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 4th Seat Openers--Mystery No Longer by Marti Ronemus

Today we tackle fourth hand openers and it involves one of those "Rules." This is (ready?) "The Rule of 15." Now, none of us is going to live long enough to learn all those "rules," and frankly, there isn't enough room left in my memory banks for more. BUT!! Once you understand the concept behind it, you'll not have to struggle...it will just make sense.

When you are in fourth seat, with three Passes in front of you, you have control of the forward action. Since three people have passed, it only stands to reason that the points are fairly even around the table (unless you've got a monster...story for another day). So, if you bid, it will be like the Little Dutch Boy in the story who pulled his thumb out of the hole in the dike and the flood began. Once you bid, everyone will be in the action.

So, under what conditions should you pull out the cork? There are two factors that "rule" your choice: #1: Do you have enough points and/or shape for a rebid? #2: Do you have control of the Spades, God's own suit?

With enough points for a rebid, you can still control the auction. With enough Spades, they have to crawl to the two-level to get involved. And remember, they already passed.

So--with that preparation, here's "The Rule of 15"... Add your High Card Points to the number of Spades you hold. If the total is 15-plus, open. Otherwise PASS PASS PASS PASS. Do you see how this rule of thumb supports the concept of "enough points for a rebid, or control of the Spades?" Easy, peasy. Let's practice!

Question 1

  Your Hand
 A Q J 7 5
 K 8 3
 9 7 5
 4 2
 
Q: 1 - With three passes, it's up to you...
SouthWestNorthEast
-passpasspass
?


 Your choice:
A: 1: 10 HCP plus 5 for the Spades, and we've got 15. Classic "Rule of 15" opener. You control the Spades. If the opponents want in the auction, they have to enter at the two-level. They already passed. If They DO get the auction, Pard sure knows what to lead, no?

Your result so far:
Open Question

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Question 2

  Your Hand
 A 10 9
 K J 3
 9 8 7 2
 Q 9 8
 
Q: 2 - It's all up to you, kiddo. Three passes to South...
SouthWestNorthEast
-passpasspass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass: You have the same 10 HCP that you had last hand, but only three spades for a total of 13. Do not be tempted. Pass! If you open the bidding They will also be bidding, and will likely end up with a small positive partscore. Which is better--a "zero" score, or a minus score?

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
 7 4
 10 8
 A 7 5 4
 A K 10 7 5
 
Q: 3 - Decisions, decisions. As South?
SouthWestNorthEast
-passpasspass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass: 11 HCP plus 2 Spades = 13. I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is to pass this hand. Interestingly, you would open this in first, second or third seats, but NOT fourth. Why? You have no rebid (you may NOT rebid an unsupported five-card suit... do you hear me?) and no control of the Spades. Once again, you will lose the auction, and end up with a minus score. We HATE that!

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
 A K Q 8
 7 3
 9 7 5
 J 8 4 2
 
Q: 4 - Be careful on this one! As South?
SouthWestNorthEast
-passpasspass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass: Were you tempted? Who wouldn't be! But 14 is not 15, and I'm tellin' you, this is not a law you can violate with impunity. Trust me. You have no rebid, and a Take-Out Double by either opponent will finish you off. They will get the auction and you know what that means-- You'll have traded a lovely zero for a minus.

Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
 A K 6
 K J 3 2
 7 6 5
 A 5 3
 
Q: 5 - One last time... As South?
SouthWestNorthEast
-passpasspass
?


 Your choice:
A: 1 No-trump: This was simple. You've got the points. Anyone else wanting to join the action has to enter at the two level.

And now 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.

Overall Results

Your results:   out of    Average: 

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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