Before we begin the
auction, let's look at the
shapes of the hands around
the table. Which two hands
are balanced, and which
two are not balanced?

Let's look at Sharon's
hand, because South is the
dealer and she will have
the first chance to open the
bidding. What do you
think, Sharon?

I think I should open the
bidding with one club,
because I have five of them.
I have 16 points, so I have
more than enough points
to open the bidding.

Ideally, when you open the
bidding with one notrump,
you have "stoppers" in all
the suits. A "stopper" means
that you can stop them from
running" a suit. For example,
suppose the four players
pick up a different hand than
our hand-study hand, and this
is the spade suit around
the table:

North and South do not have
the spade suit "stopped."
East-West can play all the
spades and North-South can
never "stop" them from
winning tricks in the suit,
because North-South:

(1) can't trump anything (the contract is notrump); and

(2) North-South don't have
a high-card in the suit to
take a trick in it.

Here we've changed the
cards around. Can
East-West run the
suit this time?

No they
cannot,
dear. After
West plays
the ace
and then
the king
and then
the queen,
South's jack
will be
set up!

Right!

Returning to Sharon's
hand, do you think South
has all the suits stopped?

She sure does. Those aces
will stop the defenders from
running a suit, and if
J 10 9 x stopped the suit in
the hand you just showed
us, then five cards to the
J 10 9 will work even better.

Correct, Norm! Let's see
what other holdings will
stop a suit. Professor, can
you bring out the "stopper
chart," please?

Why yes, Bridget. Here's
my stopper chart. Remember,
since you are playing in
notrump, you have at least
two cards in every
suit. And "x" represents
any small card.

To open the bidding 1NT,
experienced bridge players
are satisfied with having
three out of four of the suits "stopped." So let's add a
line to your notrump chart,
if you don't mind Professor:

Very good!

South has all the suits
stopped, plus a balanced
hand, plus the right point
count, so she is going to
open the bidding 1NT.

After somebody opens the
bidding 1NT, you can still
make an overcall. But the
1NT bid is stronger than
usual, so your overcall
should be a little stronger,
too, in distribution. I
suggest that you hold at
least a 6-card suit to make
an overcall, or two five-card
suits. Wilma, what do
you think?

I would say pass. I don't
have ten points, I don't
have a six-card suit, I have
only one five-card suit, and
anyway, I'm afraid to bid
with a suit headed by a jack.

Spot cards are the higher
cards that don't count in
the point-count system.
Let me show you what I
mean. Compare these
two heart suits:

#1   A J 9 8 4

#2   A J 4 3 2

Both suits are headed by the ace and jack,
but Heart Suit #1 is much prettier than Heart
Suit #2, and it will often produce more
tricks than Heart Suit #2! We'll get into this
idea in a more advanced course, but even
at the beginning of your bridge career
you should be able to recognize "chunky"
suits versus "anemic" suits, and the key
ingredient is the spot cards (or "spots").
Tens, nines, eights and sevens are the key
cards to look for. So, Wilma, your heart suit:

J 10 9 7 2

isn't that bad, especially if you compare it to:

J 7 4 3 2

Nevertheless, although West has nice spots
in her heart suit, she doesn't have enough
highcards for an overcall, so she passes.

Now it's
North's turn?
Any ideas,
Norm?

Well, I don't
have very
many spot
cards.

That's true,
and I'm
glad to see
you are
internalizing
my lessons
so thoroughly,
Norm! Any
other thoughts
about the
hand?

 

Well, you said we need 26 points to bid game. I have 7. Even if Sharon has the maximum, 18, we're short a point. And who says she has a maximum? There's only one chance out of three that she has 18, since she could have 16 or 17. I think I should pass.

Wow, Norm. Your analysis
takes my breath away! Pass
is the right call, and now
it's up to East. Earl?

I have a six-card suit! Let's
count my points. The king of
spades is 3, and the jack is
another point, for 4, and the
queen of diamonds is two
more for 6, and the jack of
diamonds makes 7, and
the queen of clubs makes 9.
Miss O'Day, I'm just one
point shy. Can't I bid?

The winning players in this
game are "disciplined"
bidders. That means you
don't fudge a point here or
there except in rare cases.
Again, it's a matter of hand
evaluation. Let's change
your hand a bit, Earl....

You're still a point shy, but this hand is
much better than your actual hand. The
diamonds are chunky, you have quick tricks
in the spade suit, and you have a singleton -
all excellent "offensive" qualities ("offensive"
means you want to declare rather than
defend). If you wanted to stretch things a little
and bid 2 with this example hand, nobody
would fault you.

Meanwhile, in our hand study, the
right call is pass.

There have been three passes, so the
auction is now finished. Next time we'll look
at the play-of-the-hand, but first let's
see how you do with this bidding quiz.