As in our current Social Lesson 7, it’s also time for our Advanced players to step up the bidding in the balancing seat with extra values.   In this video lesson, sitting in the passout/balancing seat as responder we may have some opportunities to make a jump bid.   What would be the meaning here?  Better yet, would partner know what it means??? (or you, when partner does so)

Here are the three scenarios we will cover:

1. (1D) – P – (P) – 2S!
2. (1D) – P – (P) – 3D!
3. (1D) – P – (P) – 3N

Of course the fun has only begun during the bidding phase.  When we head for the table both the defenders and the declarer will need to have a few tricks up their proverbial sleeve to get their best result.  Hint – think transportation, not just for you but what’s going on with your opponents.  This episode runs 31 minutes.

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In our last episode, we explored situations where we should overcall 1 Notrump in the fourth seat – either that or double.  This time  on half of our example hands we have a 5 card major suit so our primary task is to determine whether we should simply overcal, or make an initial  double and then bid our semi self-sustaining suit (“type 2” double).  And as with all calls in the passout seat, we must remember to value “borrowing a King” from partner when considering our options.  So after adding a virtual 3 High Card Points to our hand, it’s time to make our best call.

Of course, the bidding doesn’t stop there!  Now it’s up to our passed hand partner to respond, considering our bid was predicated on the “borrowed King.”   In today’s session we will be shooting to bid game and beyond, so be careful and on your toes to make every available trick.   And when you and partner have most all of the High Card Points other than the opening opponent, carefully count out the points in their hands.  In a few of the hands, as declarer you will be able to determine whether or not to finesse a key honor from a marked opponent – especially critical when you are stretching to make a slam contract!   This episode runs 30 minutes.

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To date, our balancing bid quest in the passout seat has focused on 1 level overcalls or simply passing.  But the fun has just begun and in this and the next episode it’s time to address situations where we should overcall 1 Notrump in the fourth seat – either that or double.  And the meaning of the double?   In scenario Type 1, we are making a traditional takeout double when we are short in the Left Hand Opponents suit with good support in the remaining three suits.  Point-wise, in the balancing/passout seat we are permitted add a virtual 3 points from partner – i.e., “Borrowing a King,” striving to keep the auction alive.  That leaves the Type 2 double, where we hold a hand with around 6-7 playing tricks (6 Losing Trick Count with a great trump suit, Suit Quality 8-9+).  Again, we’re able to borrow a King from partner when making our call – first doubling, then rebidding 1 Notrump or our long/strong suit bid.

But the bidding fun has just begun, and we will have to be on our toes during the play of the hand to make our ambitious game contract (especially after partner FORGOT that we borrowed a King when making our call in the passout seat!  For this lesson we have two segments.  Part 1 and 1b are 25 minutes and 23 minutes, respectively.

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Here we go again!  Yes, once again Lefty opened the bidding and after two passes, it’s up to you to make a call.  In this lesson we discuss the first few of 9, yes NINE possible actions.  Passing may seem like a sell-out, especially after “borrowing a King” from partner, yet sometimes we’re been dealt a funky hand and the proverbial VULNERABILITY stars are in the wrong position (adverse).  Or, you have lousy working values, or the game format isn’t favorable (Match Point), or your suit distribution screamed PASS (long/weak LHO suit, a short Spade suit, etc).   Fortunately, much of the time we can scramble up a 1 level bid or make a balancing seat 1 Notrump call.  In future lessons, we will explore the wide world of the takeout double, 2 and 3 level jump and non-jump bids, cuebids and more!  But wait, there’s much more waiting when we head for the table when defenders and the declarer begin plunking card down on the table…

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For our Advanced players sitting in the passout seat, we will compare and contract three bidding variations.  Sure, in the balancing seat we always strive to be partner’s hero and rummage up a bid after “borrowing a King” from partner.  Yet with questionable values, sometimes we will not have the anticipated story book ending.  And how about you – do you feel lucky?  One way or the other, let’s see how this story turns out for the declarer and the would-be defenders.

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Next up on our journey navigating competitive bids, we switch gears and turn our attention to balancing seat bids.   Sometimes your partner has a nice hand but simply does not have the correct shape to make an overcall (suit bid or a takeout double).  In situations like this as well as followup bidding, when you are in the passout seat it’s often time to “borrow a King” from partner and keep the auction alive and competitive (two passes so far and the auction goes to the opponents unless you make a call).   Just remember that when partner made a call in passout seat, resist the urge to punish partner by then advancing the bidding to the 3 level.   In this lesson we also demonstrate the inadequacy holding a Jack-doubleton (including Ace-Jack).   We will also take a look at competing when Left Hand Opponent opens 1 Notrump and you are in the passout seat – time to use Mel Colchamiro’s “Rule of 2” (guideline), responder’s “Stayman double” after RHO overcalls 2 Club, a tip on how to avoid an endplay when LHO has a trump stack sitting behind you, as well as the classic distribution when to try a “strip and endplay.”

