Tricky Bidding by the Experts

Some Interesting Examples of Deductive Bids, High Strategy and the Bluff Double

R. J. LEIBENDERFER

THE, thrills in auction usually result from outgeneraling the adversaries by some clever or inspired hid. The bidding is undoubtedly the chief feature to arouse the excitement and enthusiasm of the players. To match one's wits against others, in the bidding, and either to do miracles or go down to defeat, is extremely stimulating.

A well played hand requires just as much thought and ability as clever bidding, but it will never receive the applause from the gallery which it readily grants to clever and inspired bidding. The "stunts" or tricky bids that are successfully put over, are what give life to the game and make it so entertaining.

Common sense and keen imagination are the standbys of successful auction bidding. Active thinking and quick perception are necessary essentials of a winning game. When you discover how to incorporate, in your bidding, some or all of the elements of strategy which are successful at the poker table, your success as an expert bidder will be marked. No man is entitled to be called an expert unless he has the capacity to understand human nature and the ability to read and analyze his fellow players' characteristics.

The following examples of clever and tricky bidding are of daily occurrence when the experts get together. So study them over carefully and then, if you get a chance to try one of these "stunts", don't forget to take advantage of it. You may sometimes get the worst of it but the thrill of trying, even if you fail, will more than offset your failure.

No score, rubber game. Z dealt and bid one no trump. Most players with A's hand would pass and defeat Z's no trump bid by one trick. A, however, was a brilliant player, one who was always on the lookout for deceptive coups. This hand offered a wonderful opportunity for the shift bid and A was quick to take advantage of it. The shift bid consists in bidding a suit in which you have little or nothing, with the object of later bidding another perfectly sound suit. Remember that, as an opening bid, the shift is a spectacular but usually unsound bid. In this hand, A has a perfect example of the shift bid of two hearts, to entice Y Z to go on with their no trump. But Y, with a double stopper in hearts, bid two no trump. B and Z passed and A doubled. The contract was defeated by two tricks so that A's shift bid made a clear gain of i5o points over the usual procedure with a hand of the type held by A.

And the best part of A's bid of two hearts was that it was a perfectly sound bid. This may seem illogical but A had an escape, if the two heart bid had been doubled. A would then have bid two no-trump with the assurance that Y would open either spades or diamonds and thus give him a nearly certain chance of making his bid. Always measure a shift bid by the soundness of its escape. The successful shift bid is generally one where the hand is of the border-line variety, so that there is a strong probability that the opponents will be keen, either to continue with their bid—-as in this example—or to double the shift bid. Thus the necessity for a sound escape.

PROBABLY greatest satisfaction comes to the player who makes a very keen deductive or inspired bid. The chance for such a bid usually arises toward the end of the bidding, where deductions from the previous bids indicate that a previously undeclared suit, that is very weak in the declarer's hand, will probably fit his partner's hand best of all. Based on an intuitive card sense of the highest order and a strong imagination, the inspired bid reaches the heights of auction greatness. The player who can deduce the lay of the cards, while the bidding is still in progress, and makes use of such deductions to make a brilliant coup, is the true auction expert.

Even after the inspired bid is made, the inspired bidder has still many difficulties to overcome. The combined hands must be played with great skill for inspired bids often produce difficulties of play that are far greater than the commonplace hand. The situation is delicate and intricate, without a trump to spare in either hand. Sometimes the only way to win out is to trap your opponents into a bad play. For this reason, the inspired bid can only be successfully employed by those who are adepts in the play of the cards. The following hand is an excellent example of the inspired bid.

No score, rubber game. Z dealt and bid two no trump. A and Y passed and B bid three clubs. Z now bid three diamonds. A and Y passed and B had his opportunity. He figured that Z's bid of two no trump probably was based on a set up diamond suit and short hearts or spades. B figured that Z's short suit was probably spades rather than hearts, of which he had none. For these reasons, B bid three spades with the firm intention of bidding four clubs if Y or Z should double. It took nerve and inspiration of the highest order to bid three spades on four to the king, jack after an original bid of two no trump, but B was a true expert. Z bid four diamonds, A bid four spades, Y bid five diamonds and B, still inspired and still with nerve, bid five spades. Z doubled and all passed. In the play of the hand. A, B just made five odd doubled, so that B's inspired bid was amply rewarded.

THE defense to these tricky bids is just as interesting and difficult as the bids themselves. For example, if you have reason to suspect, from the character of your cards, that an opponent's declaration is a shift bid, your best defense is to pass and hope that your partner will do the same. The inspired bid can be easily upset by the "bluff double" of an alert and clever adversary. Such a bid depends so much on deduction and imagination that a bluff double will tend to make the inspired bidder suspect that his conclusions are faulty and so drive him back to a bid less dangerous to his adversaries. That the bluff double is the best defense to the inspired bid is shown by the following example:

Score, Y Z 20, A B-o, Rubber game. Z dealt and bid two clubs, probably to the score. A bid two spades, Y bid three clubs and B and Z passed. A now had the opportunity to make the inspired bid of three hearts, a very clever deductive bid. Y, who was a real expert, realized that he and his partner would have a much better chance to defeat a three spade bid than three hearts, so doubled three hearts in the hope that the bluff double would drive either A or B to a three spade bid which Y was sure could be defeated. B and Z passed and, sure enough, A, with only four hearts to the king, jack, lost his nerve and bid three spades. This bid Y doubled and defeated by three tricks. This result was accomplished by opening the king of diamonds and then leading the ace and a low heart which Z trumped. Y obtained the lead again with the queen of diamonds and gave Z another ruff.

It was a pretty hand for Y Z but a disaster for A B. At hearts A B could have just made three odd. a perfect example of the inspired bid, but for Y's clever bluff double.