Competitive Bidding – Disciplined Takeout Doubles

Today’s lesson is the SECOND MOST IMPORTANT LESSON I GIVE

BECAUSE IT GETS YOU OFF TO THE RIGHT START IN COMPETITIVE BIDDING. It is your first lesson on competitive bidding and the reason I give it so early on is because it involves a NEW WAY OF COUNTING YOUR HAND. BEFORE WE START WITH this lesson on DISCIPLINED TAKEOUT DOUBLES, we must first understand the way of the suit overcall.

1 club by opponent.....1 heart by you and 2 hearts opened by opponent....two spades by you and 3 clubs by opponent....three diamonds by you.

These three bidding sequences all involve your making an overcall and THEY ALL MEAN THE SAME THING: PARTNER WHEN YOU GET INTO THE LEAD...PLEASE LEAD THIS SUIT RATHER THAN ANY OF THE OTHERS.

Remember, THAT WHENEVER YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH IN BRIDGE

there could be three STRAIGHT PASSES FOLLOWING YOUR UTTERANCE...FORCING YOU TO PLAY IN WHAT YOUR BIG MOUTH SAID.

REQUIREMENTS IN POINTS FOR AN OVERCALL:

At the one level it must be made in a five card suit.
As the level for your overcall goes up...so does your Goren point needs.
At the one level you need from 8 to about 15
At the two level you need from about 10 to about 15
At the three level ...12 to 15 would be nice

YOUR PRIMARY PURPOSE IN MAKING AN OVERCALL IS TO SHOW THE SUIT SO it is the QUALITY OF THE SUIT THAT REALLY MATTERS!

REQUIREMENTS IN CARDS FOR AN OVERCALL:

ace, king five long
or king, queen five long
or ace, king, queen five long
or ace, queen , jack five long
or king, queen, jack five long
or ace , jack , 10, nine five long
anything else and the suit AIN'T WORTH MENTIONING

When you make an overcall, YOUR PARTNER CAN NOW COUNT ON AT LEAST ONE DEFENSIVE TRICK IN THE SUIT YOU BID. THIS is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR YOUR DEFENSE. (THERE IS ONE QUALIFICATION HERE THAT WE WILL GET TO LATER INVOLVING YOUR BID OF A SUIT IN THE passout position, but if we all now UNDERSTAND THE SIMPLE OVERCALL WE CAN START THE LESSON ON takeout doubles.

SOMETIMES, YOU WILL HAVE THAT WONDERFUL SUIT TO OVERCALL

BUT YOUR HAND WILL BE WAY TOO STRONG FOR A SIMPLE OVERCALL.

IN THIS CASE, YOU MUST TAKE A DIFFERENT ACTION -- THIS IS WHERE THE TAKEOUT DOUBLE COMES INTO PLAY

The DISCIPLINED TAKEOUT DOUBLE IS USED FOR TWO DISTINCT HANDS:

HAND # 1:

ANY HAND WHERE YOU HAVE A VERY FINE SIX+ CARD SUIT AND 16+ HCPs AND AT LEAST TWO OF THE TOP THREE HONORS IN THE SUIT, Ace/King, Ace/Queen or King/Queen.

Note: Something that would prevent you from making the takeout double would be ...HOLDING OPPONENTS SUIT. IF YOU HOLD FOUR OR MORE CARDS IN THE SUIT BID BY THE OPPONENT, YOU MUST NOT BID THE FIRST TIME ROUND

UNLESS YOU HOLD GAME IN YOUR OWN HAND. IF YOU HOLD GAME IN YOUR OWN HAND, BID IT. OTHERWISE, if you hold four or more cards in opponents suit…SHUT THE HECK UP!!!! Otherwise, YOUR PARTNER WILL NEVER FIGURE OUT YOU HAVE THIS SUIT. IF YOU pass the first round..

your PARTNER WILL BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT THAT YOU HAVE THE SUIT LATER.

HAND #2: The three suit takeout hand consists of the following:

1. SHORTNESS IN OPPONENTS BID SUIT.

2. AT LEAST THREE CARDS IN EACH OF THE OTHER THREE UNBID SUITS.

3. 12+ HCPs.

