Past Tips and Quizzes

When You Put Down The Wrong Bid
If you look down and are surprised to see what you've just bid.  Stop!  Do not say anything.  Call the "Director" immediately.  Ask to be taken away from the table and explain what happened, i.e., "I pulled out the wrong bid," I failed to see a previous bid."  You often won't incur a severe penalty as you might have if you tried to explain your miscue to the table (you are then giving partner unauthorized information).  It is always best to call the director if you are unclear as to your rights.

When leading from dummy, to take a finesse with a number of equal honors in your hand, finesse with the highest equal.
Dummy = XX
Play low from dummy and insert the Q. Doing this, the defense now has no info as to the whereabouts of the J10.... 
You (DEC) = AQJ10 

"Blackwood"
In most slam auction the stronger hand bids Blackwood. The big hand asks, the weaker hand answers. DO NOT use Blackwood when you have a void or two or more losers in an unbid suit. 

You hold: KQxxx/Qxx/AKJx/x. 
In the auction partner opens 1c/you bid 1sp/partner raises to 3sp/your hand should NOT bid 4nt, rather cue bid 4d to show a first-round control.
You need to hear a heart control from partner to consider slam as you may have lots of tricks, but they could well take the first two hearts. 

November Tip

When partner opens a club and you hold five diamonds and a four card major, respond in the minor with 11+ HCP.  With less, respond in the major.  In the former you plan to reverse and show you major next indicating an invitational + hand.

You hold: 

a) AKxx/xx/jxxxx/xx     With (a) respond 1SP
b) AKxx/xx/A10xxx/xx   With (b) respond 1D

A takeout double by a passed hand shows 9-11HCP with shortness in the opener's suit. 
If the opponents have bid two suits, the double promise at least four card support for both unbids i.e.,

You hold: AJxx///xx///KJ10xx///xx

South (you) P  West 1C  North P  East 1H
      DBL

When the bid to your right is strong, a jump by you is weak; when the bid to your right is weak, a jump by you is strong. 
If partner opens 1C and RHO bids 1H, a jump by you to 2SP is weak. 
If RHO opens 2H, a jump to 3SP is strong (probably a six card sp suit).

You hold: 
(a) 76/AKJ9843/K4/43
(b) AQ43/AQ765/65/65
(c) 654/Ak104/832/AQJ4
(Note that from left to right = S/H/D/C)

Answer:

(a), bid 4H; 3H is not forcing.
(b), bid 4SP; 3SP is not forcing.
(c), bid 3NT, 2NT is not forcing.

The Rule of 7

When declaring a hand in NT, a good way of determining how long to hold up is to use the "Rule of 7"- simply stated, count the number of cards you and dummy hold between you in their attack suit and subtract that total from seven. 
That is how many times you hold up. 

May Tip:

SAFETY PLAY

When playing in NT and you have a long suit with no side entries opposite a doubleton consider the "safety play". 
Give up your known loser immediately while you have one more card to run the suit. i.e.,

Play a low club from both hands. As long as the suit does not break 4-0 you are fine. Notice that if you gamble on the clubs and they are not 2-2 (which they do not figure to be) you cannot make the hand!

March Tip:

LOSER-ON-LOSER PLAY

As declarer playing in a suit contract you may find that you do not want to shorten the trumps in your hand.  A great technique is to discard a known loser from your hand rather than using one of your trumps.  This keeps you off the lead and it maintains your trump length.  The idea being that you were always losing the card you pitched, but now the defense has to lead again, which might be to your benefit.  This treatment is called "loser on loser".

February Tip:

LEADS

November Tip: 

When your RHO shows weakness, a jump by you shows strength, with a 6-card suit. 

Example: 2H / 3SP (you) =
This overcall of 3 spades by you shows 15 to 17 points and 6 spades.

We "never" preempt a preempt.  So this bid allows partner to go to game with 10 points and 2 spades.

October Tip: 

The time to review partnership agreements is before you and your partner sit down to play.  Once the game has begun it is too late and too frustrating!

September Quiz:

Tell me how these hands should be bid and then how do you play to make your contract?

 north       xxx
               Axxxx
               x
               xxxx


 south      AKQxx
               Kx
               AQx
               xxx

Answer:
You have three certain club losers so you cannot afford to lose a diamond. Don't even think about taking a diamond finesse; rather, ruff the fourth club in your hand and pull one round of trump (you can afford it). Ace of diamonds and ruff a diamond. Back to your hand w/the KH and ruff another diamond. Now pull trumps and cross your fingers for a 3-2 split...

August Tip: 

When you hold Kxx, whether defending nt or a suit contract and dummy has the singleton Q, when declarer goes to dummy and plays the Q, DO NOT cover with your K.  If partner has the ace you don't need to cover, and if declarer has the ace he can never get your K later, as he has no card in dummy with which to finesse you.

July Bidding Quiz:

Here is your hand: 

      Axxx/x/Axxxx/Qxx

Three questions:

1) How many points do you have sitting in first seat?

2) You pass and partner opens 1sp.  How many points do you have?

3) What is your response to partner's 1sp opener?

Answer:

1) 11pts/10hcp + 1 length

2) 13pts/10pts + 3 singleton w/hand re-evauation

3) bid 4sp as you now own a full opener in support of
partner.

