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"Barrier-Reversing". If you get ALL the quiz questions right, you definitely know the subject.
How many answers do you already know?
Deal 20028
Free Downloads Cribsheets Conventions Quick Book Glossary Books to read Links Deal a hand Other stuff
Basic
strategy
0000). How to use 0001). Bidding Objectives = "8 and 25" 0002). 28 for minor 0003). 33 for NT slam 0004). Suit slam 0005). Importance of length 0006). Convention card 0007). ACOL and American Standard, differences 0008). A-Z Glossary 0690). A-Z Glossary
Hand
evaluation
0010). Balanced-Unbalanced 0011). How strong is your hand, HCP 0012). Distribution points 0013). Losing trick count 0014). Barrier-Reversing 0015). Selection of opening suit 0016). Showing shape 0017). 4441 distribution 0018). The skip over principle 0019). Rule of 20 Opening 1 of a suit 0019a). Rule of 25 Opening 2 of a suit 0019b). Rule of 500 Max penalty risk on preempt if doubled 0019c). Law of total tricks 0019d). Rule of Protective bidding
Opening
bids
0020). Plan of attack 0021). Bal, 12 to 19 HCPs, weak NT 0022). Bal, 20+ points 0023). Bal, 15 to 17 HCPs, strong NT 0025). Unbal, 12 to 19 HCPs, 1 suit 0026). Unbal, Strong 2s 0027). Unbal, Pre-emptive 0028). Unbal, Gambling 3NT
Responder
1st bids
0030). After 1NT, General principles 0031). After 1NT, Weak 0032). After 1NT, Getting out of trouble 0033). After 1NT, 11+ balanced 0034). After 1NT, 11+ 4-card major 0035). After 1NT, 11+ unbalanced 0036). After 1NT, 19+ 0037). After 2NT 0038). After 1NT, and Enemy has interfered 0039). 1 NT responses 0040). After 1 Suit, With fit 0041). After 1 Suit, No fit, but alternative suit 0042). After 1 Suit, No fit, no new suit, probably balanced 0043). After 1 Suit, 6 points, nothing to bid 0044). After 1 Suit, Very strong 0045). After 1 Suit, Weak freak 0047). After 2 Suit, Strong 2s 0048). After 2 Suit, Weak 2s 0049). After 3 Suit, Responding to preempt
Openers
rebid
0050). Unbalanced, The general idea 0051). Unbalanced, You are weak 0052). Unbalanced, You are strong 0053). Unbalanced, Partner replied with 1NT 0054). Unbalanced, Delayed support 0055). Balanced
Responder
rebids
0060). Responder rebids, The general idea 0061). Choice of two suits 0062). Responders reverse
Basic
Convention
0080). Stayman 0081). Transfer 0082). Transfer after 2NT 0161). Minor suit transfer
Slam
bidding
0090). Slam, Spotting the chance 0091). Blackwood 0092). No-trump slam 0093). Gerber 0094). Extra slam techniques
Interfering
bids
0100). Overcalls, the basic idea 0101). Overcalls, in a suit, over a suit 0102). Overcalls, in a suit, over 1NT 0103). Overcalls, in NT, over a suit 0104). Overcalls, Jump overcall 0105). Overcalls, Double then bid a suit 0106). Overcalls, Bidding opponents suit 0107). Overcalls, Balancing (protective) 0108). Overcalls, Overcall a preempt 0109). Overcalls, Preemptive double jump 0110). Overcalls, To overcall, or to double 0111). Overcalls, Response to 1NT after suit overcall (Lebensohl) 0115). Defence after 1NT 0116). Competitive bidding 0117). Be cautious sometimes 0118). Sacrificing Be bold when non-vulnerable 0119). Sacrificing 0120). Doubles, Double a 1NT 0121). Doubles, Double for takeout 0122). Doubles, Doubling after opponent overcall 0126). Doubles, Protective double
Doubles

