"Trick or Treat" Hand Evaluation by Marti Ronemus

Tomorrow is Halloween, one of my favorite holidays! Candy, costumes, excitement--did I mention candy?

For us bridge players though, every day is tricks or treats, depending on how closely we pay attention to what is in front of us. Today, we're going to look at hands, deciding on their value. Our focus is going to be on "texture." Texture is the quality that makes one hand better or worse than one with the same number of points.

When we are valuing a hand, we look for honors focused in long suits rather than in short ones. We look for shape... the more, the better. We look for intermediates... a hand chock-full of "honorettes" is much better than one with wee cards.

THERE WILL BE NO BIDDING TODAY!!

We are going to look at hands and decide if they are better or worse than the sum of their points. In other words, should we consider upgrading or downgrading the hand. This is a little different than what we usually do. Remember, "tricks and treats".

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A K 10 9 2
♥ 3
♦ 5 4 2
♣ A K 10 9

Q: 1 - Is this hand better or worse than the sum of its points? Why or why not?

A: Better. We LOVE this hand! The honors are clustered in the long suits. We have a five-card Spade suit, God's own suit, and can devour the entire bidding level with our suit. We have a fabulous second suit, and lots of shape. And just to fill up our candy bag, we have a singleton. It doesn't get any better than this.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

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

Q: 2 - Is this hand worth more or less than the sum of its points? Why? Why not?

A: Worse: Compare this to the last hand. They both have 14 high card points, but what a difference. This hand is flat, flat, flat. No honorettes. No ruffing values. No chocolate.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

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

Q: 3 - Is this hand worth more or less than the sum of its points? Why? Why not?

A: Worse: We might not even open this hand. I like to open all 12 point hands, but this is the exception... flat and ace-less. Like Jerry Helms always says, "Look for reasons to bid, not excuses to pass." I'm looking, I'm looking, but I don't see anything exciting about this hand. As responder? I'm all over it!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

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

Q: 4 - Is this hand worth more or less than the sum of its points? Why? Why not?

A: Better: Like last hand, we hold 12 points, but we LOVE this hand! Two majors, honors crammed into our long suits. Shape, shape, shape! There are almonds in the chocolate with this one!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - Is this hand worth more or less than the sum of its points? Why? Why not?

A: Worse: What a hot mess this is. We've got a five-card Spade suit, true enough, but the singleton king... there's a worm in the apple. If it turns out that Pard bids Hearts at some time in the auction, we'll reevaluate, but for now, this hand is a trick, not a treat.

Ready to play our hand?

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.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

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