Monday, March 29

Today we talked about HAND EVALUATION.

Hand Evaluation is an art - you'll get better and better at it with practice, but there are a few pointers we can start with now.

There are really three main pieces to the strength of a hand:  POINTS, SHAPE, and FIT. 

Points:  Good ol' Goren point count (A=4, K=3, Q=2, J=1) is a good place to start, but a little flawed.  Aces are worth more than those 4 points and Jacks are generally not really a point each, at least not by themselves.  Honors together are also generally worth more than the sum of their parts, and separated are hard pressed to pull full weight.  (AKxxx xx much more useful than Axxx Kxx, most of the time)

Shape:  Before you har anything from partner, you should really only give your hand anything extra if it's got long suits - multiple things you'd be happy to have as trump.  Shortnesses can also be valuable, but only once you know if they work well with what partner's got.

Fit:  When you and your partner have the same suit, now you're cooking.  The fabled 8-card (or more!) fit makes a huge difference in how many tricks you can take.  Good fits can also compensate for a lack of actual points much of the time.

Remember also that your hand evaluation needs to be flexible - it will changed based on your seat, vulnerability, and the other bids (or passes) happening around you, both from partner and the opponents.

:)