"Medical Milestones" Slam Bidding by Marti Ronemus

This was a big day in history for medical marvels. In 1914 the first indirect blood transfusion (one where the patient and donor are not connected by tubes etc.) was accomplished by a Belgian surgeon. What a difference that made in medicine!

Then in 1953 Jonas Salk announce the success of his Polio vaccine tests on humans. Those of us Of a Certain Age clearly remember the pre-Salk days, don't we?

And last, in 1998 the drug Viagra was approved for use. And I am not going to say one single word about that one.

Instead, let's look at 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.

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!! If the only drug you have in your medical bag is aspirin, well, that's what you use.

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 the patient would live.

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... think of them as the Ebola virus. 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. You 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 what's in your medical bag. If you play "Fourth Suit Forcing," you 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 should 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.

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

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