Important article to improve your
bidding judgment
Sunday, February 11, 2007 12:29 PM
Hand Evaluation - HCP’s ( Quick Tricks )
PITBULLS:
Ely Culbertson had it right when
Bridge was in its infancy. He said that an opening bid should
have 2 1/2 quick tricks. This standard ,
he said could be a benchmark for judging defensive capabilities
of openers & general trick taking potential for competing ,
games & slams. In my opinion , quick tricks should
be more than just a requirement for an opening bid. You should
evaluate your hand re quick tricks for penalty doubles , forcing
pass theory , T/O doubles , overcalling & balancing
also. Learn to act on the quick tricks , you are dealt. Noticing quick tricks should
be a fundamental part of HCP hand evaluation. All HCP’s are not created
equal. Learn to hone in on your quick
tricks for your Bridge decisions & not the “soft values” of your hand.
Point’s Schmoints as Bergen is fond of saying . Do not be a slave to counting up your HCP’s like beads
on an abacus. Learn to evaluate your hand by looking at your quick
trick combinations KQ , AQ , AK
& Kx .
Advise partner of the quality of your HCP’s through your choice of bids not
just how many HCP’s.
Bridge is a trick taking game not a HCP taking game J
. HCP’s do not necessarily equate to
tricks unless they are aligned in quick trick combinations or you have good
fortune. HCP’s which are soft or “unsupported” have a lower percentage
chance of becoming tricks. This is
why an opening bid is defined as at least 13 HCP’s with 2 ½ quick tricks. Partner knows that you
have actual trick potential for
either defense or offense. Quick
trick combinations bring in the oldest concept in Bridge ,
the finesse. Finesses are defined is
part by quick trick combinations of AQ , KQ & Kx . It is easy to see why garbage openers contradict
the idea behind opening bids. They offer no trick taking potential for either offense or defense. For
opening bid purposes HCP’s should be evaluated not just totaled. Garbage opening bids con poor partner as the
dreaded semi-psyche.
Let’s take the decision whether to balance. If you
balance with “soft values” , you introduce the
danger of balancing them into game. They bid again but this time they
leap to game. Indignant that they were in a partial , partner
doubles & that adds insult to injury as they make it. The culprit is
that the balancer did not have defensive tricks (
quick tricks ) for her balance. Soft values are
just that , soft for defense.
The opponents are vulnerable & so
are you. They open a mini 2♦ bid which shows an
opener with a 4-4-4-1 with an unspecified singleton or void. Responder bids 2♥ non forcing so around to
you. You hold ♠QJx ♥Jx ♦Axx
♣QJ10xx so do you balance ? This hand is mostly
soft values with only one defensive trick. Keep the same HCP’s but
change the values to defensive tricks so it is an automatic balance.
Change the spades to the Ace & the clubs to a king and you still have the same
11 HCP & same hand pattern ♠Axx ♥xx ♦Axx ♣Kxxxx but with defensive
as well as offensive potential ( transferable
values as Kokish calls them ) . This is now
a double. The first hand I would just pass as I lacked the
defense to balance. A pass shows the lack of quick tricks to take
action.
Balancing doubles should show
quick tricks also as they get converted by partner expecting defense for the double. Lack of
quick tricks will be a disappointment for partner & a 2nd
chance for the opponents . We use quick tricks as
a measuring stick for openers , T/O doubles ,
balancing doubles & overcalls. I am a great believer that a double
announces defense or else you would have chosen to overcall or
bid a suit. My decision whether to overcall or make a T/O double
is based on quick tricks mainly. When I have quick tricks, I double
rather than overcall. Why ? because
it allows the option of converting for penalty or double the
opponents for penalty later in the auction.
I am informing partner of the nature of my HCP’s. If I have more distributional & softer values , I overcall which of course takes the
penalty conversion element out of the equation.
Not giving partner a chance to go wrong is a partnership basic. Advise partner of the quality of your HCP’s via the
defensive orientated double. I base
almost all my Bridge decisions , in part , by honing
in on my quick tricks .
