Suit Contracts — Dummy Reversal
We normally like to ruff in the short side. But sometimes we my take many ruffs in the long side — setting up the short side. This “Dummy Reversal” is an excellent line of play on certain hands and vs certain defenses.
Suit Contracts — Discarding Losers on Dummy’s Strength
Here we look at when dummy has a side suit longer than we do and how we use dummies strength to discard our losers on that suit.
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Discarding Losers on Dummy’s Length
When dealing with the losers in a side suit, if our holding is shorter than dummy’s then we dummy will provide a valuable asset — let’s see how.
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 443.
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Losers with Equal Length in Dummy
In a suit contract how we deal with our side suit losers can vary dramatically. When dummy has the same length in a suit as we do then we can not easily ruff any of our losers in a side suit. Here we look at how we handle losers in these equal length suits.
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 442.
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Losers When Dummy Has Shortness
One useful way to evaluate a side suit is by looking at the relative length of the suit in our hand and the dummy. When dummy (let’s assume that is the short trump side ) has shortness then we can use dummy to help ruff our losers.
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 441.
Support Points
The value of shortness varies based on where it located and the size of our fit. Here we look at how we assign a different number of points to re-evaluate our hand in 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 440.
Ruffing Values
Ruffing can help us reduce our number of losers in a variety of different ways. Here we look at how ruffing can help us improve the play of our 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 439.
Trump Fits
Ruffing can help us reduce our number of losers in a variety of different ways. Here we look at how ruffing can help us improve the play of our 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 438.
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Counting Losers Basics
Counting our losers is a skill that we should develop both in the bidding and the play. Part of understanding good hand evaluation is estimating how the play is going to go while you are bidding the hand -- in a suit contract this means thinking about what we are going to do with our losers. 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 437.
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Raising Partner in Competition
Raising our partner's suit is one of the most common bids we made. In a competitive auction our approach to this bidding changes, it is important to have good agreements in these auctions.
You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics
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Dealing with the Opponent’s Overcalls
When partner opens and the opponents make an overcall we need good ways to compete in the bidding. One of the most important conventions for Responder is the negative double. This tool is invaluable for searching for major suit fits when the opponents make an overcall.
You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics
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Takeout Doubles
Another one of the most valuable tools for competing in the bidding is the takeout double. Let's see how to use it in so many different hand types.
You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics
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Jump Overcalls
Jump Overcalls are a valuable tool for attacking the opponents and preempting them out of their bidding space. Let's look at how to use them to make the opponents auction more difficult.
You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics
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Is it Forcing? by Responder
When partner opens the bidding and RHO competes the Responder often wants to compete further in the bidding. Responder has a set of tools for competing — one of the most important agreements to have “Is Responder’s Bid Forcing?” 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 428.
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Simple Overcalls
One of the most important tools for competing in the bidding is the simple overcall. Here we look at how to use to get into the auction when the opponents open the bidding.
You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics
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Is it Forcing? by Advancer
When LHO opens the bidding and partner competes in the bidding the auctions can get very complicated. As the Advancer we often have many difficult decision about how to compete in the bidding. Here we look at these options and make sure that we have good agreements about which bids are forcing! 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 428.
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Responding to Preempts
When partner opens the bidding with a preempt we need to know our options for how to bid our hand. Let's look at how we get more information from them and how we extend the preempt.
You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics
Law of Total Tricks
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 430.
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Preempts Openings
When we have a long suit and not a lot of values, then most of our playing strength is offensive and only if our long suit is trump. This is exactly what a preemptive opening bid shows. Here we look at all of the factors we need to consider in order to make good decisions about whether or not to preempt.
You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics
Cuebidding Opponent’s Suit
When the opponent’s bid a suit they give us the opportunity to bid their suit as a special communication tool with partner. This is called cuebidding the opponent’s suit. Here we look at the meaning of these cuebids early in the auction.
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 431.
