3. Basic Building Blocks Roadmap
While learning bridge is hard, teaching beginner bridge is even harder. In the Beginner Course, we sometimes glossed over or skipped a critical concept or technique because teaching it in the beginner lesson would introduce too much complexity. Now that you have completed the Beginner Course, before you jump into the deep end of the pool to learn and use all those fancy conventions, it is time to revisit some of the things we might have skipped which are critical for you to learn and use to shore up your foundation and become a batter bridge player.
Each mini-lesson video is about 10-15 minutes long and addresses a topic that it is critical that you understand and use. If you enjoy a lesson, click on:
3.01 Getting the Best Score. The goal of bridge, like all games, is to get the best score possible on every hand. Bridge is especially challenging because of different trick values (minor, majors, and NT), different number of tricks needed to be awarded a game bonus, and different game and slam bonuses based on vulnerability. In addition, many times you can make a sacrifice bid and not make the contract and achieve a better score because the opponents could have made a contract that awarded more points. This is a mini-lesson you may want to watch 3 or 4 times. Understanding these scoring aspects will make understanding the logic behind the structure of the bidding system much easier.
3.02 Difference Among Seats. Bridge is a brain game! How well you do is based on how well you use the information that is available to you. The Dealer, who gets to bid 1st, can only see his/her hand and has no other available information. The 2nd seat has the information available based on what the person in the 1st seat bid or did not bid, which is a lot. Understanding what information is available and maximizing its use is a critical aspect of the game
3.03 Types of Points. This is a quick review of how we count three different types of points: (1) high card points, (2) length points, and (3) distribution points. If we don’t have a solid foundation, our building system will crack and crumble.
3.04 Unguarded Honors. Is a singleton K worth as much as Kx or Kxx? Nope! Why? That darn Ace might eat it. Subtracting points for unguarded honors is critical for you to establish the correct strength of your hand so that you do not overvalue your hand.
3.05 Continuous Hand Revaluation. Every time you, your partner, or an opponent make a bid, new information is divulged. It is critical that use this information to revalue your hand! Revaluing your hand after every bid is not hard, it just takes discipline. It is easier if you develop good habits!
3.06 Quick Tricks. The number of Quick Tricks is a good measure of your hand’s immediate trick-taking strength. The metric is very useful as part of your partnership agreement in defining the minimum strength for different types of bids.
3.07 Declarer Play - Sure Tricks. Some say count winners; some say count losers. Neither is correct!. Counting sure tricks gives you the best information to determine the number of tricks you need to develop regardless of the contract type and to evaluate the alternatives of how to get them.
3.08. A-K-Q Method - Counting Losing Tricks. Counting points is one way to quantify the strength of a hand. Another way that is especially useful in shaped-based hands is Losing Trick Count (LTC). This mini-lesson teaches how to count losers using the A-K-Q method. Easy-peasy!
3.09 Rule of 22. The Rule of 22 is an enhanced method for determining whether you should open one of a suit. It combines the use of adjusted high card points, the length of your two longest suits, and quick tricks to keep you from opening crappy hands and allows you to open shapely hands that have fewer points. It not only helps in bidding but also on defense because it establishes a minimum trick-taking strength threshold.
3.10 Rule of 15. The Rule of 15 is used in 4th and 3rd by some (me), to determine whether you should open based on points and the number of S’s, the master suit you, that you have. You do not want the open in the 3rd or 4th seat if you do not have a favorable chance of controlling the auction. The Rule of 15 does this job for you!
3.11 All Singletons and Voids Are Not Equal. When you watch this video, you will say “Duh, this is obvious!” However, most of us have overlooked it. If we have a singleton and a 3+ fit in trump, we just blindly count as 3. If your partner rebids the suit and you have 2, do you revalue your hand to now add one because of your increased ability to get ruffing tricks in your singleton suit?
3.12 Mind Games to Use on Opponents. While the rules of bridge disallow overt actions (e.g., grimacing, artificial delays, destructive bidding systems), there is nothing that says that you cannot use deceptive tactics to obstruct, mislead or lie to your opponents. I thoroughly enjoy this dimension of the game! Some advice: listen to and trust your partner and not those evil opponents!
3.13 2-3-4 Losing Trick Count (LTC) System. Losing tricks is another way of quantifying the strength of a hand based on the shape of the hand and the trick-taking cards in the hand. What makes the 2-3-4 system special is that it allows you to determine the level you can safely bid or force your Partner to bid based on vulnerability. The 2-3-4 System may be the most important thing I have learned in bridge; I use this on every hand!
3.14 Anatomy of a Convention. There are many different conventions used in bridge bidding. Understanding the basic structure of the different types of conventions makes them easier to learn and recognize when they are used.
3.15 Is That X Penalty or Takeout. What is the history of the X and XX. Knowing how it evolved makes understanding their different uses a little easier. We define a couple of easy-to-remember rules for you to use.