Slam Bidding "Lady with the Hats" by Marti Ronemus

Most Americans don't know that much about Queen Elizabeth, and since this month marks her Sapphire Jubilee (65 years) on the throne, we thought it is time to correct that with a couple little factlets.

The Queen is the only living head of state to actually have served in World War II. She was a truck driver and mechanic, and worked hard at that job. She didn't use it just as a photo op.

She paid for her wedding dress with ration coupons! It must have taken a lot of coupons, because it was a show-stopper.

Her favorite drink is gin (me too, girlfriend!), and before we think of her as out-of-date, she can be found on both Facebook and Twitter.

And speaking of royalty, let's turn our attention to the royalty of bridge hands, some slam bidding. This is not the easiest subject. We try to use point count to help, with 33 pts being the mark for a small slam, and 37 for a grand. BUT!! Bridge is a game of TRICKS, not points, and we have to be careful to remember that.

And if this is a subject that fascinates, be sure to subscribe to our Vu-Bridge Slam Hands. LOTS of help!

Question 1

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

Q: 1 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	p
1♠	p	3♥	p
?

A: 4 No-trump: We're going to use Blackwood to ask for Aces. Pard has shown 16-18 pts and we've got 16 not counting distribution, so we are there. Plus with Pard bidding Hearts twice, our ♥Q becomes a very pretty card. Now... down the road, this is NOT how we would bid this. More advanced players don't use Blackwood if they don't have first- or second-round control of all four suits in their hot little hands. Rather, they bid controls. BUT!! Less experienced players use what we have.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A J 5 3 2
♥ Q 2
♦ A 7 4 3
♣ K J

Q: 2 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♥	p
1♠	p	3♥	p
?

A: 4♥: We are only one point less with this hand, BUT!! The hand has lost its texture. We have lost our honorettes and the hand just doesn't have the appeal the last one did. If you still want to go for slam, give yourself credit anyway, although we're not too sure it will get us invited to the castle.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A J 9 6
♥ Q 10 9 3 2
♦ A 10 9 8
♣

Q: 3 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	3♣	3♠	5♣
?

A: 6♠: Pre-empts are the most low-down dirty bids in bridge. They do their job. Our choices are now so limited, and this is one of those times when we consider the score and vulnerability. The opponents are not vul, which means doubling them won't begin to make the score a vulnerable slam for us would make. Should we only bid 5♠? Let's consider East's bid... He is very weak also, but is holding lots of Clubs. We can't be cowards here. Only losers would focus on the possibility of two losing Hearts off the top. Pre-empts put us in a bad spot, but we are members of the Clint Eastwood School of Bidding.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ K 3 2
♥ A J 10 8 7
♦ 2
♣ A K Q 10

Q: 4 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	3♠	p
?

A: 4 No-trump: Bridge is a game of tricks. We repeat! Bridge is a game of tricks. If Pard is playing a "disciplined" pre-empt, we've got probably seven Spade tricks, and we can count to 11 total tricks, with the 12th to come from (maybe!) the ♣10 or ruffing a Diamond. We can't let this one go.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

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

Q: 5 - South:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1♦	p
1♠	p	2♥	p
?

A: 6 No-trump: This answer will vary depending on agreements. If we play "Fourth Suit Forcing," we will bid 3♣. If not, we're going to Do the Math. Pard reversed (you did catch that, didn't you?) which marks him with 17 plus points. We've got 17. That's slam. It's impossible mathematically for us to be off two aces, so why waste Blackwood? We could just go right to slam.

And now... let's play a slam 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

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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

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