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Penalty Doubles in Competition: Too close to call?
Time to make the environment your friend!

Life isn’t always easy and sometimes the same can be said at the Bridge table.  You know the drill – you or partner begin the bidding, the opponents overcall and before you know it the bidding is at the 3 level and you’re left with a difficult decision.  And when both sides have roughly the same trick-taking power, determining the best action can be a bit tricky.  In a Super Bowl football game when you’ve got the ball it’s either throw, run, or punt.   Hmm, let’s see if we can work this paradigm into today’s Bridge lesson.

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Before we get into lots of nitty-gritty details, suffice it to say that when competing at the 3 level we are not going to always make the right decision.  There, now we’ve got that off our chest, hopefully we both feel a little bit better.  Still, we do have several useful factors to consider when deciding to throw, run or punt – err, bid game, pass or make a Penalty Double.

Okay, so what’s the secret sauce to become a Bridge Ninja competitor you ask?  Sorry, we don’t have any silver bullets to offer.  In large part, being an effective competitor is mostly about common sense.  You know common sense, right?  Common sense is the application of good judgment, discovered AFTER having exercised bad judgment one too many times!   Only kidding, but we will have to pay careful attention to the Bridge bidding ecosystem.  Okay, here we go, let’s jump right in. [Read more…]

Doubles after Preempts: For Takeout or Penalty?

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Over the last three weeks in our journey discussing doubles, we’ve covered Takeout Doubles, Negative Doubles, Penalty Doubles against misfits and Balance of Power Penalty Doubles.  Now enters the cursed preempts, leading us to examine a few more agreements.  After opponents’ preempt, sometimes a double is for penalty, sometimes it’s for takeout, and sometimes we’re all on our own.   Who said Bridge was only a game for black-white thinkers, anyway?

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For our discussions, we will assume the opponents are playing Weak Two preemptive bidding.  So in first, second and third seat bidding, opening 2D, 2H or 2S shows a 6 card suit typically headed by 2 of the top 3 honors with no more than 1 useful honor in a side suit (5-11 HCP).   Similarly, three level preempts normally contain a 7 card suit with a weak hand.    First let’s explore doubles in the direct seat after the preempt bid.  Except in high 4 level contracts, doubles in direct seat are normally for takeout: [Read more…]

Balance of Power Penalty Doubles in Contract Bridge

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Power lies in the balance, Balance Of Power, that is. So when the opponents get in the way of your auction and your side has the power, the “B.O.P.,” it’s time to follow the advice of Bridge author Augie Boehm: wield the axe with your “Demon Doubles!”

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On day one of Penalty Doubles we examined several scenarios where the opponents had bidding misfits, allowing us to invoke our Penalty Double. After all, if they cannot find a fit, neither can our side. With the Balance of Power Penalty Double moving into our war chest, we are adding another lethal weapon in our bidding arsenal.

Polling You #36 1a

While South may have full Notrump opening values, notice the hand has several defects:
1. Soft Spade values – questionable J 9 8
2. Doubleton Ace-King – “tight” values cannot setup extra tricks when the opponents are playing in Notrump
So while the hand has 17 HCP and is behind East’s 1 Notrump opener, 4-5 playing tricks falls a few short to set the opponents.    Thus, as nice as South’s hand first appears, it lacks the playing values to make a “balance of power” double over East’s Notrmp opener.   Without transportation to North’s nice Diamonds (if only South had a precious third Diamond), East actually makes 8 tricks with these hands.

Polling You #36 1b

Contrast South’s hand here with the previous hand.   South only has 13 HCP this time, yet the lovely self-sustaining Diamond suit more than makes up for the lacking honors.  With East promising at least 2 Diamonds, it’s unlikely any of the opponents will have four Diamonds to the Jack.  So South’s hand should generate 6 Diamond tricks plus the Heart Ace, enough to set West’s 1 Notrump opening bid.  Looking at South’s hand from a Losing Trick Count perspective, with 6 LTC (2 Spades, 2 Hearts, 2 Clubs) the hand is should be a champion to set the declarer – unless the opponents run to another suit.

Penalty Double – Business Doubles in Contract Bridge

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Penalty Doubles: Extinct? No, nothing personal, it’s just business!

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Over the last two weeks we’ve had a handful of lessons on Takeout Doubles and Negative Doubles, and that’s hardly the tip of the proverbial iceberg on conventional doubles.   After a while, it kind of makes one wonder – is there such a thing as a Penalty Double anymore?  Oh yeah, you bet there is! 

So is there a safe way to know when a double is for penalty or if instead it’s some kind of conventional call?  Well, sorta’ yes, sorta’ no.  Or as humorist Kin Hubbard eloquently said, “The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it back in your pocket!” [Read more…]

Contract Bridge Rules/Laws – Dropped Card

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Oops!  A card just slipped right out of my hand and here it sits face up on the table.  Now how about that?  I didn’t mean to do it so I can pick it right up, okay?   What do you say, my friend? After all, no offense – no foul does seems right, eh?

