Wednesday, November 19, 2003 10:04 AM
Hand Evaluation – Tactics (
Distribution )
PITBULLS:
A hand evaluation concept in Bridge
is that jumping many levels or opening
at the 4 level and above shows distribution
but not strength. 8 card suits are associated with the 4 level. The game of Ghoulie starts bidding at
the 5 level with a method of dealing the cards that induces wild distribution. Bridge players can learn from that game . When you have distribution , jump many
levels of bidding to describe your hand. Very long suits are
described so pre-empting partner as well as the opponents is permitted. Bridge
bidding is not sophisticated enough to describe 8 or 9 card suits via opening
at the one level. Associate jumping many
levels in Bridge with long suits & distribution not HCP’s. The following hand
was bid by Canada in the Bermuda Bowl.
♠QJ10x ♥void ♦x ♣AQJ1098xx
You are in 1st seat
with equal vulnerability so what do you open ? This is
a time to learn from the Ghoulie players & open 5♣ . You are not qoing
to ever scientifically describe
this hand. The Canadian player opened this hand 1♣ so they got to 6♣
down one in a competitive auction . You can buy the
auction at 5♣ , if that’s the way the bidding starts and ends.
You hold ♠KJ109xx ♥void
♦x ♣AKQxxx & open 1♠ with partner responding 1NT . Now what ? A
jump shift to 3♣ is a distortion so you invent a bid of 4♣ ( unless you play auto-splinters by openers a
practice I do not like ). Alternatively you could make a “prepared bid” of 1♣
& rebid 4♠ . Partner should figure out you have 12 black
cards .The fact that you went even higher than a jump shift brings
the “ghoulie”
principles into play .
You must have a distributional freak . Partner held ♠Ax ♥Jxxxx ♦Axxxx ♣x so should realize the Aces are golden with these types of hands &
bid 4♦. This brings 6♣ which gets returned to 6♠ so you chalk up a well bid slam that makes.
A good player held ♠K10xxxx ♥void ♦x ♣AQxxxx and broke every rule of handling distributional hands. Instead of opening 1♣ ( which is an ideal prepared bid ) she open one spade &
rebid a simple 2♣ which resulted in missing a 50 % grand slam in clubs . Distribution
or hand patterns are far more important to describe than HCP’s. I guess in her mind
she felt that her HCP’s warranted a 2 level rebid !! This hand is unbiddable so extraordinary
measures of “Ghoule principles” are needed. Not to be
undone , her partner also violated Ghoulie Principles in the
same match. ♠void ♥Axx ♦KQJ109xxx
♣xx . There is no bid at the one level
that describes this hand. You can never play “catch up” & describe this
hand accurately by opening 1♦ . You also let the
vultures in cheaply by opening at the one
level. Who cares if you may miss a magical 3NT !
Open this hand 4♦ or 5♦ so put pressure on the opponents &
give some semblance of describing your hand
to partner. When you open 5♦ , the opponents do come in & they are at the +500 level . You cannot
make anything but a diamond partial. Make the best
bid possible ,
not the best possible bid !
You hold ♠void ♥x ♦Axxxx ♣AKJ10xxx , somehow this reaches you in 4th chair vul against non vul.
Opening 1♣ is ludicrous as the non vul vultures
are just waiting to pounce in the majors.
One player chose 2♣ in an effort to buy the hand but it did not work as
they came anyway . The winning bid was a 5♣ opening bid . 6♦ is cold but the
opponents will never let you play it as they go for 300 in the majors at the 6
level. 5♣ bought the contract so the +620 was worth a lot of IMPS.
Opponents are less likely to come in initially at the 5 level. Anyway with
distributional freaks up the ante & level
when you bid !!
These distributional hands are impossible to describe with traditional methods anyway.
You are in 3rd seat with ♠AK109xxx
♥xx ♦void
♣Kxxx . If you open 1♠ , partner bids 1NT or some other bid what is your rebid ? A two spade bid certainly does not show 11 black cards , a 7 card suit with a
void. Open the hand 4 spades as it is semi-descriptive & puts maximum
pressure on the opponents. Sure it might not work out but you only need QJx of clubs
to make game if the spade suit comes in. I watched a veteran player bid a 7-5 like he had a 5-4
. ♠AQ109xxx ♥A10xxx ♦void ♣x He opened one spade & partner bid 1NT . Following the lead of the Ghoulie players , I would get this
auction high very fast. I would
rebid 4♥ knowing that it’s not the perfect bid but I do have 12 cards in the
majors. He bid a quiet 2♥ & they
ended up in 4♦ down one when 620 in either major works.
Here are two hands that violated the Ghoulie
principle by a well known Calgary player. He held ♠K1098xx ♥AKxxxx ♦
♣x & opened 1♠. LHO
overcalled 2♣ which I doubled & they bid 3♣. You have a 6-6
which does not fall into any particular slot in
a bidding manual. You have a known 6-4 fit so
leaping seems to be your best bet.
Leaping to 5♥ should ask for a club control so go for the gusto & bid 6♥. The player
only bid 4♥ , so a baby 6♥ was missed. A
local player was playing with him next so let’s see if he learned from the first 6-6 adventure. The local player
opened 2♣ & they overcalled 2♦ so again you
hold a 6-6 in the majors ♠Qxxxxx ♥KQ1098x ♦void ♣x with a void in the opponents suit no less. What are some possible bids ? 6♦
which shows your void & asks partner to bid a major at the 6 or 7 level.
A 4♦ bid which says bid a major & then you will correct to 6 of the
major. Well , our player passed & partner bid 3♣
which was converted to 3♠ . Partner bid 3NT so the player corrected to 4♥. This was
passed & 19 top tricks in 7♥ were available. At what point in this auction did you describe a 6-6 with a void in the opponents suit ?
You never invited partner to the party by making any attempt to
describe your hand. We can only guess that he is a slave to
the HCP system & in his own mind he
held only 7 HCP ! Do not let HCP’s
interfere with hand evaluation !! Bid your distribution
at the expense of your HCP’s ,
not the other way around.
A player held ♠A ♥Jxx ♦A10987xxx ♣x & they
opened 1♣ to her right. You may be looking at a 30 HCP deck but
overcalling 1♦ does not describe your hand to partner. You may get to a magical 3NT
by keeping the bidding low but I opt for a 4♦ bid vul initially . Yes
, that might not work but from my experiences with 8 card suits
, leaping to the 4 level has worked for me over 40
years of playing the game . Partner is now captain of
the auction & has something with which to work .
Trying it slowly & scientifically just does
not produce results in my opinion with 8 card suits.
Bridge bidding is just not that sophisticated when 8 or 9 card suits are
involved. Do not let the ♠A worry you , you are
going to the 4 level vul. Partner of these 8 card
suits is not very precise also. He bids 5♦ “just in case
it makes vul” rather than stopping on a dime in a
partial at the 4 level. 6♦ is 50 % just on pure luck. 8 card suits & luck
seem to go together.
Moral of the story , if you have a distributional
hand that you cannot describe anyway with normal
Bridge methods “ leap before you look
“ !