Between promotion, ruffing and finesse plays, certainly promotion plays gain us the most tricks hand over hand. And when promotion plays are used in connection other plays, we rack up even more tricks. In this two-episode MEGA lesson (Lesson 14 and 15), we will cover a whopping 37+ hands. And if that is not enough, for each hand we will take 2 (or more) attempts, first illustrating the problem when we do not use our arsenal of suit promotion options, second where we us e one of a handful of suit promotion techniques .
As expected, you will see the Rule of 7 come into play on a fair number of Notrump contracts. However, over the series of 16 hands (plus several warm-up hands) in Lesson 14 Day 3, we will learn that like all so-called “rules,” it pays to carefully consider other factors before blindly playing hands by rote. Ditto on holdback plays when the opponent s lead a side suit where we have a 5 or 6 card suit – while we worry that the opponents may soon ruff the suit, when holding Ace-third opposite 2 or 3 little, sometimes we ought to duck winning the first trick.
Regarding safety plays, we will reinforce the wisdom of playing unfavorable odds (like 4-1 opponent suit splits) when we need to make a critical contract. Then there’s the spooky “dangerous opponent,” the situation when our house of cards would fall apart (figuratively) should we let a certain opponent on the lead. The consequence will likely lead the opponents to trap our finessable honors, promote THEIR suit, or both!
Loser on loser plays make sense when giving up a losing trick will gain more than one trick elsewhere (including avoiding a dangerous opponent).
Part 1 – Promotion play for all audiences – click here to view 40 minutes of video
Free, Premium and ULTRA Members click here to view Part 2 – 27 minutes of video
Premium and ULTRA Members click here to view Part 3 – 32 minutes of video
Premium and ULTRA Members click here to view Part 4 – 33 minutes of video
And what about the situation when we simply do not have an opportunity to promote a critical suit? Hmm, perhaps we can strip down some side suits and throw the opponent suit, forcing an opponent on the lead who must then play a can in two remaining suits – either of which provide us transportation to our partner’s hand! So take warning defender, don’t get caught with your guard down and let the declarer catch you with this trap. Ditto when we are playing in second seat – watch out for the declarer sneaking in a finesse when you do not split your honors.
As always, here at BridgeHands on all of our Bridge hands are full of discussions and analysis on hand evaluation, bidding and play with close to 3 hours of animated card play with commentary (#1 – 40 minutes, #2 – 27 minutes, #3 – 32 minutes, #4 – 33 minutes, #5 – 30 minutes).
Visitors are welcome to view the Part 1 series of our video lesson with several hands including critical decisions that will influence our card play. Those with the Free BridgeHands membership may also watch Part 2 where we review the first four hands with provocative play tips and strategies to ensure you bring home the contract. As a Premium and ULTRA member, you are welcome to enjoy the entire five-part lesson segments, PLUS another 5 parts on our episode #15 – an exclusive only for our loyal members. Of course, as always be sure to check out the hundreds of hours of videos in our archive that is growing by leaps and bounds, by clicking “Index to Videos” on the navigation above or simply click this link.
Happy Trails,
BridgeHands
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