Re-evaluate Your Hand #07-50

IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

Many players count their high card points at the beginning of the hand and stay with that number throughout the auction. In reality, each bid made at the table will usually affect that number. Often your hand gets better but sometimes you realize your values are poorly placed. Take a look at this example.

Scoring: Matchpoints (pairs)

Hand #50
Dlr	N
Vul	E/W

	AJ32
	AJ95
	AJ6
	KJ

	984
	742
	532
	9865

	KQ1065
	8
	98
	A10732

	7
	KQ1063
	KQ1074
	Q4

West	North	East	South
	1	1	2
Pass	2	Pass	4
Pass	6	All Pass

BIDDING: North held a great hand that became much better when his partner bid hearts. North's cue bid of the opponent's suit showed a big hand. He either held 1) a strong hand with diamonds, 2) great heart support, or 3) was looking for a stopper from South for 3NT. South realized his diamond support for his partner's first bid suit made this a great hand. His jump to the four-level was all North needed to hear. There was a slight risk of a club lead through dummy but he expected a spade lead.

PLAY: West did indeed lead his partner's spade suit. Declarer quickly drew trumps and claimed twelve tricks. His only loser was to the ace of clubs. Most partnerships missed this laydown slam because South said "But I only held twelve points".

Remember: The 4-3-2-1 point count system is just an estimate of the strength of your hand. It is so important to continue to re-evaluate your hand during the auction.

Copyright ©2007 Larry Matheny.