Albuquerque Bridge Player

Volume 1, Issue 5 Mar 2003

President’s Report continued from page 1

Primarily because we had to book hotel space more than a year in advance we committed to the Sheraton for 2004-2007 right after the 2002 regional. At the time, of course, we didn't know how nice the Pyramid would be. My experience with the Sheraton was excellent and we should be happy to return there. The few rough spots that we had in 2002 with the Sheraton I think can be fixed. I intend to let them know how happy we were with the Pyramid in the hope that they will accept the challenge to improve to the Pyramid standard.

Thanks primarily to Kitty Cooper who found the lecturers; we had a well-attended New Player Lecture series. We expanded the number of talks to include noon sessions as well as evening lectures. Well known professionals who talked included Jeff Meckstroth and Mike Lawrence.

Jill Burtram and her willing volunteers provided excellent partnership arrangements. Thank you all. Jill even felt good enough about it to agree to do it again next year- but she could use some more help.

I feel the major success of Albuquerque tournaments is due to our own membership. Several people commented how much they enjoy our tournaments because the players are friendly and they feel welcome. Thanks to all of you unit members-keep it up. See you next year at the Sheraton Old Town.

Ask AL Continued from Page 1

Under the rules, you are entitled to know what a partnership’s agreement is. You are not entitled to know what they actually have in their hand.

A common example: partner opens one club, and RHO bids 2 clubs, which you find out is supposed to be Michaels. You hold the majors and wind up playing 3NT. But then it turns out that RHO had forgotten their partnership agreement, and actually held clubs. You should be in game in a major.

There is no recourse under the rules—you get your result for 3NT.

Suppose, instead, that your LHO had forgotten their agreement, and clubs was, in fact, a natural bid in their system. Now you have received misinformation about the partnership agreements, and the Director can adjust the board in your favor.

I understand your frustration, but probably for every time you lose when an opponent forgets their partnership agreement, you get two good boards when they forget on other hands. How many good boards do you get when you forget your agreements? Do you give those back?

If a player “forgets” frequently, or otherwise misuses a conventional bid more than once, the Director can tell the player they must either start remembering, take the convention off the card, or alert that the bid may mean “either/or, depending on whether partner has remembered what we play.”

♠

Hand Valuation

By Josh Sher

In my last article I discussed 4 principles of hand evaluation:

1. The importance of shape. A shapely hand has more potential than a balanced hand.

2. Honors in combination are much more valuable than isolated honors. In particular, isolated Q's and J's are not worth their point count.

3. Ace's and Tens are more valuable than their point counts.

4. Honors in Long Suits are more valuable than honors in short suits.

In this article I want to discuss modifications of the usual 4321 point count that helps reflect these 4 principles. Note that this point count is all about how to evaluate your hand before your partner says anything. We will discuss hand evaluation after your partner bids later in the series.

The first modification I want to discuss is the value of Isolated Queens and Jacks. A holding such as Qxx is worth less than 2 points. I recommend subtracting 0.5 points for such a holding. But if you add any card (9 or higher) to these holdings then count them at full value. Thus Jxx is worth only 0.5, but JTx is worth more than 1, J9x is worth 1 and KJx is worth 4. Qxx is worth 1.5 points but Qxxx or longer is worth 2.

Adjustment #1: Subtract 0.5 point for Isolated Q's in 3 card or shorter suits or for any Isolated J's.

The second modification is that short suit honors should be discounted some.

Adjustment #2: Subtract 0.5 for doubleton Q's or J's. Subtract 1 point for all singleton honors.

Basically a holding like Jx or J should be counted as 0 points and Qx as 1 point. If after "counting points" you are still not sure if you should open, then use the presence of these honors as tiebreakers. A holding like AJ should be counted as 4.5 points. 4 for the A, 1 for the J, -0.5 since the J is in a doubleton.

