My Secrets of Winning Bridge

How will Marty's secrets, tips, and 87 examples help you be more successful?

They will help you:

• - Win the board in the auction.

• - Make winning bids and non-penalty doubles that will cause YOU to be your partner's favorite partner.

• - Have more insight about winning bidding tactics that your peers do not know about.

• - Avoid sins of omission, which are just as costly as sins of commission.
• - Improve your "To compete or not" judgment when your side is vulnerable.

This invaluable lesson will cover many essential topics. Here are a few of them:

• - How to ensure that you won't be guilty of playing "scared bridge."
• - What familiar auction is Marty's absolute favorite one!
• - How YOU can ensure that your partner will make the BEST opening lead.
• - What is definitely the most effective of all overcalls.
• - Modern doubles and how all non-expert pairs can make the best use of them.
• - What every player NEEDS TO KNOW about forcing passes.
• - When it is 100% correct to preempt with a hand strong enough to open.
• - What Bergen secret will help you bid good slams and avoid bad ones.
• - How Marty's Rule of 24 will greatly improve your actions in third seat.
• - The real truth about what you need to make a FREE BID.
• - An easy guide to help you decide whether to make a non-obvious penalty double.

Here is one of Marty's tips that definitely will improve your bidding.

Partner opens 1♦ and your RHO overcalls 1♠. The vulnerability does not matter.

What would you do with each of the following hands?

• Hand 1: ♠KJ9 ♥J543 ♦J75 ♣Q102
• Hand 2: ♠64 ♥9762 ♦KJ1063 ♣Q7
• Hand 3: ♠2 ♥8642 ♦96 ♣KQJ975
• Hand 4: ♠AQ10 ♥10753 ♦KJ ♣QJ97

Answer to What Would You Do?

Every player must be knowledgeable about Negative Doubles. It is very possibly the most important convention! However, you must never forget that the convention was invented to handle hands where a good natural bid was NOT available.

I believe that many players are very guilty of over-using this "toy." Too often, they make a Negative Double any time it is possible to do so. In effect what goes through their mind is: "Could I make a Negative Double here?" If they answer "yes", they reach for the red card without asking themselves the essential second question: "SHOULD I make a Negative Double here, or is there a better action?"

Many players would make a Negative Double on all four of my examples. Personally, I would NOT make a Negative Double on any of the four!

My answers on the four are:

• Hand 1: 1NT
• Hand 2: 3♦
• Hand 3: 3♣
• Hand 4: 3NT

Although I make a lot of Negative Doubles, why would I NOT make a Negative Double on any of the four examples?

Whenever I can, I love to describe my hand in one bid.

With a very weak 4-card major, I am NOT eager to initiate the suit. (FYI: Of all the possible 8-card fits, 4-4 is my least favorite one.)

Regarding hands #2 and #3: Even if we have a 4-4 heart fit, if the opponents have a spade fit, they can easily outbid us.

Regarding hands #1 and #4: With quacky balanced hands, I think "notrump!"