ACBL21 – General: Counting Ward Trumbull
Feb 8, 2012
Page 1 of 9
Some idiots and all good bridge players talk to themselves. I don’t know what the mentally retarded are saying, but the bridge players are counting. So you should learn (train yourself) to count. On the road to better bridge, counting is the biggest obstacle because it is so complicated. Declarers do it. Defenders do it. Even the dummy does it. So let’s approach it step by step.
1. Before the bidding
A. Count your cards
You should count your cards; face down before you look at them.
Rather than count 1 to 13, it is simpler to count them in groups of 3
as you lay them on the table. The count goes 3-3-3-4.
B. Count your distribution.
After you have sorted your cards, review the distribution of the hand.
The typical ones are:
4-3-3-3 4-4-3-2 5-3-3-2 5-4-3-1 6-3-2-2 6-3-3-1
If you see something like 4-3-3-2, 4-4-2-2 or 5-3-2-2, you’re missing a
card. Look behind the 2 of clubs. You’ll probably find the 3 of clubs.
Nobody likes missing a game contract because partner never sorted
his/her cards properly and missed an ace or king.
C. Count your high cards
You all know how to do that. But do you remember that count? Many
don’t after the bidding starts.
ACBL21 – General: Counting Feb 8, 2012
Page 2 of 9
2. During the bidding
A. When you open the bidding
When your partner responds, add his/her minimum count to your
count.
Example: With 14 HCP you open one heart:
S - 9 7 4
H - A K J 10 5 14 HCP
D - K Q J
C – 6 2
If partner responds 1 spade. (6-18) We’ve got 20+ HCP.
We may have game.
If partner responds 1 notrump. (6-9) We’ve got 20-23 HCP.
Probably no game.
If partner responds 2 clubs. (10-18) We’ve got 24+ HCP.
Expect to be in game.
If partner responds 2 hearts. (6-9) We have 20+ HCP.
You now have 15 points.
Maybe a 3 heart invite.
If partner responds 2 notrump. (12-15) We’ve got 26+ HCP.
We’ve got game.
If partner responds 3 clubs (18/19+) We’ve got 32/33+ HCP.
(jump shift) We should have a slam.
If partner responds 3 hearts (10-11) We have 25+ points.
(with distribution) Bid game (4 hearts).
If partner responds 4 hearts. (6-11) Pass.
(4+ hearts, a void or singleton)
ACBL21 – General: Counting Feb 8, 2012
Page 3 of 9
2. During the bidding (continued)
B. When you make a takeout double
Your takeout double implies that you have 13+ HCP. Sometimes
you don’t have the 13 HCP, but the double is still the best bid. You
must count the team points based on partner’s response.
Partner Team Comment
------------ ---------- --------------------------------------
0-8 HCP 13 HCP Respond without skipping
9-11 HCP 22 HCP Respond skipping
Indicating 4 cards not 5
12+ HCP 23+ HCP Cue bid opponents suit
HCP.
C. When you’re a passed hand
There are 40 HCP in the deck. If you subtract your HCP and the
opponent’s (both of them) apparent HCP, the remainder is an
approximation of your partner’s HCP.
The following examples are for hands you passed with 4, 8 and 12
HCP.
ACBL21 – General: Counting Feb 8, 2012
Page 4 of 9
2. C. During the bidding (continued)
Example 1:
RHO Bid Your Bid LHO Bid Partner’s bid
------------- ------------ ------------- ------------------
1 heart pass 1 notrump pass
pass ?
RHO HCP Your HCP LHO HCP Partner’s HCP
-------------- ------------ -------------- --------------------
11 - 15 4 6 - 9 12 - 19
11 - 15 8 6 - 9 8 - 15
11 - 15 12 6 - 9 4 - 11
Example 2:
RHO Bid Your Bid LHO Bid Partner’s bid
------------- ------------ ------------- ------------------
1 notrump pass 3 notrump pass
pass pass
RHO HCP Your HCP LHO HCP Partner’s HCP
-------------- ------------ -------------- ------------------
15 - 17/18 4 10 - 12 6 - 11
15 - 17/18 8 10 - 12 2 - 7
15 - 17/18 12 10 - 12 0 - 3
3. Declarer during the play
A. Count your winners and losers
When the dummy comes down, as part of ARCH, you should count
your winners or losers.
ACBL21 – General: Counting Feb 8, 2012
Page 5 of 9
3. Declarer during the play
A. Count your winners and losers (continued)
Look at the top three cards in each suit.
by ace/king is 4
Look at the top three cards in each suit.
2 opposite 3, it is still 3 losers.
1 opposite 3, it is still 3 losers.
0 opposite 3, it is still 3 losers.
However, in the HOW of ARCH, you might see that some of
those losers can be ruffed. Many bridge players do not have
the skill to see those ruffs.