Recall the saying that goes:

    We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.

And whether or not we are playing a friendly game of social Bridge at the kitchen table or representing our Country in International Bridge competition, it’s wise to know the rules that guide our fair game.    Do you think you already know the answer to this situation?  Or are you sure you don’t know how this Bridge Law works?  Then again, maybe some of you are in yet another camp, needing some extra tidbit of information to make a determination on which Bridge Law comes into play.  Interesting, this “simple” game we call Bridge.

Free, Premium and ULTRA members – please login for our BridgeHands analysis:

If you do not wish to signup for FREE Membership, perhaps you would like to at least brush up on one of our applicable references – Law 24.

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Negative Double – Rebids in Contract Bridge

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Okay, Bridge friends it’s almost time to graduate from Negative Doubles! We will explore “the usual suspects” – opener rebids with various strengths and hand shapes, seeking that elusive game bid.

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And the good news is: all the bidding rules are far enough behind us to say goodbye to all those PowerPoint slides! So on today’s commentary and hand animation play, we are busting at the seams with our moniker – lots and lots of Bridge Hands at BridgeHands. In fact, on one hand we will be revisiting bidding and play over and over until the declarer and defenders get it right! Call this a mix of “What’s Wrong With Waldo” and the movie “Groundhog Day!” [Read more…]

Negative Double Refinements – Contract Bridge

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Negative Doubles – Refinements video – Polling You #32, Part 1

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Under some circumstances the responder is bound by precise guidelines when making a Negative Double, while in other situations the responder is granted some flexibility in the shape of their side suit assets.  Generally, additional restrictions are put in place to demonstrate to easily show opener the good news before the advancing LHO launches an unexpected preemptive bid.

Then there’s the matter of responder first Doubling and then bidding a new suit.  Is that similar to the “Type 2” Takeout Double or are all bets off considering the responder is making a Negative Double?  Hmm, perhaps there are different strokes for different folks?

Let’s begin by looking at some details on responder’s strength requirements to make a Negative Double.  Recall the basics from our prior session:
1 level = 6+ points
2 level minor = 8+ points
2 level major = 9+ points
3 level = 10+ points [Read more…]

Negative Doubles – Part 1, The Basics in Contract Bridge

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When we first hear the term, Negative Doubles, we might mistakenly think, “Oh, that must be a variation of the Takeout Double.”  While it’s true that both calls are not penalty oriented and request partner to continue the bidding, that’s where the similarity ends.  The point requirements are dramatically different, the shape requirements only have loose similarities and the meaning of the doubler’s new suit rebid are completely different.  Could that be why the Negative Double was originally known as an “out of this world bid” known as the Sputnik Double?  No, not at all – back in 1957 creators Alvin Roth and Tobias Stone simply liked the drama associating their new conventional call with the shocking Russian satellite.

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Let’s begin by contrasting the Takeout and Negative Double.

First off, making a Negative Double implies you do not have a fit in partner’s opening suit.  Second, since two suits have been described, making a Negative Double suggests length in an unbid suit.  We say suggests because of the good-old “Five and Dime” rule – as responder we should have a 5 card suit and 10+ points to respond in a new suit at the 2 level.  So on those occasions where we have 6-9 points and a 5 card suit, we make be able to make a Negative Double to show partner that we have values – at least have the points in the deck including partner’s opening hand.  Without getting into all the fine points of GAABP (Generally Accepted Bridge Practices) for Negative Doubles, let’s look at some basic hands and situations where the focus is to find a major fit.

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Contract Bridge Bidding Continuations after Double

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Regarding Doubles, first an opponent makes a bid.  Next your partner doubles and you respond.  And so the bidding saga continues – imagine the possible bidding continuations! (or not…)  Certainly it would stagger the mind to memorize all the permutations.  So will focus on some of the basics and resort to our deductive abilities to explore the almighty game contract. This completes our third installment of Takeout Doubles.  For those who are looking for immediate gratification, okay here are the links to view our associated videos with commentary and animated card bidding:

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Responses to Takeout Double in Contract and Duplicate Bridge

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Competition – an essential ingredient to make us better than the status quo.  And at the Bridge table, with adequate values everyone loves to win the auction.  So when it’s our partner that makes a Takeout Double, we certainly want to both cooperate and compete for the best contract.  Sometimes playing a part score contract with a good 8 card suit fit is sufficient.  Other times after partner doubles with opening values and we hold like values in our hand, we immediately know a game contract is in the proverbial cards. 

Ah, it would be nice if competitive bidding was always that simple, right?  But for better or worse, we need to carefully consider seemingly innumerable options.  So together we will walk through some of the more common scenarios following common sense bidding tactics, tracking closely with your existing bidding methods. 

In part 2 of our series on Takeout Doubles, we will continue to use Barbara Seagram’s “Bridge – 25 Ways to Compete in the Bidding.”   In our concluding episode we will explore opener’s rebids – coming soon the BridgeHands video screen near you!  (and we mean REALLY near you)  [Read more…]