2008-05-17 04:55

Hand Evaluation - Random Bidding

PITBULLS:

Bidding that does not adhere to hand evaluation concepts , Bridge judgment or your system is called “Random Bidding” . This means that you just bid & if the random fall of the cards into partners hand are fortunate , you make your contract otherwise you go down. This is bidding for the sake of bidding but with no Bridge logic to guide you. Beginners do this all the time . They take guesses & either “luck out or not”. Luck or randomness of the card gods, dictate whether they succeed or not. Beginners are oblivious to “danger signs” because experience has not punished them enough to negatively re-enforce their bad bids. They think “taking shots” & gambling is bidding. Nothing could be further from the truth. Casinos were invented for that endeavour , not the game of Bridge.

A traveling score sheet is like a novel . It can be a comedy , a tragedy , an adventure story , a horror story or just non fiction. The authors of such stories gamble poorly rather than bid. In a Thursday nite IMPS game highlighting one hand , a few scores were in a partial , a few in game & one that caught our eye was a 6♦ making for +920 on a misfit hand with a combined HCP of 25 HCP . What the %^*&%$$# , we wondered. The auction went as follows.

The auction goes 2♠ by the opposition , 3♥ by partner & you hold a very nice hand ♠xx ♥x ♦AKQJxx ♣Kxxx . With a partner that is bidding at the 3 level , they could be slam your way. However , your hand has one glaring flaw. You are 2-1 the wrong way , 2 in the opponents suit & 1 on your partners suit. A Q bid in these auctions normally shows a fit for partner but in rare instances it can mean just a slam going hand. A Q bid with this hand is ambiguous & silly. With the 2-1 the wrong way , I would just bid a natural & forcing 4♦. Why muddy the waters with a Q bid when you need to know whether partner can control the opponent’s suit ? Partner has a minimum for his bid ♠xx ♥AKQJxx ♦x ♣Axxx so she retreats to 4♥. You now bid 5♦ as your doubleton spade is looming large. Partner passes & you make your 5♦.

Is there any point to assuming that partner has a spade control & bid 6♦ ? No , this is random bidding as you use the information gathered during the bidding. You have a stiff in partners suit which signals duplication of value & a doubleton in theirs which signals danger. Partner can have countless good 3♥ overcalls where she lacks a control in partners suit. What if partner had extra ♠Kx ♥AKQxxx ♦xx ♣Axx , I think this is a mandatory 4♠ Q bid after 4♦ saying that I have extra with a control in the opponents suit. Since Bridge is a partnership game , you get to your nice slam from partner’s input. I feel any bid on this auction other than a Q bid should show a horrible hand for the initial auction or a good hand lacking a control in their suit. Partner has heard the 2♠ opening bid so the auction revolves around that reality. Otherwise , bidding is just random.

Good players realize that there are hands that are just plain unbiddable. They default to the universal standard of just “taking your plus”. Beginners do not & prefer to “gamble it out” on the random chance partner has a key control or a nice fitting hand . This attitude chances the nature of bidding similar to spinning a Roulette wheel. Some people think that is how Bridge is played. You are either lucky or not. Experts just cringe though. Partner could hold a “cool 20 HCP” on the auction & 6♦ would still go down opposite a hand that single handedly forced the hand to slam. ♠QJx ♥AKQJx ♦xx ♣AQJ .

You use the opponents as stepping stones to get to good contracts but the converse is also true. You use the opponents to stay out of bad or impossible slams. Sometimes when a player has a good hand , he wants to bid a slam & full speed ahead & damn the consequences. You make a reckless gamble that partner has a control in their suit & either luck out or not. This is random video game material but it does not resemble Bridge. Partners who bid like that usually elicit the comments “Are you nuts ? “ Players in a competition look at the traveling score & say how in the hell did they get there ? There is no way unless of course just gambling on the random luck of the cards. Isn’t Bridge bidding above that ?