By the way ,
on the hand that you balanced with a double with the soft values
. They leap to game & make 6 !! Your one
defensive trick prevents a grand slam from being made their way. Think in
quick tricks when you make a T/O double rather than HCP’s . Being a
slave to HCP’s is more than just opening bids. When evaluating
your hand , think quick tricks not just
HCP’s. All HCP’s are not created equal.
Responding to overcalls &
your choice of bids should be based on defense measured in quick
tricks. ♠KJ10xx ♥QJxx
♦Qx ♣Qx with everybody vul your
LHO opens 1♣ , your partner overcalls 1♥. They double to your right so what is your choice of
bids & why ? The redouble is your last
choice as with your unsupported queens & soft
values you have only ½ a defensive trick. They may be
cold for slam for all you know. Next in line is a Q bid showing limit raise or
better. Is this hand a limit raise ? I think not as you have all soft values.
You have too many HCP’s for a 4♥ pre-empt so I
would settle for a 3♥ bid. In your system this
shows 4♥ with simple raise values. Your partner
competes to 4♥ , so
they bid 5♣ which gets passed out . You win 13 IMPS as your partners got to 6♣
for +1370.
Competitive double theory ( D.S.I.P. ) was based on quick tricks for
making decisions rather than HCP’s . This “quick trick” thinking
should be more than just for D.S.I.P. theory. If you have defense , choose to double or redouble as
opposed to Q bidding or bidding a suit. You do not rescue opponents that
way & you give partner many more options. Think
quick tricks & controls for all
your Bridge decisions. Quick tricks vrs
soft values is a simple but effective hand evaluation
skill.
Balancing or bidding at
any level uses quick tricks as the standard. With quick
tricks, you tend
to double . Without quick tricks you tend to bid.
This is the defensive hand vrs offensive hand type
of thinking. You paint a picture of your hand better by making a T/O double
with quick tricks.
Vulnerability & quick tricks of course , affects your forcing pass strategy.
With both opponents vul , you open 1♠ with ♠Kxxxx ♥Axx ♦void ♣AKJxx , partner bids 2♠. Your vul RHO bids 3♦ so you show
your playing strength with 4♣. They subsequently bid 5♦
so what do you do ? Partner has heard you bid 4♣ &
has heard the bidding. Your forcing pass decision on this
vulnerability is very clear. You pass 5♦
saying that you would like to bid 5♠ very badly & simultaneously showing
partner your diamond shortness & defensive quick tricks.
Partner hears all this but doubles 5♦ anyway.
Now what do you do ? You have an excellent playing
hand with a lot of defense ( 3
½ quick tricks ). They are vulnerable so with diamond wastage
& with only 15 HCP opposite a 2♠ bid you have no guarantee of making 5♠.
The pass & pull part of forcing pass theory is a slam try.
You do not want to be near slam after partner just has a 2♠ bid with diamond
duplication of value. You pass , 5♦X has 5 quick losers , a 4-nothing beak to worry
about & 3 spades to ruff with only 3 trump on the board . Partner will probably
rectify that at her first opportunity . They go for 1100 to 1400 , 5♠ goes
two down vul. Play the vulnerability
, acknowledge your quick tricks
along with forcing pass theory. A good player holding this hand rescued
the opponents & bid 5♠ going two down for a phenomenal swing. I can
only hazard a guess that she is not trained herself to notice quick
tricks in her hand !! Translate your quick tricks into 200 , 500 , 800 for your opponents before you take offensive
action. Quick trick myopia I
believe is the diagnosis for this lack of Bridge judgment J.
I opened a weak 2♥ vul tonight playing with a
Tormentee who held ♠Axx ♥Axx ♦Axx ♣KQxx she
bid 2NT & I bid 3♦ as a step response. She
decided with a flat hand to go for all the matchpoints
& bid 3NT. This contract made
exactly 3 & 4♥ makes +680
. Again looking at the nature of her HCP’s is the key to
the decision making process. She is all quick tricks (4) which
are better for suit contracts. Soft values are better for NT contracts.
With nothing else to guide you , let the nature
of your HCP’s make the decision for you.
.