The third adjustment is the value of Tens. Tens are worth around 0.5 points when in 3 card or longer suits with other honors. Thus QTx should be counted as 2.5 points. But QT should merely count as 1.5 points (2 for Q, -0.5 for doubleton, but no adjustment for being isolated since the T is present, and no points for the T since it's a doubleton).

Adjustment #3: Count 0.5 for T's in 3 card or longer suits that also contain a J or higher.

Finally the value of Ace's.

Adjustment #4: Subtract 0.5 for a hand with no Aces. Add 0.5 for each Ace over 1.

Now I want to discuss the importance of shape and of having strength in the long suits. Some people recommend adjustments for shortness; other people recommend adjustments for length (for instance the Bergen count). What I will propose is doing some of each.

Definition: A Decent Suit is a suit with 2.5-5 Points.

Adjustment #5: Add 0.5 point for each card over 4 for a Decent Suit.

Example: QTxxx is a Decent Suit (2.5 points) so we add 0.5 points for the 5'th card to get a total of 3 points.

Definition: A Strong Suit is a suit with 5.5+ points.

Adjustment #6: Add 0.5 points for the 4'th card in a strong suit, and 1 point for each additional card.

Example: KQJxxx is a Strong Suit (6 points) so we add 0.5 for the 4'th card, 1 for the 5'th and 1 for the 6'th to get a total of 8.5 points.

Finally hands with singletons are better than hands without (so for instance 5431 shape is better than 5422 shape).

Adjustment #7: Add 0.5 points for a singleton. Add 1 point for a void.

In general, I recommend opening hands that have a count of at least 12 adjusted points. A partnership that decides to open very aggressively might decide on opening 11.5's or even 11's. A conservative partnership might decide to wait for 12.5's or even 13's. It important to know your partnerships opening bid standards.

Now lets look at two distributional hands:

Qxxxx Kx Jxxxx A

AQxxx xx KJxxx x

I claim that the first hand is not close to an opening bid, but the second is a minimum opening bid.

Lets use the modified point count on both hands:

Qxxxx = 2 for Q with 4+ card suit= 2.0

Kx= 3 for K = 3.0

Jxxxx = 0.5 for J with no side honor = 0.5

A= 4 for ace -1 for singleton honor +0.5 for singleton = 3.5

Total= 9.0

Note that some of you who use the Bergen count might open this hand. Please don't! I assure you that Bergen wouldn't open it.

AQxxx = 4 for A, 2 for Q, 0.5 for 4'th card, 1 for 5'th card = 7.5

xx = 0

KJxxx = 3 for K, 1 for J, 0.5 for 5'th card = 4.5

x = 0.5 for singleton

Total= 12.5

This hand is worth an opening bid!

Another hand:

AKQxxx xxx xxx x

AKQxxx=4 for A, 3 for K, 2 for Q, 0.5 for 4'th card, 1 for 5'th, 1 for 6'th = 11.5

xxx = 0

x =0.5 for the singleton = 0.5

Total=12

This 9 HCP hand is actually worth a minimum opening bid!

KJxx QJ KQx Jxxx

KJxx = 4

QJ= 2 for Q - 0.5 since in doubleton + 1 for J - 0.5 since in doubleton = 2

KQx=5

Jxxx = 0.5

0 aces penalty=-0.5

Total= 11

This hand has 13 HCP but is not worth an opening bid!

xxx xx Axx AKxxx

xxx=0

xx=0

Axx=4

AKxxx=4 for A, 3 for K, 0.5 for 4'th card, 1 for 5'th card=8.5

Total=12.5

Worth an opening bid.

Axx Kx Axx xxxxx

Axx=4

Kx=3.0

Axx=4

xxxxx=0

Total=11.0

Not close to an opening bid.

Axx xx KQJTx KTx

Axx=4

xx=0

KQJTx= 3 for K, 2 for Q, 1 for J, 0.5 for T, 0.5 for 4'th card, 1 for 5'th card=8.0

KTx= 3 for K and 0.5 for T=3.5

Total=15.5

This 13 HCP hand is actually good enough for a 1NT opening if you play 15-17 NTs!