By the way, Premium and ULTRA members are welcome to enjoy prior Advanced Lesson segments as well as the Social Lessons (covering Major Suit Raises in the first 3 lessons).  Better yet, check out the hundreds of hours of videos in our archive by clicking “Index to Videos” on the navigation above or simply click this link.

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BridgeHand

Continuing our journey navigating competitive bids, we take another look at what can go right and wrong when bidding in the direct and balancing seat.   When use wisely, freebids help us show partner additional length or side-suit values, while balancing seat bids in the passout seat are all about hand-to-hand competitive bidding – mano-a-mano.  In this lesson we also compare and contrast allowing the competitors to win the auction in the event they overbid, making a seemingly odd Notrump balancing predicated on the opponents and partners bidding, underscoring the difference between a chunky 5 card suit with top honors versus a hand with spread honors and much more.

By the way, Premium and ULTRA members are welcome to enjoy both lesson segments as well as the Social Part 2 lesson on Major Suit Raises, one hand which also touching on competitive bidding and freebids.  Better yet, check out the hundreds of hours of videos in our archive by clicking “Index to Videos” on the navigation above or simply click this link.

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BridgeHands

As promised, we are beginning the new year with shorter, more frequent lessons for the social and advanced players.  Premium and ULTRA members are welcome to enjoy both lesson segments.

In our advanced lesson, we delve into competitive bidding – contrasting freebids from balancing seat bids in the passout seat.  We will explore when not to make a negative double, “The Law” of Total Tricks, misfits, using the Rule of 10 to consider penalizing mischievous opponents and other provocative topics.

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Board 57 Senior KO Round 4 of 4

Going into Board 57, the Knock Out match was neck and neck.   But still waters can only last so long and on this hand the sparks flew on both tables.   With favorable vulnerability, how do you feel about a preemptive 2 Heart opening bid in first seat with 2=5=4=2 shape?  Well, Bob Hamman’s the bid ultimately drove the opponents to a 4 Spade contract they ultimately would not have chanced.

At least that’s what partner Zia believed when he doubled Bates 4 Spade bid.  When partner preempts but then leads another suit, most often it’s a singleton and pard is looking for an immediate ruff.  But recall Hamman’s shape was 2=5=4=2 so the lead of the Club 8 was from a doubleton.  Zia, believing Bob Hamman was short returned the Club Ace – but it turned out declarer Bates held the stiff Club, leading to a ruff of Zia’s Ace.  Ouch, any return other than the Ace or a Diamond sets the contract.   Playing double dummy is sooo much easier than only seeing half the cards after long hours of grueling play.  Do you think when Bob and Zia went to sleep that night they both wish the opening lead would have been the top of sequence Diamond 10?  Might that lead have come if Zia didn’t risk the double of 4 Spades?  Did the dark angel wisper for Zia to return the Club Ace instead of the neutral Spade Queen?  Questions, questions, questions – that’s what keeps us Bridge-types going…

So when the dust settled in the Open Room, Bates chalked up 790, 4 Spades doubled, making and vulnerable.  Let’s look at the action before going to the other table…

Board 57 North Deals E-W Vul	♠ 9 6 ♥ A Q J 8 3 ♦ 10 9 8 6 ♣ 8 6
♠ J 10 8 7 5 3 ♥ 6 4 2 ♦ A 7 5 ♣ 7	N W   E S	♠ A K 4 ♥ K 10 9 ♦ Q 4 3 ♣ K J 10 4
	♠ Q 2 ♥ 7 5 ♦ K J 2 ♣ A Q 9 5 3 2

West	North	East	South
Bates	Hamman	Wold	Zia
	2 ♥	2 N	3 ♥
3 ♠	Pass	4 ♠	Dbl
Pass	Pass	Pass

4 ♠ x by West

Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
1. N	♣ 8	J	Q	7
2. S	♣ A	♠ 7	6	4
3. W	♠ 5	6	A	2
4. E	♠ K	Q	3	9
5. E	♣ K	2	♦ 5	♥ 8
6. E	♣ 10	3	♦ 7	♥ 3
7. E	♦ 3	J	A	6
8. W	♥ 4	A	9	5
9. N	♦ 10	Q	K	♠ 8

Meanwhile, in the other room, Drewski also opened 2 Hearts holding the 2=5=4=2 shape.  Does that make your head spin just a bit?  Again, this was followed by a 2 Notrump balancing bid by Ekeblad.  However, this time South (Krekorian) quietly passed.  And sitting West, Rubin, jumped to 4 Hearts – a Texas Transfer to 4 Spades by Ekeblad.  So this time the lead came from the other side of the table, with the Notrump bidder’s hand closed.