0120). Doubles, Double a 1NT 0121). Doubles, Double for takeout 0122). Doubles, Doubling after opponent overcall 0123). Doubles, Negative double 0124). Doubles, Double a 1NT overcall 0125). Doubles, Double a suit over 1NT 0126). Doubles, Protective double 0127). Doubles, Responsive double 0128). Doubles, Double then bid a suit 0129). Doubles, Penalty 0130). Doubles, Support double 0131). Doubles, Lead directing double 0132). Doubles, Maximal double 0133). Doubles, Redoubling - coded meanings 0134). Doubles, Forcing Pass 0135). Doubles, Re-opening double 0139). Doubles, Index of doubles
Advanced
Convention
0150). Majors Jacoby 2NT 0151). Majors Splinters 0152). Majors Weak 2s 0153). Majors Weak 2 defence 0154). Trial bid 0160). NT and minors 4th suit forcing 0161). Minor suit transfer 0162). DONT Bidding When Opponents open 1NT 0163). Game tries 0166). Grand Slam Force 0167). Roman Keycard Blackwood 0168). Cue bidding for controls 0170). 2-suited Overcall Unusual 2NT 0171). 2-suited Overcall Michaels cue bid 0172). 2-suited Overcall Landy over 1NT 0173). Overcall Unassuming cue bid 0179). Very advanced

Quiz How much do you know ?

Find more deals illustrating this bidding subject

Quick summary

The key numbers of losers are:

7: opener
9: responder, 1 level
and then 1 fewer as barriers are broken

Barriers are

16+, opener
10+, responder
12+, responder

Take your total from 18.

Overcalling: loser count:

7/8 & a 5-card suit
6 & a 6-card suit - jump overcall

Isolated Queen=Extra half loser (unless supported by partner or a Jack)

AQ=0.5, not 0
Q9x=2.5, not 2

Print cribsheet

Bridge Venue

+	West
	A J 10 8 3
	A 10 3
	K Q 5 4
	6

+	North
	K 2
	K Q 4
	J 9 7 3
	9 7 3 2

	East
	9 6 4
	J 8 6
	8 6
	A Q 10 8 4

+	South
	Q 7 5
	9 7 5 2
	A 10 2
	K J 5

Example Deal

Dealer: North
Vuln: NS

Deal# 20025

Opening 1 of a suit with limit responses in NT
Save in my favourites

Click the + buttons to peep

+	< Click to show Bidding
West	North	East	South
-	p	p	p
1S	p	1NT	p
2D	p	2S	System: Acol

+	< Click for Explanation of bids
1S	Unbal, 12 to 19 HCPs, 1 suit
1NT	After 1 Suit, 6 points, nothing to bid
2D	Selection of opening suit
2S	Bidding Objectives = "8 and 25"

Related	Barrier-Reversing
Overview	Hand evaluation

< Click for Opening Lead / Card Play

Question 1

Your partner West opens 1S, but you don't like them. (Spades, not your partner). Your Clubs are good. Do you pass, or bid your Clubs ?

Answer 1

Your partner West opens 1S, but you don't like them. (Spades, not your partner). Your Clubs are good. Do you pass, or bid your Clubs ?

Answer

Neither. You (East) can't change suit at the 2 level with only 7 HCP. You could risk weak Spade support, 2S, but that promises 4 of them which you don't have. That said, bidding Spades is still an option: support with only 3-cards is acceptable since on 90% of occasions an opening bid of a Major will be from a 5-card suit, the second bid will clarify if it isn't, and (crucially) you have an outside shortage that you can use to ruff with the small Spades. Anyway, you certainly don't want to pass, because you have 7 HCP and partner might have enough for game. 1NT denies 4 Spades, which is accurate, and ideally should be balanced, which is also technically accurate. Perhaps that's your best bid, but it's not clear cut given the diamond shortage.

Question 2

Your partner West now tries diamonds, bidding 2 of them. They are even worse than Spades in your hand. Are you allowed to pass ?

Answer 2

Your partner West now tries diamonds, bidding 2 of them. They are even worse than Spades in your hand. Are you allowed to pass ?