IF YOU HAVE A GOOD CHOICE BETWEEN MAKING A SIMPLE OVERCALL IN A SUIT OR MAKING THE TAKEOUT DOUBLE, always CHOOSE THE TAKEOUT DOUBLE because it shows more points.

The takeout double allows you to bid 3 suits without mentioning any of them and it will show either A STRONG ONE SUITED HAND OR A THREE SUITED HAND. IT WILL NEVER SHOW A TWO SUITED HAND.

SOMETIMES I DO MAKE A TAKEOUT DOUBLE WITH THREE CARDS IN OPPONENTS BID SUIT, AND I DO THIS FOR THE FOLLOWING REASON: I HATE ONE NOTRUMP OVERCALLS…they stink. So if I overcall with 1 NT, I bump up the points to 17-19 HCPS!!!

AND WISH TO RAISE YOUR POINT COUNT AS I HAVE DONE, YOU SHOULD SHOW IT ON YOUR CARD UNDER COMPETITIVE BIDS...JUST PUT: “1 NT overcall=17-19 HCPs”

PARTNER’S RESPONSES TO A THE TAKEOUT DOUBLE

WHEN PARTNER MAKES A TAKEOUT DOUBLE, YOU MUST recount your hand!

FIRST, SINCE PARTNER HAS BID THREE SUIT WITH HER DOUBLE, YOU can NOW COUNT ALL UNSUPPORTED HONORS IN THOSE THREE SUITS.

SECOND, you can now count ALL SHORTNESS POINTS FOR SHORTNESS IN ANY OF THE UNBID SUITS. YOU COUNT THAT SHORTNESS AS FOLLOWS:

6 FOR A VOID
4 FOR A SINGLETON
2 FOR A DOUBLETON

In other words, you DOUBLE UP ON YOUR DIST. POINTS FOR SHORTNESS.

Third, you give yourself an extra point for EACH CARD OVER FIVE IN ANY OF THE UNBID SUITS. SO IF YOU HAVE TWO UNBID SUITS 7/6, YOU WOULD GET THREE EXTRA POINTS FOR THOSE LONG SUIT CARDS, AND SIX POINTS FOR THE VOID IN THE THIRD SUIT!

YOU WOULD GET NOTHING FOR THE VOID IN THE OPPONENTS BID SUIT.

FIFTH, You GET NOTHING FOR SHORTNESS IN OPPONENT’S BID SUIT. You can not count an unsupported honor in OPPONENT’S BID SUIT.

Now, if the second opponent passes, THIS IS HOW WE WILL USE THOSE POINTS:

0-7 POINTS: BID YOUR BEST SUIT AT THE CHEAPEST LEVEL
8-11 POINTS: JUMP IN YOUR BEST SUIT...even if only four cards long.
If you have two suits 4/4 pick the major.
8-11 points and opponent’s suit WELL STOPPED, BID NOTRUMP
AND WITH 12+ POINTS, Q BID OPPONENTS BID SUIT
THIS Q BID DOES TWO THINGS: IT tells partner you have 12+ or game points
and it asks partner to bid HER LONG SUIT.

LETS BACK UP TO THE FIRST OF THOSE RESPONSES

IF if if you have 0-7 points..including all that distribution I told you to take..

you HAVE A WEAK HAND. Your partner has forced you to bid with the double,

so now you must deny having any points.

YOU CAN NOT PASS UNLESS YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING HAND: SIX OF OPPONENTS TRUMP HEADED BY THE ACE OR KING. That’s it. Nothing else.

EXAMPLES:

1 club by opponent...DOUBLE BY PARTNER..PASS...pass!!!! by you.

you must have six or seven clubs headed by the king and NOT A DAMN THING ELSE.

1 club opened by opponent...DOUBLE BY PARTNER...pass....1 diamond by you says:

FROM 0 TO 7 POINTS AND AT LEAST FOUR DIAMONDS...if you have five diamonds and four of the major…pick the major. HERE THE MAJOR SUIT IS PREEMPTIVE IN VALUE..AND THEREFORE TAKES PRECEDENCE. ALSO, a partial in a major is a hell of a lot better than a partial in the minor – score-wise. So gamble and play in the 4/3 fit...in the major rather than the five/three fit in the minor.

