"Ode to Billy Joe" The Law of Total Tricks by Marti Ronemus

In 1967, Bobbie Gentry was on top of the hit parade with her "Ode to Billy Joe," where she lamented the sad, sad story of one of life's losers.

Today, we're going to find a way to NOT be among the Billy Joes by using the Law of Total Tricks. There are huge books written on The Law, but let's summarize. This isn't the whole story by any means, but mastering this much will put you ahead of the pack.

Basically, The Law says that in a competitive auction, when you have a weak hand, raising your partner's suit shows a WEAK hand, and the level you raise to shows the number of trumps in your combined hands.

In other words, with a weak hand, you're bidding the number of TRUMPS rather than the number of POINTS.

(And what do we do if we have a fit with Pard and a NICE hand? Story for another day.)

Huh? Example: Your Pard overcalls 1♥. You know Pard has at least five Hearts. You've only got 5 HCP, but you have four Hearts. You've got nine combined trumps, so you JUMP to 3♥. This shows weakness and four Hearts. You bid one trick for each trump. Let's practice and it will become clearer.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ J 8 3
♥ J 6 5 4 3
♦ K 9 3 2
♣ 6

Q: 1 - South: Should we enter the auction? How many trump do we have between us?

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	2♦
?

A: 2♠: We have a weak hand, but The Law tells us we will be safe raising Pard to the 2-level. We have eight trumps between us, and can bid to the level of trumps in our combined hands. 8 trumps equals 8 tricks, which is the 2-level. Get it?

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ Q 8 4 3
♥ 4
♦ J 9 8 4 3
♣ 7 6 5

Q: 2 - South again.

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	1♠	2♥
?

A: 3♠: We've got a nine card trump fit, which means we bid to the level of nine tricks, the three level. Easy? Yes, but only if you're brave. We ignore the fact we've only got 3 HCP. Remember, the less points WE have, the more THEY have. We are relying on the great trump fit to help us.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ Q 9 4 3
♥ 4
♦ 8 4 3 2
♣ K 8 4 3

Q: 3 - South struggles again.

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	2♠	3♥
?

A: 4♠: You did notice that Pard made a Weak Jump Overcall, didn't you? (If not, "Ode to Billy Joe" is now YOUR song!) Pard's got six Spades and a bad hand. Our jump to 4♠ reflects our combined ten trumps and is fabulously preemptive. The opponents have all the points. We are likely going down, but for a lower score than if they bid and made their game. The Law protects us from such shenanigans.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A J 9 4 3
♥ 5 4 3
♦ K Q 9
♣ A 2

Q: 4 - We are still South, but we are on the other side of the table. Let's proceed with care.

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♣
1♠	Dbl	2♠	3♥
?

A: Pass: A real loser "Billy Joe" bid, but let's think it through. Pard's response to our overcall showed he has a weak hand (raising your Pard's suit in a competitive auction is the weakest thing you can do) with exactly three Spades. He raised us to the level of eight tricks. Although we have a nice hand, we have nowhere to go. If we VIOLATE The Law, we will go down too much.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A 10 9 8 6 2
♥ 7 4
♦ K J 8
♣ 7 5

Q: 5 - One more chance to avoid the fate of Billy Joe. South?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
1♠	2♦	2♠	3♦
?

A: 3♠: We know something Pard doesn't. His bid showed us he's got three Spades. We've got the ninth trump and it's worth another bid. We can raise to the level of nine combined trump, the three level.

So, in a competitive auction, we don't mind going down if we've got the weaker hands. We bid the number of trumps we have rather than points, and The Law of Total Tricks will protect us. BUT!! Not if we play poorly. Time to practice our play.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

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Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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