Normally, playing the strong hand as declarer is good for about a trick.  But not so on this hand.  Krekorian was not about to lead his unprotected Club Ace, instead leading the normal high Heart 7 from doubleton.   So this time, seeing the dummy’s exact shape (singleton Club and 5 red suit losers, the defenders got all their due tricks to set declarer Ekeblad by 2 tricks, down 200.

So much for still waters with a 990 point swing to the O’Rourke team over Meltzer’s boys.  Here’s the board in the Closed Room.

Board 57 North Deals E-W Vul	♠ 9 6 ♥ A Q J 8 3 ♦ 10 9 8 6 ♣ 8 6
♠ J 10 8 7 5 3 ♥ 6 4 2 ♦ A 7 5 ♣ 7	N W   E S	♠ A K 4 ♥ K 10 9 ♦ Q 4 3 ♣ K J 10 4
	♠ Q 2 ♥ 7 5 ♦ K J 2 ♣ A Q 9 5 3 2

West	North	East	South
Rubin	Drewski	Ekeblad	Krekorian
	2 ♥	2 N	Pass
4 ♥	Pass	4 ♠	Pass
Pass	Pass

4 ♠ by East

Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
1. S	♥ 7	2	J	K
2. E	♠ A	2	3	6
3. E	♠ K	Q	7	9
4. E	♣ K	A	7	8
5. S	♥ 5	4	Q	9
6. N	♥ A	T	♣ 2	6
7. N	♦ 10	Q	K	A
8. W	♦ 5	6	3	2
9. N	♦ 9	4	J	7

And so as the evening went on, and On, and ON – the play was EXTREMELY slow.  Eventually even  the Director couldn’t resist chiding the players to do *something* with the play running late and hour our two after most mortals would finish.  But at the end of a critical and close team KO game, mortals are all tucked in their beds.   Yet the momentum began swinging with this pivotal board with the O’Rourke team winning the match by a modest margin.   And on the next evening, they outright clobbered their opponents to win all the gold.   Well done – great play to the team who seemed to defy gravity!  And who said the out-of-town “away team” gets sleepy, anyway?

Epilogue – While many viewers probably nod their head if partner makes a preemptive 2 Heart call with 2=5=4=2, top players use advanced hand evaluation and tend to “mix it up” a bit when conditions are right.  Here’s some of their considerations:

1. Favorable vulnerability – check
2. First seat (better than second seat) – check
3. Positive shape (5-4-2-2 better than 5-3-3-2) – check
4. Four card suit suit not a major – check
5.  Ideal strength (7-8 losers) – check
6. Top players in the world – check

And as we have witnessed in a top team game, it’s “mano-a-mano” which helps explain why both players opened 2 Hearts.  In fact it was Bob Hamman who once explained the following difference between an IMP and Matchpoint duplicate Bridge game (not an exact quote):

“… In a team IMP game, it’s like two prize fighting boxers going at it for 15 rounds with the best man left standing.   However, in a Matchpoint game, you put the two prize fighters in the ring with a bunch of lunatics…”

2010 Senior KO R16 Segment 4 of 4

Board 55 in the final session was a big swing board for Bob Hamman and Zia, playing on the Meltzer Senior Knockout Team.  First, here’s the hands, bidding, later a review of the disasterous play.  Please click on the topic title “2010 ACBL…” to view our comments.

Board 55 South Deals Both Vul	♠ 3 ♥ K Q 9 5 4 ♦ 6 5 2 ♣ K Q 9 2
♠ 2 ♥ J 6 3 2 ♦ K J 10 7 3 ♣ A 8 5	N W E S	♠ A Q 10 9 8 7 6 5 ♥ 10 8 ♦ 9 4 ♣ 6
	♠ K J 4 ♥ A 7 ♦ A Q 8 ♣ J 10 7 4 3

West	North	East	South
Zia	Hanna	Hamman	Lebi
			1 ♣
1 ♦	2 ♥	4 ♠	Dbl
Pass	Pass	Pass

4 ♠ x by East

Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
1. S	♥ A	2	5	8
2. S	♦ A	3	6	4
3. S	♦ 8	K	2	9
4. W	♦ J	5	♠ 10	Q
5. E	♠ 5	4	2	3
6. E	♠ A	J	♥ 3	♣ 2
7. E	♣ 6	3	A	9
8. W	♦ 7	♥ 4	♥ 10	♠ K

Made 4 — +790

The Beat: American Contract Bridge League Sectional Tournament, Saturday, California Bay Area

The Game: Its the start of the second session playing “A level” competitors

The Board: We’re on the second hand of the first round

The Bidding: With favorable vulnerability partner passes and RHO opens 1 Spade

 

P – (1S) – ?
Dealer: North Vul: East/West	Pass
		1 Spade
	9 6 K J 10 9 7 6 3 2 9 3 2

Partner prefers day games and after breaking several hours between sessions, we’re hopeful the evening game won’t drag on with slow play.  Our opponents are pleasant Scandinavian chaps.  You know the variety – very friendly, yet after the hand is over you are left scratching your head wondering how you ended up with a bottom board.  Never underestimate any Bridge player who comes from a climate with cold weather; they have way too much time on their hands and they all play like foxes.

