Hand Evaluation Set 1 - 329

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Hand Evaluation: Before the Auction Begins (Set 1 of 8)

Evaluating our hand is a bit of an art form. There are many things to take into consideration. Before we the auction begins, we only have the information about the board (position and vulnerability) as well as our cards to help us make a decision. We begin with HCP and then make adjustments to our values for location of honors and distribution. Here we look at our considerations and how to calculate our values.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 329.

HE Landing Set 2 - 330

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Hand Evaluation: Counting Points - After Partner Bids
(set 2 of 8)

Before the auction begins, we evaluate our hand with HCP and adjustments (length point upgrades and short honor downgrades). After this, when we hear partner bid, we need to make use of this information to re-evaluate our hand. We upgrade for "fits and fitting honors" and downgrade for "misfits". Let's take a look at some examples of how this can affect our subsequent bidding.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 330.

HE Landing Set 3 - 331

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Hand Evaluation: Counting Points - When the Opponent’s Bid
(set 3 of 8)

When the opponents bid, we have extremely valuable additional information that we can use to help us re-evaluating our hand. Location of our honors and types of holdings we have (tenaces in good or bad locations) dramatically affect the playing strength of our hand. Let's look at how we incorporate that information into our bidding.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 331.

HE Landing Set 4 - 332

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Hand Evaluation: Evaluation and Re-Evaluate (set 4 of 8)

Hand Evaluation is something we do all throughout the auction. We start evaluating and keep re-evaluating as we get more information from both partner and the opponents. This means that the value we assign to our hand (number of points) constantly changes during the auction. Let's make sure that we fluidly evaluate our hand and actively make use of the information that becomes available to us.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 332.

HE Landing Set 5 - 333

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Hand Evaluation: Law of Total Tricks (set 5 of 8)

When we have a large fit, one of our most valuable tools for determining how much to bid is the Law of Total Tricks. The simple version of this bidding guideline is to bid to the size of our fit. This is particularly valuable in helping us know how much to bid in competitive auctions. Get some practice in using this tool to help you evaluate the playing strength of your hand.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 333.

HE Landing Set 6 - 334

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Hand Evaluation: Double Fits and Misfits (set 6 of 8)

When we discover that we have two large fits (at least 8 cards in both suits) then we can often take a lot of tricks without too many HCP. Similarly, when we discover that the hand is a misfit (we are short in partner's long suit and partner is short in our long suit), then it may be difficult to take tricks. Let's take a look at some of these hands and see how we upgrade and downgrade respectively in these different situations.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 334.

HE Landing Set 7 - 335

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Hand Evaluation: Fitting Honors and Wasted Values (set 7 of 8)

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When it comes to evaluating our hand, the location of our honors is often more important than how many points we hold. Honors that fit together with partner's long suits are extremely valuable, while honors that are opposite partner's shortness are often wasted. Let's take a look at how we re-evaluate the quality of our honor holdings, upgrading for fitting cards and downgrading for wasted values.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 335.

Hand Evaluation Set 8 - 336

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Hand Evaluation: Losers and Covers (Set 8 of 8)

Losing Trick Count is powerful hand evaluation tool when used properly. The concept is that once we know that we are going to play in a suit contract (for example, find a Major suit fit), then we know that we will count losers (not winners) in the play. But before we get to the auction, we can count our losers and by approximating how many useful cards partner may provide (how many “cover cards”) and determine what contract we can likely make. Let’s take a look at some examples and see how this works.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 336.

Overcalls Set 1 - 320

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

1-Level Simple Overcalls (Set 1 of 8)

A simple overcall at the 1-level is one of our most common competitive bidding tools, but that does not make it an easy one to use. It can often create confusion for partner (as well as the opponents). Let's take a look at some hands and see if we can use good judgment about when to make a simple overcall at the 1-level.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 320.

Overcalls Set 2 - 321

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

2-Level Simple Overcalls (Set 2 of 8)

A simple overcall at the 2-level shows a substantially better hand than one we might bid with at the 1-level. When we come into the bidding at this level we need both a good suit and a good hand. Let's work on our judgment in these situations.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 321.

Overcalls Set 3 - 322

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

2-Level Jump Overcalls (Set 3 of 8)

When our right hand opponent opens the bidding and we have a long suit, we often want to make destruction actions instead of constructive ones. Jumping to the 2-level in our long suit can be a good way to disrupt the opponents. Let's work on our judgment about when to do this and when to try other tactics.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 322.

Overcalls Set 4 - 323

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

2-Suited Overcalls (Set 4 of 8)

Competing in the bidding with a 2-suited hand is something of an art form. We need to show partner our suits as well as try to communicate our values. Let's take a look at ways of accomplishing this.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free on the Adventures in Bridge website at TWiB Signup. This set accompanies TWiB 323.

Overcalls Set 5 - 324

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Overcalls in the Sandwich Seat (Set 5 of 8)

When LHO opens the bidding, partner passes, and RHO responds we are in the sandwich seat. There are many options for how to describe our hand. Let's look at some examples and make sure we know how to make use of all the options.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 324.

Overcalls Set 6 - 325

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Overcalls in the Balancing Seat (Set 6 of 8)

When LHO opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, then we are in the balancing seat.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 325.

Overcalls Set 7 - 326

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Notrump Overcalls (Set 7 of 8)

When we have a good hand and the opponents open a suit where we hold both length and strength, we consider playing in notrump. Here we look at hands where we may want to overcall 1NT and consider our other options as well.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 326.

Overcalls Set 8 - 327

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

High-Level Jump Overcalls (Set 8 of 8)

When the opponents open the bidding and we have an extremely long suit we want to get into the auction. We strive to describe our hand, but also take away valuable bidding space from the opponents. Let's see if you can do both on these hands.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 327.

Responding to 1NT Set 1 - 312

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Responding to 1NT with Weak Hands (Set 1 of 8)

When partner opens the bidding with 1NT and we have a weak hand (fewer than 8 points), we are generally not interested in game. We turn our focus to finding the best partscore contract for our side. A balanced 15-17 point hand does not usually have much success in 1NT when the dummy is extremely weak. We need to search for a better place to play. Let's see how to use our bidding tools to survive these auctions.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) email lessons for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 312

Responding to 1NT Set 2 - 313

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Responding to 1NT with Invitational Hands (Set 2 of 8)

Responding to 1NT with a hand that has invitational values can be a challenge. We must search for a fit and invite game. We must also strive to keep the auction low, in case partner has a minimum hand and we need to stop in a partscore. If that does happen, we have to then figure out which partscore is most likely to make. That is a lot to accomplish in one or two bids. Let’s practice and improve our tools and judgement.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 313.

Responding to 1NT Set 3 - 314

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Responding to 1NT with Game Forcing Hands (Set 3 of 8)

Responding to a 1NT opening bid when we have enough values to drive the auction to game means that we have more space to communicate with partner. Specifically, it means that we have all the space between 1NT and 3NT to search for a fit and determine if 3NT is the best contract. Let's make sure we know how to use our bidding tools to have good communication with partner.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 314.

Responding to 1NT Set 4 - 315

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Responding to 1NT with Slam Invitational+ Hands (Set 4 of 8)

Responding to a 1NT opening bid with an excellent hand seems like it should be simple, but that often turns out not to be the case. With a hand that is good enough to be interested in slam opposite partner's 1NT opening, we have to search for a fit, let partner know about the fit, and express slam interest, all while keeping the auction at a relatively low level. Let's take a look at how we balance all these considerations.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 315.