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
×

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
×

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
×

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 ♠ 
×

Strong  2 ♣ 

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

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)
×

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
×

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
Front Door

SUPPORTING a 1-Suit Opening Bid

Yellow Card Bidding System Mantra
    ● First, determine which suit to play - then determine the contract level to play.
    ● Try to play a contract in the following priority:
           1) Play a MAJOR suit contract.
           2) Play a NO TRUMP contract.
           3) Play a MINOR suit contract as a last resort.

As soon as the opener makes an opening bid of 1-SUIT, the responder immediately knows the opener's point count range (12 to 21 HCPs) and the minimum number of cards the opener's suit (5+cards in a major suit, or 3+cards in a minor suit). The ability to support a 1-suit opening bid depends upon the responder's suit length and point count range:

Suit Length

     • If the opened suit is a MAJOR suit, the opener has 5+cards in that major. The responder must have 3+cards in that same major to generate an 8+card fit in that major in order to support that major.
     • If the opened suit is a MINOR suit, the opener has at least 3+cards in that minor. The responder must have 5+cards in that same minor to generate an 8+card fit in that minor in order to support that minor.

Point Count Range:

Simply re-bidding the opener's suit confirms the partnership will play a contract in that opened suit. The level of the re-bid indicates the responder's point count range. Since the trump suit is known, the responder can use distribution points to re-evaluate its hand:

Distribution Points for a Support Hand

When playing a suit contract, having extra trump cards add value to the hand. They reduce the number of trump cards held by the opponents, and potentially enable the offense to win more tricks using the extra trump cards as "wild cards". The support hand must hold at least 3 trump cards.
Extra Trump Suit Points
(only in the trump suit)
Trump
Suit Length		Pts
3 cards0
4 cards1
5 cards2
6 cards3
When playing a suit contract, having short suits (in the non-trump suits) add value to the hand. They can enable the offense to use trump cards to take tricks with a void, or when a short suit is depleted.
Short Suit Points
(not in the trump suit)
Other
Suit Lengths		Pts
Void Zero cards
(with 5 trump cards)
(with 4 trump cards)
(with 3 trump cards)
5
4
3
Singleton 1 card2
Doubleton 2 cards1
The pts (Total Point Count Value) of the support hand = HCPs + Extra Trump Suit Points + Short Suit Points.
The level of the re-bid indicates the responder's point count range. Since the trump suit is known, the responder can use distribution points to re-evaluate its hand:
Response to 1-level Suit Opening
Point Count Raise Response
6-9 pts Single 2-level response
10-12 pts Double 3-level response
13-14 pts Triple 4-level response
Once the responder determines the suit to play, the responder reevaluates its hand by adding distribution points to the HCPs of the support hand. These distribution points are Extra Trump Suit Points and Short Suit Points (voids / singletons / doubletons). This increased point count value is used to determine the appropriate support response bid.

The following charts display how the responder supports the opener's suit:
Support Clubs
Support Diamonds
Support Hearts
Support Spades
The selection of the appropriate response bid depends upon the opened suit, the strength of the responder's hand and the Yellow Card priorities. For more information on the appropriate response bid, go to one of the following four web pages:

Respond to  1 ♣  opening bid.
Respond to  1 ♦  opening bid.
Respond to  1 ♥  opening bid.
Respond to  1 ♠  opening bid.

3/23/2025
Reed's Bridge Site © 2025         (Updated 4/13/2025)