Thursday, September 14, 2006 4:14 AM

Hand Evaluation – Partnership ( Bidding your hand )

PITBULLS:

A Tormentee held this hand ♠QJ1098xx ♥x ♦xx ♣xxx vul vrs nv with a 1♥ bid to her right. She felt that pre-empting vul vrs not was an act of terrorism. Most Bridge experts would agree with that judgment . She chose to pass , LHO bid 2♥ & to her surprise partner & RHO both passed !! When the opponents sell out at the two level , it is assumed that they hold ½ the deck . You are blessed with a full 3 HCP so partner may have as much as 17 HCP . Why did partner not bid ? The answer to that should be obvious as you are looking at 7 spades.

The Tormentee balanced 2♠ to a resounding double by LHO . Partner bid 2NT which the Tormentee correctly alerted as “scrambling” . Partner thinks you ran into a trump stack & balanced with something like ♠Kxxxx ♥x ♦Q109xx ♣xx . He knows from the auction that you have a singleton heart so can not handle the heart tap with a bad trump break. He has the inference that you did not overcall or pre-empt initially. However , RHO rescues you by bidding 3♥ so you are off the hook right ? Wrong , do not forget you balanced vul vrs nv & partner has a great many HCP. Partner doubles so around to you again. The first thing you must do is correct partners impression of your hand. There is no trump stack , as your spade suit is 5 sure tricks so is totally useless for defense or for any other suit other than spades.

You bid 3♠ so again the double card surfaces. Partner gets the message this time and passes. The final result is +730 or +930 depending on the defense as partners hand is ♠xx ♥AJx ♦AJ109 ♣AKxx . Dora Lee’s partner played the hand in 4♠ for +620. This auction is a basic Bridge decision based on the cards you were dealt. Single suited hands play terribly in other suits as this Tormentee found out who bid 4♣ & was doubled for –800 . Hand evaluation is the first priority rather than trying to guess what partner has. Paint a picture of your own hand & do not try to guess what partner has. Bridge bidding just works better that way.

The most common bidding fault of non expert Bridge players is bidding their hand again . This very bad habit leads to a lack of trust in the partnership. Equal vul , The opponents opened 1♣ so you overcall 1♠ with ♠AKQxxx ♥xx ♦Qxxx ♣x . They bid 2♥ to your left , partner passes & RHO bids 3♥ so now what ? If the opponents asked your partner what your one level overcall described ? She would answer that the overcall shows a hand very similar to what you hold. You have already described this hand to partner at the one level. What if you held ♠AKQJxx ♥xx ♦QJ109 ♣x or similar better hands , would you make the same 3♠ bid ? How is partner to read the difference ? They bid 4♥ so around to partner who merely holds a stiff in your suit , 2 quick tricks in diamonds ♦AK & 4 of their trump who does not double opposite a hand that overcalled & single handed bid at the 3 level all by herself ! Experts would make a penalty double expecting a 3 to 4 down set. If you are compensating for partner not having her bid all the time , penalty doubles are not existent in the partnership. You must be able to trust partner for her bid.

You hold ♠KQx ♥Qxx ♦AQJ10xx ♣x & open 1♦ vul . Partner responds 1♥. There are hands that bidding 2♥ with 3 card support is best but this is not one of them , why ? Your hand has a feature which is a semi-solid 6 card suit. Why not bid your own hand & describe your suit. If there is a heart fit , we can find it later otherwise diamonds will invariably be the best spot.

Even if you have a good hand idea where the final resting spot should be , you should bid your own hand anyway. This brings partner into the picture ( what a concept ) . ♠K10xx ♥AKQ ♦void ♣AK10xxx . They open 1♦ so with your void in their suit , the 30 HCP in the deck rule comes into effect & you have 19 HCP out of 30 . Truly a monster hand so you double. LHO responds 1♥ , partner passes & a 2♦ rebid so you double again. Partner bids 2♠ so now what ? 4♠ must be cold so do you just bid it ? Why not describe your own hand along the way. Can it hurt ? You Q bid 3♦ & partner surprises you by bidding 4♣ a “non death response” so you leap to 6♣. This is cold unless they find an unlikely ruff. You allowed partner to have some input along the way to game & got rewarded.