An exceptionally simple bidding aid for use at the bridge table

The somewhat unconventional Point-Count Balance variant of the Winning Trick Count, which is defined below, is intended to meet that need:

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The Point-Count Balance estimate of the number of tricks which you and your partner can expect to make in a suit contract is quite simply your combined holding of trumps added to your expected balance of point- count tricks (as defined below).

That’s it! That’s all we need for a forecast of our prospects, which not only avoids the point-count adjustment described in the previous Chapter, but which also avoids the need to subtract six from the combined trump holding! A forecast, moreover, which matches precisely that of Winning Trick Point-Count on every hand.

The key feature, which distinguishes this novel and unusually simple Point-Count Balance from more traditional bridge-hand evaluation procedures, is that it is based on the relative strength, or weakness, of our partnership point count.

Or, more precisely, on our combined point holding above, or below, the average of twenty.

For example, if we conclude from the bidding that we have the balance of strength with a joint holding of, say, twenty-six points we just regard this as a positive balance of six points.

Following which, if we continue to use well-established evaluation presumption that three points correspond on average to one honour-card trick, we can judge that this corresponds to a positive balance of two point-count tricks.

Although this notion of the Point-Count Balance may seem somewhat unusual, it is, in fact, a logical and convenient measure of our competitiveness and one, which can be used quickly and effectively at the bridge table in a wide variety of bidding situations.

Thus, as we saw above, with a joint holding of around twenty-six points we simply regard this as a positive balance of twopoint-count tricks.

On the other hand if we have, say, only seventeen points the opposition will be stronger, and we will now have a negative balance of onepoint-count trick.

Or, more generally with a typical combined holding somewhere in the range of 10 – 30 points, our balance of such point count tricks will be:

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Our Total Point Count	Our expected balance of Point-Count Tricks
28 29 30	3
25 26 27	2
22 23 24	1
19 20 21	0
16 17 18	-1
13 14 15	-2
10 11 12	-3

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We then simply need to add this balance of point count tricksto our estimate of our combined holding of trumps to complete this exceptionally easy assessment of the number of tricks we can expect to make.

A singularly important feature of this simple Point-Count Balance evaluation procedure is the strikingly clear measure of the importance of trump strength, which it provides.

For example, with a partnership total of around twenty three points combined with an nine-card fit in one of the major suits, we can judge that that we have a good chance of making game. In this case, nine trump tricks plus our positive balance of one point count trick.

And by the same token, with a ten-card major fit we should consider the prospect of a possible game, even if we only have a total combined count of around twenty points

What is equally important, however, is that this quite uncomplicated method of hand evaluation applies just as effectively in competitive auctions where our opponents clearly have the balance of strength. Thus with only around seventeen points, but again with a nine-card suit, we can judge that we are still likely to make eight tricks if we should compete and win the auction (nine trump tricks minus our negative balance of one point count trick).

In fact on any deal where we can see have an indication of our combined point strength and our prospective trump holding this really is a forecast, which can be made easily and very quickly.

This is illustrated in the table below, which shows the application of this Point-Count Balance estimation to a substantial fraction of typical bidding situations (those where we have a total point count somewhere in the range 10 – 30 combined with a trump fit of 8, 9 or 10 cards).

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Since, as was noted above the Point-Count Balance always matches that of Winning Trick Point-Count it follows that the analysis of an unusually large number of real bridge contracts which was undertaken for the assessment of the Winning Trick Count and which is described below also provides confirmation of the validity and accuracy of this quite unusually simple approach to hand assessment.

It also shows that the Point-Count Balance shares the broad scope of the other two versions of the Winning Trick Count. Thus:

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I.It provides the weaker pairs of hands in competitive auctions with a clear indication of the possible merits of contention.

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II.Whereas conventional procedures such as the Losing Trick Count have difficulty in coping with deals where one of the hands has less than three cards in the proposed trump suit - as may happen, for example, if the partner has made a pre-emptive bid – the Point-Count Balance can be based quite simply on the estimated combined holding of trumps.

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III.The Point-Count Balance makes it particularly easy to estimate your opponents’ trick-taking prospects in any competitive auction where we are able to judge the quality of their prospective trump fit.

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This results from the simple fact that if we have more than the average number of points and hence a positive point-count balance, our opponents must have an identical negative point-count balance; and vice versa. Or more generally:

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It follows that we simply need to add their balance of point-count tricksto our estimate of the length of their trump suit and we know how many tricks they are likely to make.

And by the same token, we can, of course, easily form a view of our own balance of point-counttricks in those auctions where the opposition bidding enables us to make an estimate of their point strength.