Determine Opening Bid

SAYC

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Preface

  SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card)
  1. Introduction
  2. Bidding Hierarchy
  3. Determine Opening Bid
  4. Opening Bid Options
  5. Scoring Structure
  6. Bidding Strategy

  Statistics

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Open 1 Level

Open 1 Level
   Open 1 ♠
   Open 1 ♥
       Open 1 NT
           Open Better Minor
               Open 1 ♦
               Open 1 ♣

Opening Bid & Table Position

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Respond to 1 Suit Openings

   Guidelines for Responses
         Support Suit (Distribution Points)
         Propose Suit (1-over-1 Restriction)
  • Respond to 1 ♠
  • Respond to 1 ♥
  • Respond to 1 ♦
  • Respond to 1 ♣
Opener's Next Bid (Bid 3)
   Responder Supports the Bid Suit
   Responder Proposes a New Suit

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Respond to 1 NT

Respond to 1 NT
    Transfers (1NT)
       Stayman (1NT)
          No 4-card Major (1NT)
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Transfer Convention
Stayman Convention

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Weak Bids

Weak Opening Bids
• 6-card suit           2 ♦ 2 ♥ 2 ♠
• 7-card suit 3 ♣ 3 ♦ 3 ♥ 3 ♠
• 8-card suit                   4 ♥ 4 ♠
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Respond to Weak Openings
  • Respond to         2 ♦ 2 ♥ 2 ♠
  • Respond to 3 ♣ 3 ♦ 3 ♥ 3 ♠
  • Respond to                  4 ♥ 4 ♠

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Strong 2 ♣

Open 2 ♣
Respond to 2 ♣
  • 2-Diamond Waiting (SAYC)
  • 3-Point Step (Social Bridge)
  • 2-Diamond Bust (Social Bridge)

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Strong NT Bids

Open 2 NT or 3 NT

Responses

Respond to 2 NT
    Transfers (2NT)
       Stayman (2NT)
          4-card Major (2NT)
Respond to 3 NT
    Transfers (3NT)
       Stayman (3NT)
          No 4-card Major (3NT)

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Other Bids

• Jacoby 2 NT
• Slam (Blackwood & Gerber)
• Overcalls
• Doubles
• Balancing

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Taking Tricks

• Leads on Defense
• Leads on Offense
• Finessing a Tenace

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Practice

• Open 1 Level
• Responses to 1 Suit Openings
• Open 1 NT (14 Examples)
• Open 1 NT (16 Examples)
• Responses to 2 ♣ Opening
• Overcalls

Practice Websites

   • SAYC Bidding Practice
   • Trickster
   • Bridge Base On Line

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Duplicate

Duplicate Protocol
Duplicate Scoring
1. Contract Points Scoring
2. Match Points Scoring

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Downloads

• SAYC Summary
• Open 1-Level Bids
• Respond 1-Suit Opening
• 1 NT Openings & Responses
• Responses to Weak Openings
• Responses to 2 Club Openings
• Handout Duplicate Bridge Contract Points

3. Determining an Opening Bid

There are 2 criteria for determining an opening bid:
1) Point Count - the sum of the honor card points (HCPs)
2) Suit Length - the number of cards in the longest suit

1) Point Count - the sum of the HCPs

The deck of 52 cards contains 16 "face" cards - 4 Aces, 4 Kings, 4 Queens and 4 Jacks. Each face card, or "Honor Card", is assigned a point value, as displayed in the table to the right. Each deck of cards contains 40 Honor Card Points (HCPs).

The point count of the hand is simply the sum of the Honor Card Points (HCPs) in the hand.

Honor Card Points (HCPs)
Face Card	HCPs
Ace	4
King	3
Queen	2
Jack	1

2) Suit Length

In most cases, the longest suit in a hand is 4 or 5 cards long. Occasionally, the longest suit is 6 or 7 cards long. In rare occasions, the longest suit can be 8 or more cards long. The length and identity of the longest suit are important criteria in an opening bid.

The next step is to select an opening bid from a series of options.

Goto the web page for the 4. Opening Bid Options.

2/7/2025

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