NOW let’s discuss the bid of notrump. I TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAD TO HAVE THE OPPONENTS WELL STOPPED TO MAKE THE NOTRUMP BID. By well stopped I mean this:

the ace
or the king, 10 , x
or the queen, jack, 10
or the king , jack, x
or the king, queen

IN OTHER WORDS…you WILL BE TAKING A TRICK IN THAT SUIT.

NOW...if partner seriously considers playing in notrump, and wishes to find out if you have TWO STOPPERS IN THEIR SUIT, she can always ask you by Q BIDDING THEIR SUIT OVER YOUR NOTRUMP RESPONSE. AND NOW IF YOU BID NOTRUMP AGAIN, YOU must have TWO STOPPERS IN THE SUIT.

If you come to 12 or more YOU MUST Q BID THE OPPONENT’S BID SUIT. This simply states that you have game points.

It is now time to return to the TAKEOUT DOUBLER’S HAND. SINCE YOU CAN HAVE ONE OF TWO VERY DIFFERENT HANDS: THE BIG SINGLE SUITED HAND OR THE THREE SUIT TAKEOUT HAND, THIS IS HOW YOU DIFFERENTIATE:

IF your partner has the single suited hand…SHE must BID IT AT THIS POINT. AND IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PUT HER INTO A FORCED TO BID SITUATION, SHE MUST JUMP IN IT!!!!!!!

EXAMPLES

Example 1:

1 heart by opponent....double by partner (takeout)...pass...1 spade by you...pass..TWO CLUBS BY PARTNER.

In this example, you made a weak response of one spade, therefore partners bid of a new suit--clubs can only mean one thing...she has the big club hand.

Example 2:

1 club by opponent....double by partner.....pass...1 heart by you...all pass..

YOUR PARTNER HAS THREE HEARTS AND 12+ HCPS.

Example 3:

1 CLUB BY OPPONENT....double by partner...pass...two CLUBS BY YOU (Q BID SHOWING 12+ POINTS) ...PASS...THREE SPADES BY PARTNER....partner’s jump of three spades must be showing the big spade hand. Had she just bid two spades, she would be telling you that her longest suit is spades.

THE DISCIPLINED TAKEOUT DOUBLE IS ONLY FOR OPPONENTS OPENS AT THE ONE LEVEL… not for preempts!!!!

If the second opponent DOES NOT PASS, but INSTEAD HE RAISES PARTNERS SUIT OR BIDS A NEW SUIT, THEN YOUR RESPONSES WILL CHANGE (but not a whole lot), and here are the changes:

with the 0 to 7 point hand you now can just PASS
WITH THE 8-11 POINT HAND AND A FIVE CARD OR LONGER SUIT OF YOUR OWN, YOU BID THE SUIT.
WITH THE 8-11 POINT HAND AND ALL SUITS BID BY THE OPPONENTS STOPPED YOU CAN STILL BID NOTRUMP
WITH THE 8-11 POINT HAND AND NO FIVE CARD SUIT TO BID YOU DOUBLE (this double is called RESPONSIVE - IT SAYS: 8-11 POINTS AND NO BIDDABLE SUIT - it must be alerted, and we will use it for over any bid of three spades or less.) You show it on your card in the upper left under the doubles block “responsive doubles thru 3 spades.” When asked you simply say: "8-11 points."

The Q BID OF OPPONENTS SUIT REMAINS THE SAME ...showing 12+ points..

IF THEY HAVE BID TWO SUITS. You can now Q BID IN EITHER SUIT. YOU Q BID IN THE SHORTER OF THE TWO SUITS.

REMEMBER: JUST HAVING POINTS IS NOT A REASON FOR ENTERING INTO OPPONENTS AUCTIONS.

NEXT WEEK

WE WILL BE DOING THE FOLLOWING:

MONDAY: THE OPEN OF 1 NOTRUMP AND ITS RESPONSES

WEDNESDAY: THE LAW OF TOTAL TRICKS

FRIDAY: THE OPEN OF A MAJOR SUIT AT THE ONE LEVEL.