Answer

Not on your life. On two counts. First, your partner has asked you to make a choice, and second, in his second bid, he also told you 2 more things: that he has 5-4 in Spades and diamonds, and that he has 12-15 points, not 12-19. If you pass, you are choosing diamonds, which would be a really bad choice, because you probably only have 6 of them between you.

Question 3

So what should you do ?

Answer 3

So what should you do ?

Answer

Bid 2 Spades. You have an 8-card Major match, so Spades is the right suit. No point going any higher, because the best you could have is 23 points, including your distribution point for the doubleton (which you can now include, because you have an 8-card trump suit fit). Even though 3 Spades might make, you're well short of 25 needed for game. Looking at LTC, you have 9 losers, and you should assume your partner has 7 losers, because he is an opener who has not gone through his barrier. Total 16. Subtract from 18 = 2. Another reason for not bidding higher than 2.

Some subjects to follow up on
14 Barrier-Reversing 43 After 1 Suit, 6 points, nothing to bid 15 Selection of opening suit 13 Losing trick count

« 0013 »

7-9-18 Losing Trick Count

How high to bid ?

This is a massively useful method for working out how high to bid in a suit before stopping the auction, assuming you have an 8-card fit. HCP & Distribution points are a useful starter, but LTC helps you make that final vital decision.

First count the losers in your own hand, then make an assumption of how many losers your partner has. Adding these two numbers together and subtracting from 18 gives you an indication of how high you can bid.

The numbers you should assume for your partner can be derived from how your partner has bid. . . the higher he bid, the lower the number of losers. The starting position is 7 and 9. Seven for an opener at the one level, and 9 for a responder at the one level.

Say you have 8 losers. If you are the responder, then you should assume your partner who opened the bidding has 7, so you have 15 between you altogether. Subtract that from 18, leaving 3… which is an indication of how high you can bid.

If you are opener, it's the same, but you assume your partner (who responded at the 1 level) has 9 losers. If your partner was able to respond at the two level, then assume one less loser, namely 8.

The easiest way to improve your bidding

The Losing Trick Count (LTC) solves a bidding problem that often arises. You and your partner already have a fit: you've worked out which suit you should be in, say . Partner has just bid 2 let's say. Unfortunately, based on your HCP point count, and your distribution, and based on your partner's bids, carefully noting any reverses and so on, you can see that you only have the strength to go to 3, not the 4needed for game. You and partner might have 23 total points for example.

But you've noticed that the shape of your hand is quite special, surely you've got enough to risk 4, and go for the 420 points ? On the other hand you're vulnerable, so if the opposition double you, and you only make 2, you'll go down 500 points.

LTC is a method for working out how high to bid in a suit after you've found a fit, before stopping the auction. And amazingly, it really works in many situations. That's because it takes account of all three factors: strength, length and shortage. Try to make a habit of evaluating your LTC when you first look at your hand for balance, HCP and shape points.

If you are opener, it's the same, but you assume your partner (who responded at the 1 level) has 9 losers. If your partner was able to respond at the two level, then assume one less loser, namely 8.

Overcalls and the LTC

Let's assume that even though you've overcalled, you are not in a sacrificial auction. So there's no need to try to rapidly shut out the opposition's bidding space by using the technique known as "bidding to the limit of the fit". You can relax and calculate.

LTC will enable you both to assess how high to go and still win the contract.

Responder should assume that opener has 7 losers - and a 5-card suit, of course. (Slacken the test to 8 losers if not vulnerable. So, up to one more loser than a standard opening.)

Jump overcalls - "Two 6's"

With a jump overcall, assuming you and your partner are using the "intermediate" method for jump overcalls (which some people do not), assume 6 cards and 6 losers from the opener (6+6=12).

With shorter length than 6, you should not be jumping. You could consider doubling for takeout instead.