Most players tend to under-count losers, a pitfall. Learn to be
pessimistic when counting losers. Remember potential finesse
cards must be counted as losers.
ACBL21 – General: Counting Feb 8, 2012
Page 6 of 9
3. Declarer during the play continued)
B. Counting trump
Immediately verify the number of trumps between your hand and the
dummy. Were you expecting 8 but only have 7? Do we have a
bidding problem? When pulling trump, trying to count all 13 cards
can be hazardous to your health. Learn to count only the
opponent’s trumps as they are played. If you have 8, then they have
five. That’s only five trumps to count.
When pulling trumps, it is imperative that you look at the opponent’s
cards as they play them. Many an easy suit contract has gone down
the tube because the declarer missed it when one of the opponents
showed out on trump.
C. Counting opponent’s points
Another important part of ARCH is the review of the bidding. If either
of the opponents made a bid; you should mentally assign a HCP to
that hand: that is, 12 for an opening bid of a suit, 15 for an opening
notrump bid, 13 for a double, 10 for an overcall (might be less), etc..
Now as you play the hand, remember where you assigned points.
D. Counting cards in a suit that you attacked
In suit or notrump contracts, declarers typically go for tricks in long
suits between both hands, such as 7, 8 or 9 cards suits. If you have
the top 4 cards in that suit, no problem. If not, count-count-count the
cards in that suit to see if the last card(s) left will be good.
E. Count opponent discards
An excellent line of play is to run a long suit to squeeze the
opponents on discards. In this case, when you have a second suit
to follow with, count the discards in that suit. Multiple discards by an
ACBL21 – General: Counting Feb 8, 2012
Page 7 of 9
E. Count opponent discards (continued)
opponent in that secondary suit may resolve a finesse decision in
that suit. Or they may set up the whole suit for you.
By a slight stretch of my imagination, dummy is counting when
he/she watches for a renege by either partner or the defenders. The
declarer should be alerted immediately; so that he/she can correct
the error. The dummy should say “No xxx partner?”.
However, do not alert the opponents of their possible renege. Wait
until later in the play when their renege is officially established; i.e.,
they play a card in the suit which they earlier did not follow. Then
dummy can announce the renege.
5. Defenders during the play
A. Counting partner’s HCP
Using the logic in item 2C above, count yours and the opponent’s
HCP to estimate your partner’s HCP.
B. Counting partner’s trumps
Review the bidding to estimate the number of partner’s trumps.
Remember, now you can see yours and dummy’s trumps too.
C. Counting declarer’s distribution
Review the bidding to visualize the declarer’s distribution.
1) Did declarer rebid his major indicating 6+ cards?
If so, expect a 6-3-3-1, 6-3-2-2, 6-4-2-1 or 6-4-3-void hand.
2) Did declarer open a major and then rebid another suit?
If so, expect a 5-4-2-2, 5-4-3-1 or 5-4-4-void hand.
Or perhaps it’s a 5-5-2-1 or 5-5-3-void hand.
ACBL21 – General: Counting Feb 8, 2012
Page 8 of 9
5. Defenders during the play
C. Counting declarer’s distribution (continued)
3) If the declarer ruff’s a suit, revisualize his/her hand, that is,
count the hand again.
D. Count declarer’s trumps
In suit contracts, be sure to count declarer’s trumps as they are
being played. Some declarer’s pull too many rounds of thump and
make themselves trump poor. If declarer is ruffing a side suit, count
his/her trumps and lead that suit at every opportunity.
E. Counting declarer’s side suit
In a suit or notrump contract, if the declarer bid two suits, it pays
for defenders to keep count on both of the suits.. Is that asking too
much? Yes, if you don’t ever count. No, if you are trying to improve
your counting skills.
F. Counting suits when declarer/partner shows out
When declarer or partner shows out in a suit, you have a
complete count on that suit. Don’t waste this valuable information.
If it’s partner, recount declarer’s distribution. If it’s the declarer,
recount partner’s hand.
G. Counting discards
If declarer is running a suit in dummy, then LHO discards after
the declarer. Usually, LHO should discard the same suits as
declarer. Likewise, if declarer is running a suit in his/her hand, then
RHO will be discarding after dummy. RHO should try to keep the
same number of cards that dummy keeps in a 4 or 5 card side suit.
That is, RHO should try to discard the same suits as dummy.
ACBL21 – General: Counting Feb 8, 2012
Page 9 of 9
5. Defenders during the play
G. Counting discards
WARNING: However, as mentioned above, if declarer has a second
suit, RHO must try to keep long in that suit too.
6. Final words on counting
Counting takes practice. So as long as you’re sitting there with 13
cards in your hand (you did count them didn’t you?), why not take a
stab at it .
To help you out: aces are 4, ………………………………………………..