Bidding hints

The ACBL Bulletin holds a wealth of information for duplicate players. This article’s ideas come from a piece by Jerry Helms, a Charlotte teacher, in the November Bulletin.

In this piece he is advocating players to consider aggressive bidding tactics. In this case his Jerry-ism goes like this: “Look for a reason to bid before settling for an excuse to pass.” His theory: you sit in 3rd seat behind 2 passes, holding about 8 points but have a good 6 or 7 card suit. Now is the time to jump into the bidding with a pre-emptive bid. You hope to throw opponents into a bidding problem by disrupting their communication. But when tempted to take this action, take vulnerability into account, all you’ve heard and what you can see in your own hand. Compute the potential harm to your side, and remember the object of this process is for your side to reap the best score which occasionally means going down. A score reaped from setting a contract is usually lower than one gained from making a game or a part score.

Jerry Helms notes that today’s bidding has become more aggressive and if you snooze you lose.

Featured is board # 19

E/W vulnerable South Dealer

NORTH:

S 9 8

H K 8 5 4 3

D A K Q T 8 3

C —

WEST:

S A T 6 5 3

H J 7 6 2

D 9 2

C 6 3

EAST:

S K Q 4 2

H A Q T

D 6

C K Q J T 5

SOUTH:

S J 7

H 9

D J 7 5 4

C A 9 8 7 4 2

We again had 7 tables at our Friday, Nov. 3 Evergreen game. N/S seems to have had the majority of hands with many E/W complaints.

Winners N/S: 1st Judy Gealy and Fern Albracht, 2nd Pat Macon and Becky Creekmore, 3rd Marie Pugh and Ruth Bowles with 1st in strat B Nancy Brandt and Tom Johnson;

E/W: 1st Patty King and BettyBonner Steele, 2nd Joe O’Brien and Genny Mozolak 3rd Jean and Loyd Hill.

Fred Bachl and Wade Lowder had the best N/S score bidding and making 4DN* while best E/W score 4SW+1 was made by Genny Mozolak and Joe O’Brien.

Our Tuesday, Nov. 7 Women’s Club game was overflowing and lively.

Winners N/S: 1st Carol and Harold Winecoff, 2nd Shirley and Ron Jeffers, 3rd Nancy Brandt and Tom Johnson;

E/W: 1st Betty Bills and Judy Hurder, 2nd Judy Gealy and Fern Albracht, 3rd Dick Brisbin and Pat Featherston with 1st B strat Billie and John Nordan.