Holding South’s hand, it looks as though the opponents have an easy vulnerable game, perhaps a run for a small slam. Bidding some number of Hearts will likely stoke the fire for the opponents.   Probably the rest of the field will overcall 4 Hearts, with the opponents winding up in either a black suit game, slam, or perhaps a high-level Notrump contract.

My partner and I tend to “hit the ball down the center of the fairway” avoiding mastermind bids.  But for some reason on this hand, I just couldn’t resist throwing in a dreaded psych bid.  And so I plunged into the deep dark, dreaded underworld bidding 1 Notrump – in tempo, of course.

Needless to say, my LHO was perplexed to say the least.  After about 15 seconds, my partner was kindly asked our Notrump overcall range: “Yes, we play a standard 15-17 HCP range”  was the response. After pondering some more, LHO delivers the expected “balance of power” double for penalty.

At this point, the plot thickens.  My partner has several thousand masterpoints and always bids in tempo, avoid hesitations, and never inadvertently provides me unauthorized information – at least not until this hand.  You see, when you never make a psychic bid partner most likely thinks its the OPPONENT who has made a psyche or bizarre call.

And so the torture begins, partner begins to grab a pass card, then seems to be looking for the redouble card, then her hand pulls away from the bidding box – oh oh, this auction is not going to be pretty.  After some time, partner again heads for the front of the bidding box, fumbles a bit, again withdrawing and pulls… THREE NOTRUMP!

Within a few seconds my RHO who opened 1 Spade soundly pulls his double bid from the bidding box, softly placing it on the table.  The opponents are truly too kind, not calling for the director after my partner’s tortured bid (all my fault, I might add).

And so as they say, “the chickens have come home to roost” and I’m back in the hot seat.   Well, playing an occasional online Goulash Bridge game where every hand has wild distribution (only surpassed by wild players on EVERY hand in every game), I felt well prepared to recover from my dirty bid.   And so after evaluating my hand about 5-7 seconds, I placed my 4 Heart bid on the table.   As an aside, good players at this level seldom miss observing any kind of “tell” by an opponent as so I’m using my best theatrical performance to act like an android as I withdraw 4 Hearts from the bidding box in normal tempo, placing it on the table in a movement that’s not too smooth, not exhibiting an obvious “hitch” and not letting my eyes waiver from normal behavior.  So how did I do?

In similar even cadence to my RHO (East) double of partner’s 3 Notrump call, now my LHO places his red “x” double smoothly on the table.  He’s got us on the run, or so he thinks.  But wait, there’s more!  Partner tanks holding the following:

 

P – (1S) – 1N! – (X); 3N – (X) – 4H! – (X); ?
Dealer: North Vul: East/West	A 10 4 7 5 3 A Q 9 7 6 5 3
	9 6 K J 10 9 7 6 3 2 9 3 2

Yup, you guessed it – partner still believes my initial 1 Notrump call and in an attempt to save the auction bids… 5 Clubs!  Well, needless to say East no longer wastes any time doubling that contract.  Ditto here – there’s not much sense for any feeble attempts to pull off  “Oscar award-winning” theatrics and so my 5 Heart bid hits the table in the same cadence and enthusiasm as RHOs double.   LHO doubles and by this time partner has worked out my sorted psych, passing out the auction.

After the dust settled, we’re down a few tricks but with favorable vulnerability and opponents missing a Spade, Notrump or Diamond suit game we score very good results (not that our performance deserved it).   By the way, I agree with my partner’s disciplined pass as opposed to opening 3 Clubs in first seat with an outside suit Ace.  Outside Aces at the 2 level are fine but at the 3 level don’t seem to make sense.  If a player has an Ace and the requisite “two of top three” honors in the preempt suit, than either open at the 1 level or pass; with any kind of fit, the hand rates as a 6 or 7 Losing Trick Count holding.  In the postmortem, partner and I have had several discussions about psychic bids and when I “might” use a rapier psych bid in the future (see http://www.bridgehands.com/P/psychic_bid.htm).   In retrospect, we both agreed the errant bid did indeed have one positive attribute – after my wayward bid neither of us were a bit sleepy the rest of the evening session and we ended up just a nose out of first place in our direction.   Still, psychic bid are probably best served (or instigated) at the end of a session… if at all.