June's Tip

As a general rule, whenever declarer is playing in his
second bid suit:

1sp/p/1nt/p/2d/P-O....so declarer is playing in 2d and
dummy is obviously short in spades (otherwise he would
have corrected to spades) 

YOU SHOULD lead a trump to cut down the ruffing of spades in dummy.

April's Quiz

You hold:
AKx/x/AKJxx/Axxx

You open:
1D, and P responds 1H.

What is your bid?

Answer: 

Jump to 3c to show this
powerhouse. DO NOT bid 2nt, as that would promise two
hearts and partner might well go to 4h w/8pts and 6
hearts.  This takes you beyond 3nt which is probably
your best spot.

February's Quiz

With no bid preceding you, what is your call in:

   1st seat:          x
   2nd seat:     AKJxxx
   3rd seat:       Jxxx
   4th seat:        Qx

Answer:

1st seat = 1H  -You have a rebid = 2H
2nd seat = 1H  - Partner has not passed and game is possible
3rd seat = 2H  - Partner has passed/pre-empt as game is
unlikely
4th seat = Pass  - Use the rule of "15" (spades + HCP's) = 12

Note: re: 3rd seat/1H is a possible response if
playing Drury.

You hold:  Ax/AKJxx/Jx/AQxx
You open: 1H and P bids 1SP
What is your rebid? 

You have two choices with this powerhouse: a jump-shift
to 3c or 2nt.  It appears that the final contract will be 3nt and a 3c call is almost certain to garner a diamond lead, but a jump to 2nt just might see a club lead.  Bid 2nt and hope for the club out -it just might
happen.

It's very important to bid and play in a consistent tempo. If you are a deliberate bidder, then be deliberate at all times. It's not "ethical" to bid slowly when you have a problem and rapidly when you have nothing. You are conveying "unauthorized" information to your partner. As for playing, when dummy comes down and you are defending, you need to decide ahead of time what you will play when declarer leads through your honor, because if you hesitate you locate that honor and take the guesswork out of the equation. 

In summation, try to think ahead and make a concerted effort to bid and play in a consistent manner.

Pearson's Rule of 15

When you find yourself in fourth seat with three passes to you, and you are unsure as to whether or not you should open, consider using Pearson's "Rule of 15".
Simply stated: count your HCP's + the number of spades you hold and if this adds to 15=OPEN/if it falls short of 15=PASS.

KJxx/AQx/Jxxx/xx=OPEN/11HCP + 4 spades=15

Ax/KJx/Axxx/xxxx=PASS/12HCP's +2 spades=14

You have a minimum opening hand:  AJx/xx/AQxxx/Qxx.   

You open 1D and partner responds:  1SP

With this hand you should raise to 2SPs.  Hearts look
like a potential problem in NT and if partner is minimum he can pass and you'll play at worst in a 4-3
fit at the two-level, which is fine.  As the one-spade
responder, be aware that partner may have only 3-card support for his raise.  So if you have a good hand with game interest but you have only 4 spades, you must first bid NT (2 or 3 depending on your strength) and opener will correct to spades if, in fact, he had four.  Raising with 3 card major support is a valuable bidding technique as long as you and your partner are on the same page.

PS: Most experts suggest you have at least one of the top three honors when you raise with three - and two of the top three would be even nicer!

September's Tip

When your opponents are bidding and they alert several of their bids, unless you are planning to enter the auction DO NOT ask them what their bids mean until the auction is completed. This way you will not allow them to fix a misunderstanding that might be happening. When the auction is over you can then ask what every single bid meant.

August's Tip

As declarer, when the opening lead is faced and dummy comes down, try to take at least 30 seconds to plan your line of play.  If the experts do it, we probably should too.  If the hand just seems too easy, then plan for the "worst case scenario" (bad trump split) before it is too late.

July's Tip

The Rule of 2 & 3

I strongly suggest you adopt this rule as it is both useful and easy to follow.  
Simply stated, when pre-empting at any level, count your winners, and if you are VUL, bid to within two tricks of your pre-empt. If NON-VUL, bid to within three tricks of your pre-empt, i.e., you have six tricks in your hand/VUL=two level pre-empt (two tricks shy-need eight tricks/have six...if NON-VUL w/six tricks pre-empt at the three level=three shy...need nine/have six...

This application is not only a good barometer of how high to pre-empt, but it also tells your partner the number of tricks they can expect from you.

June's Tip

Hand Re-evaluation

It is crucial in bridge that you take a second look at your hand in light of the auction.  You hold:

          x
          QJ10x
          xxx
          AKxxx

This hand should only be opened in third seat, but after the bidding goes: (you) pass-1sp-D-pass.
Now your partner has doubled the spade opening and you must re-evaluate your hand which now becomes a full 13pt opener (owing to the heart fit).
BID=4h...

May's Quiz

It's your lead!

The auction has proceeded: 
1nt by your RHO/3nt from LHO. It's your lead and you hold:

          x
          xxxx
          Jxxx
          Jxxx

What did you lead?  


Answer:
It is best to lead your singleton spade.  The NT opener will not have five spades, the responder has denied four spades (no stayman bid), so with any luck your partner may have a decent six card spade suit.  Just imagine his surprise when his darling partner plops down a spade!