How to count your losers

The method assumes that an ace will never be a loser, nor will a king in a 2+ card suit, nor a queen in a 3+ card suit:

a void = 0 losing tricks
a singleton other than an A = 1 losing trick
a doubleton. AK = 0, A-Q= half a loser, Ax, Kx or KQ = 1, xx = 2 losing tricks
a three card suit AKQ = 0, AKx, AQx or KQx = 1, Axx, Kxx or QJx = 2, Q9x=2.5 losers (unless supported by partner), xxx = 3 losing tricks
suits longer than three cards are judged according to the three highest cards since no suit has more than 3 losing tricks.

This method above tends to overvalue unsupported queens and undervalue supported jacks. Refinement :

AQ doubleton = 0.5 loser (instead of 1)
AJ10 = 1 loser (instead of 2)
Qxx = 3 losers, or possibly 2.5 (instead of 2). Unless trumps (if trumps, partner will have other honours)
Subtract a loser if there is a known 9-card trump fit

See "The Modern Losing Trick Count" by Ron Klinger.

How to estimate your partner's LTC

If you know partner's points, you can estimate partner's losers. Given that there are 40HCP in a pack and 13 tricks to be made, then each trick corresponds to about 3HCP. So, add or subtract one loser for each 3 HCP outside the average opening hand of 13-15 points.

7-9 = 9, 10-12 = 8, 13-15 = 7, 16-18 = 6, 19-21 = 5, 22-24 = 6.

Do the same for each average 1-level responding hand (9 losers), and each 2-level responding hand (8 losers).

Example

A typical opening hand of 13HCP, e.g. AKxxx Axxx Qx xx, has 7 losers (1+2+2+2=7). To calculate how high to bid, responder adds the number of losers in his hand to the assumed number in opener's hand (7). The total number of losers arrived at by this sum is subtracted from 18. The answer is deemed to be the bid level available to the partnership and this should be the next bid by responder.

Following an opening bid of 1:

partner could jump to game with 7 losers in hand and a fit with partner's heart suit (3 if playing 5-card majors) . . . 7 + 7 = 14 subtract from 18 = bid of 4. (You might not want to do this though, because you could be missing out in slam if opener has a strong hand).
With 8 losers in hand and a fit, responder bids 3(8+7=15 which deducted from 18 = 3 tricks).
With 9 losers and a fit, responder bids 2.
With only 5 losers and a fit, a slam is likely so responder may bid straight to 6if preemptive bidding seems appropriate. Or you could take a slower forcing approach.

After responder's bid, opener can then re-evaluate his position, based on your bid. He might have fewer than 7 losers.

LTC and slam bids (in suits)

The Losing Trick Count is also useful for bidding suit slams.

Losing Trick Count in Action

Deal 1

-	West
	K 9 8 7 2
	3
	A 9 4 3 2
	5 4

+	North

+	East
	A Q J 10 4
	A J 8 6
	8 7
	6 3

+	South

	W	N	E	S
	-	Pass	1	Pass
	?
	After East's opening bid of 1, what should reply as West?
+	<---- Click the "+" for the Answer
	With 7 High Card Points, you've learned to bid 2, or 3 if you include your 4 distribution points. But the LTC reveals more power: With a LTC of 7, you can bid straight to 4. You can ruff the losing Hearts three times, and make 5 tricks in West's hand, leaving only 2 losers in clubs and one in diamonds. The quick jump in the bidding to game with only 19 HCP also prevented the opposition from finding their fit in clubs.

Deal 2

-	West
	8 6 2
	Q J 7 4
	A 4
	A J 5 2

+	North

+	East
	4
	A K 8 7
	10 3 2
	K Q 9 6 3

+	South

	W	N	E	S
	-	Pass	1	Pass
	?
	After East's opening bid of 1, what should reply as West?
+	<---- Click the "+" for the Answer
	You have a LTC of 8. With a Major fit you should support, but if you have a minor fit, as here, it's best to try a Major suit in case there's a fit there too. So bid 1. When the reply comes back 3, implying 6 losers from the Opener, you can re-bid straight to 4.

Now try the quiz

Can you put all this into action ? Try the quiz for this subject by clicking on the link at the top left of the page, just below the main menu.
(You can try quizzes for any other subjects too while you're there. Look out for the thin red line).

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