Learning Curve
GS Jade Barrett
To raise, or not to raise; that is the question.
So your partner elected to open 1H and here you sit with an ugly hand that contains just values to take an action. The last time you made a simple raise partner leapt to a non-making game down two (the fact that you supported 1S to 2S on three small and a five count might have had something to do with the unsuccessful nature of the contract); the time before that, you passed 1S holding three spades and an outside king and partner made five (well, that time you also had a small doubleton that turned out to be useful). You are now certain that this particular partner will shake every time they open a major.
Well done. (After playing with me for half a session for my wife decided that we were going to be bidding a lot of thin games for the rest of our lives. She suggested that I needed to improve my declarer play substantially if we were to have any success at all).
One of the first things I say to a new partner is that I only freely raise when I will not be sick if they bid again. By that I mean that I will not raise just because I have a fit and a smattering of values, but when I have "support points". I count support points only when I have a fit for partner and I count them this way:
- 1 point for every trump over three (four trumps = 1, five = 2),
- 1 for a doubleton, 2 for a singleton and 3 for a void,
- -1 for a hand that is 4 - 3 - 3 - 3,
- -1 for a hand that has no A or K.
This evaluation allows you to make a distinction between a good raise (8-10), a bad raise (5-7), and no raise (0-4). Here are a few examples:
1) QT3 JT52 A54 972 Partner opens 1H: 7 HCP + 1 - 1 = 7 a minimum raise (notice that if partner opened 1S your hand decreases
by 1 due to the lack of a fourth trump).
2) T7532 8 KJ54 753 Partner's 1S opener now makes your hand worth 8 SP
(4HCP + 2 + 2), a good simple raise.
3) 8753 T4 Q32 JT73 Even after Partner opens 1S, this hand only marginally improves: 3 + 1 + 1 = 5. This is a bad raise if you are not vulnerable and no raise if you are.
4) K2 A43 6432 8764 You have 8 SP (7 + 1), a good raise.
5) J543 975 6432 74 Even if Partner opens 1S, this hand only counts to 3
(1 + 1 + 1), allowing you to pass comfortably raise.
The importance for determining which raise you have arises when partner makes a
game try, it helps prepare you for your next decision. For those of you who play 1N
Forcing responses to 1 of a major, you have the additional benefit of bidding 1N with
a bad raise, and leave all your simple raises for the good raise.
Now if we can only do something about your overbidding partner…