2007-10-08 20:16

Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( 30 HCP rule )

PITBULLS:

Splinter theory brings in the “30 HCP in the deck” rule. When the 10 HCP’s opposite your stiff or void are in the opponent’s hand , you need a lot less HCP’s to make a game or slam. You think in terms of the deck only holding 30 HCP’s & bid accordingly. All of a sudden , 26 HCP’s for your side means slam rather than game. Duplication of value is non-existent so overbidding is encouraged.

Another not so obvious application of the 30 HCP in the deck rule , is when the opponents pre-empt. The odds favour that the HCP’s are in their 7 card suit & when their partner contracts for a 3NT game especially , you can assume that they have all 10 HCP’s in that suit wrapped up. At both tables nv in an IMP league , 3♣ was opened & partner bid 3NT . Here is where the auction went drastically different at both tables. ♠Axx ♥x ♦AKJ1098x ♣xx so what is your bid after the opponents 3NT bid ? I think that it is obvious from the auction that the 30 HCP rule is in effect & the opponents own their club suit. There are 7 club tricks running in NT & they have 10 HCP’s in clubs that you do not have to worry too much about for bidding purposes. At one table , they made a penalty double hoping that the queen of diamonds would drop. This action does not work as the opponents have 10 top tricks so you are –650 in 3NTX for the doubled overtrick.

At the other table , a Tormentee chose a pass. I do not feel that a pass is a good bid in the context of the “30 HCP rule” . They should have 7 tricks ready to roll in NT , so how can bidding 4♦ hurt ? It disturbs their 3NT auction & 4♦ might even make. Sometimes 3NT is bid with a club fit as a “tactic” & you can have game your way !! At one table a local couple “knew” that that the other partner did not have his penalty double & bid 4♠ with ♠QJ10xxx ♥Jxxxx ♦x ♣x . I would have bid 4♣ & with a quick double of partners 4♥ bid , I would retreat to 4♠. I think this action describes my pull of 3NT better.

Anyway, they bid 4♠ with that hand so what do you do with this hand ? ♠Kxx ♥AKQ109 ♦Qxx ♣KQ Partner cannot hold less than ♣AJ10xxxx so with the information that there was a double to your left & a pull to your right you can bid a simple 4NT. You can count 10 tricks in NT as long as the doubler has the ♦AK & the ♠A which he must have for the double & pull to make any sense. You bid 4NT to play . It turns out 4♠X is an excellent sacrifice as it only goes down one or two with best declarer play. 5♣ cannot make the other direction as they are off 3 quick tricks.

Perry & I bid a nice slam recently based on the 30 HCP rule & the opponent’s bidding . Perry opened 2♣ & Nick Gartaganis jumped to 3♥ catching me with ♠xx ♥Ax ♦K1098x ♣J9xx . I passed & Perry doubled alerted by me as showing the NT family of hands. In considering Perry’s hand in the 22-24 range with no HCP’s in the heart suit as an odds on assumption , you are in effect playing with a 30 HCP deck. Give Perry 23 HCP as a median, means we have 27 HCP of the 30 remaining HCP’s outside of the heart suit. This suggests that we should be near the grand slam level , when we have a minor fit. I leapt to 4NT, so Perry chose his best minor by bidding 5♣. I could see no intelligent way of getting to a grand slam in clubs , so I bid 6♣. The trumps split badly ( 4-1 ) so Perry made only +1370. The hand is cold for 13 tricks by establishing diamonds if the trump were 3-2 . This slam was worth 13 IMPs for our side as the opponents bid game only with their combined 32 HCP missing the ♥KQJ , holding a minor 4-4 fit & a 5 card side suit. I guess they never heard of the 30 HCP rule at their table J

Here is another hand involving the 30 HCP rule that Perry relates today ♠xxx ♥KJ10xx ♦void ♣AQ10xx 5-5’s with quality cards (quick tricks ) concentrated in the 2 suits should be opened with 10 or more HCP. It is a tactical advantage to “fire the first shot” & this is a powerful playing hand with a void & two quick tricks. This is an opening bid on any vulnerability. Assume you pass & LHO opens 1♦ with partner overcalling a spade & RHO making a negative double for hearts & spades . What do you do ? Goren says once you have found a fit , you can count distributional points. He says assign 4 HCP for a void & with the 10 HCP you hold, you have 14 HCP’s. Dynamic hand evaluation tells you more though. Bridge is played in a clockwise direction. RHO is showing hearts & clubs & you are behind those suits. So I would promote my hand to 16 HCP because of the possible good location of the ♥queen or ♣K . Splinters show 4 trump , a Q bid just shows “limit raise or better values” but not necessarily 4 trump. In fact , Q bids with 4 trump are rare because you usually have a splinter somewhere ! When the opponents are announcing certain suits with a negative double , I like using their suits as raising partner. With this hand , you can bid either 2♣ or 2♥ as showing where you live with a spade raise. Assume you do not have that understanding , Goren or Culbertson invented a XX to show a hand evaluating to 10 or more HCP’s. Since I have both of RHO’s suits , I would choose a XX with my promoted 16 HCP hand & support spades later. This route should show only 3 trump but at least you have announced 10 or more HCP’s to partner. Your nice controls ( quick tricks ) are transferable to defense or offense. You decide to bid 2♠ which unambiguously shows 6-8 HCP’s counting distribution ( you have a fit ) So you downgraded this quick trick rich hand even with the void being in their suit & your two suits located nicely on the auction. LHO bids 3♦ , partner bids 3♠ RHO bids 4♦ . So now the bidding has confirmed the 30 HCP rule so 25 HCP’s your way should bring about a slam. You cannot make a slam try now , as the there is no undo as you told partner you have 6-8 including distribution with your 2♠ bid . So since your diamond void has gone up in this auction ( way more than 4 HCP’s ) , the 30 HCP rule has kicked in . You bid 4♠ & apologize for missing the slam. No you do not ! You pass 4♦ as you are “all in” with your clear unambiguous 6 HCP 2♠ bid ! They play 4♦ going down undoubled & 6♠ is on a successful finesse. Hand evaluation skills are the basis of good Bridge bidding judgment.