bridge or making an opening bid. Totaling
HCP’s are just a guide in bidding not a Bridge law.
Beginners play a system but do not use it properly when it is appropriate.
Like a golf club in a bag , they choose the wrong club for the particular bid so the
shot ends up in the water or the sand trap. There are billions of
Bridge hands , so it is impossible to memorize 1 billion rules to handle each &
every hand. The answer to this Bridge dilemma is Bridge logic.
Bridge logic is
based on hand evaluation , judgment & plain
deductive reasoning. We use hand patterns
& the fact that there are only 40 HCP’s
in the deck to assist our Bridge
logic. We use the logic that all HCP’s
are not created equal. Controls are better cards than queens & jacks. Some hand
patterns are better than others. Distributional hands have far
better trick taking potential than balanced hands.
Quality & length of suits should be
emphasized. Bridge logic is also based on playing the vulnerability or if partner is a passed
hand. Discipline
is needed to eliminate ambiguity
to allow Bridge logic to take place.
Modern garbage openers based just on counting
your beads & ignoring quick tricks add ambiguity
to your opening bids so they no
longer “repeat”. There are nice 10 ,
11 , 12 or 13 HCP hands with quick tricks that are worth opening. So now if you open 10 , 11 ,12 & 13 HCP’s without
quick tricks how can partner tell the difference ? Penalty doubles
will now make as your opener lacks defense ,
games & slams will not make because
your lack of the important controls required.
You are deceiving partner & introducing ambiguity in the language of bidding.
Non opening bids get the auction of to the worst start
possible when you are a constructive
partnership. Modern garbage openers
erode partnership trust &
effectiveness. An opening bid was designed to
show trick taking potential for both offense & defense ,
not just a collection of scattered HCP’s which are totaled.
These hands are horrible for defense or offense . Why re-define the
opening bid to become a terrorist ? I joined the ACBL
in 1967 where Charles Goren said that an opening bid was 13 HCP with 2 ½ quick
tricks. I did not understand the implications of the quick trick
part back then but I found out in a hurry. Hands
that consisted of “quacks “ soft values were almost useless for offense & defense .
I avoided opening those hands on my own experience let along what the giants of
the game advised. My own experience only confirmed that Culbertson , Jacoby , Goren and all the Bridge greats were simply correct.. It was handy to know for defending & offense that of the 13 HCP’s 2 ½ of them were controls
minimum as a standard. Everybody
played Bridge that way as Bergen
was not born yet J
The purpose of bidding is to convey accurate information to partner ,
not con the opponents. Garozzo says do not enter a fight
you cannot win . There are 40 HCP’s in
the deck consisting of controls in quick trick
combinations and the rest in scattered soft values ( quacks ) . Remember for competing
purposes when you hold a majority of the soft values ,
it means they have the quick tricks.
This HCP disparity is a horrible competitive disadvantage. As Garazzo says
, you cannot win this fight. Opening a hand like ♠Kx ♥J10x ♦KQx
♣QJxxx vul vrs not is a losing
proposition. The opponents have
the quick tricks , your hand lacks offensive
& defensive capability so you are just setting up
partner & your side for failure. In other words ,
there is no Bridge purpose for opening this
hand. A pass shows a hand with soft values
& lacking the required quick tricks
to open. If the opponents jam you out of the bidding with you holding this hand , be grateful as the
hand is simply garbage anyway. Terrorists feel
they must open this hand or they have lost a chance
to make the opponents guess. You probably are
just helping the opponents ( penalty options ,
locating HCP’s etc ) though, as they have the competitive advantage
due to the nature of the HCP’s they hold.
We take care of
millions of Bridge hands by the Bridge logic
of describing balanced hands with
some number of NT. This is an
excellent starting point.
We can show many patterns with a good single suit by jumping the bidding. We can show distribution by jumping or very long suits by starting the auction
at the 4 level.
We play 5 card majors to have a good starting
point with the length of those suits. We have systemic bids to show 6 , 7 or 8 card suits.
Again this brings partner into the picture immediately.
Rote rules fall by the wayside
& hand evaluation skills
& Bridge judgment takes over. Rote rules with HCP’s fade into memory or are used as a guide only.
Before you make a bid be sure you have a purpose for the bid.
You have ♠Axx
♥KJ ♦K10xxx ♣AQx , you are in 3rd seat vul. All good
Bridge players would evaluate this hand as too strong to open 1NT as you are all controls with a 5 card suit. Accordingly you decide to
promote this hand to a 2NT rebid & open 1♦. Partner has a
passed hand responds 1♥ so as planned you bid 2NT & partner bids 3♣ as a checkback. You now have a choice of bids to describe your
hand to partner. Say you have a super maximum with a nice 5 card diamond suit ♠Axx ♥Kx ♦AJ109x
♣AQx instead of bidding 3NT to
describe your doubleton heart
& minimum for a 2NT bid , you bid 3♦. Why 3♦ ? You do not
describe your hand to a passed hand partner
& the opponents if you have just game in
mind. Bidding 3♦ with a minimum just helps the opponents & could get
partners slam juices flowing. Your 3♦ bid must have a
purpose
not just making a meaningless noise.
3NT with the first hand & 3♦ with the 2nd means you are bidding with a purpose.
Setting partner up for
failure is another beginner tactic. ♠J987x ♥xxx
♦Kxx ♦xx everybody vul LHO opens 1♠ , partner
overcalls 2♥ & RHO bids 3♥ limit raise or better in spades. Bidding 4♥ here is folly
although partner knows you do not have many
HCP’s on the auction , how can she read you for 5
cards in their suit.
Partner decides that tactical action is called for & bids 5♥ which goes
down. Now see what happens when you
pass. You RHO shows a minimum by biding 3♠ &
partner bids 4♣. You bid 4♥ & if the opponents bid 4♠ , you are
captain of the auction as partner has described her hand. 4♠X goes for
+500 depending on declarer play.
A Tormentee
lost sight what she was trying to accomplish in this auction which cost her about a
24 IMP swing. She held ♠Ax ♥Axxxx ♦K10xx
♣Ax & her vul partner opened 1♣ & her nv RHO ( Chris Buchannan ) bid 2♣ Michaels. The Tormentee made the correct bid of double as she wants to force , double
the opponents if they bid hearts & invite partner to double spades when
warranted. She has no significant club fit so a double is an excellent bid. I
leap to 4♠ so her partner freely vul bid 5♣ which sets the trump suit. The Tormentee now made another excellent bid. She Q bid 5♥ which forces
the hand to 6♣ & invites 7♣.
Since she bypassed diamonds , she advised partner that
she lacked the diamond Ace. All
well & good , so partner declines the grand slam invite
& signs off in 6♣. Now the bidding takes a startling turn for the worse.
The Tormentee bids 6♦ ! The Tormentee was still bidding her red suits naturally
groping for a contract oblivious to the fact that
clubs were the trump suit.
This contract was passed & went 3 down vul , when 6♣ was lay
down. Not everybody was getting to 6♣ so she would have won 7 IMPs
instead she lost 17 IMPS for a needless 24 IMP swing ! She had lost sight of the purpose of bidding
as partner had described
her hand pattern to her already at the 5 level ! Think in patterns for all your Bridge
decisions & have a purpose for
bidding. $#^&&%$