SAYC
× Introduction:
  1. Introduction
  2. Evaluate an Opening Hand
  3. Bidding Process / Hierarchy Chart
  4. Bidding Strategy

  SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card)
  Statistics
× Opening Bids
       Opening Bid Options
Open 1 Level
   Open  1 ♠ 
   Open  1 ♥ 
       Open  1 NT 
           Open Better Minor
           Open  1 ♦ 
           Open  1 ♣ 
Weak Opening Bids
 •          2 ♦   2 ♥   2 ♠  (6-card suit)
 •  3 ♣   3 ♦   3 ♥   3 ♠  (7-card suit)
 •                  4 ♥   4 ♠  (8-card suit)
Strong Opening Bids
      • Open  2 ♣ 
      • Open  2 NT 
      • Open  3 NT 
Opening vs Table Position
× Bid 2: Respond to Suit Openings
   Guidelines for Responses
         1-over-1 Restriction
         Distribution Points
   Respond to  1 ♠ 
   Respond to  1 ♥ 
         (Jacoby  2 NT )
   Respond to  1 ♦ 
   Respond to  1 ♣ 
Bid 3: Opener's Next Bid
   Responder Supports the Bid Suit
       (Response to Jacoby  2 NT )
   Responder Proposes a New Suit
Respond to Weak Openings
  • Respond to  2 ♠   2 ♥   2 ♦ 
  • Respond to  3 ♠   3 ♥   3 ♦   3 ♣ 
  • Respond to  4 ♠   4 ♥ 
Respond to Strong Openings
  • Respond to  2 ♣  using:
      • 2-Diamond Waiting
      • 3-Point Step
      • 2-Diamond Bust
  • Respond to Strong 2
× Respond to NT Openings
Respond to  1 NT 
    Transfers (1NT)
       Stayman (1NT)
          No 4-card Major (1NT)
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:
 • Slam (Blackwood & Gerber)
 • Overcalls
 • Doubles
 • Balancing
× Practice Bidding:
   • Open 1 Level
   • Responses to 1 Suit Openings
   • Open 1 NT & 14 Responses
   • Open 1 NT & 16 Responses
   • Responses to 2 Club Opening
   • Overcalls
Practice Websites:
   • SAYC Bidding Practice
   • Trickster
× Taking Tricks:
• Leads on Defense
• Leads on Offense
    • Finessing a Tenace
× Keeping Score:
1. Contract Points Scoring
2. Match Points Scoring
× Downloads:
• SAYC Summary
• Open 1-Level
• Responses to 1-Suit Opening Bids
• 1 NT Openings & Responses
• Responses to Weak Openings
• Responses to 2 Club Openings

 4 ♣  Gerber and  4 NT  Blackwood Conventions

The Gerber and Blackwood Conventions are sequences of ARTIFICIAL bids used to explore slam level contracts. Gerber is an "ace asking" system used to search for a contract in a suit. Blackwood is a more versitile system. Sometimes it is an "ace asking" system, and sometimes it is a "point asking" system (quantitative invitation) to enter a contract in No Trump.
Gerber -  4 ♣ 
Gerber is an "Ace Asking" convention used to identify the number of aces and kings in the combined partnership hands. This information is used to decide between entering a small or grand slam contract in a suit.
•  The asking partner bids  4 ♣  and the answering partner makes an artificial bid that indicates the number of ACES in the answerer's hand.
•  If the partnership holds all 4 aces, the asking partner bids  5 ♣  and the answering partner makes an artificial bid that indicates the number of KINGS in the answerer's hand.
Gerber
 4 ♣  Asking for Aces  5 ♣  Asking for Kings
Bid # of Aces Bid # of Kings
 4 ♦  0 or 4 Aces  5 ♦  0 or 4 Kings
 4 ♥  1 Ace  5 ♥  1 King
 4 ♠  2 Aces  5 ♠  2 Kings
 4 NT 3 Aces 5 NT 3 Kings

Blackwood -  4 NT  - Ace Asking
Blackwood is an "Ace Asking" convention used to identify the number of aces and kings in the combined partnership hands. This information is used to decide between entering a small or grand slam contract.
•  The asking partner bids  4 NT  and the answering partner makes an artificial bid that indicates the number of ACES in the answerer's hand.
•  If the partnership holds all 4 aces, the asking partner bids  5NT  and the answering partner makes an artificial bid that indicates the number of KINGS in the answerer's hand.
Blackwood (Ace Asking)
 4 NT  Asking for Aces  5 NT  Asking for Kings
Bid # of Aces Bid # of Kings
 5 ♣  0 or 4 Aces  6 ♣  0 or 4 Kings
 5 ♦  1 Ace  6 ♦  1 King
 5 ♥  2 Aces  6 ♥  2 Kings
 5 ♠  3 Aces  6 ♠  3 Kings

Quantitative Invitation -  4 NT 
(Point Asking After No Trump Opening)

When an opener bids  1 NT  or  2 NT  and the partner has enough points (18+ points or 13+ points respectively) for a possible slam in No Trump, the partner bids  4 NT  to learn the number of points in the opener's hand.

The accompanying table contains the opener's response based upon the No Trump opener's points.
Partner Bids  4 NT 
(Quantitative Invitation - partner asking for points)
No Trump Opener's Points Opener's Response
Opens  1 NT  Opens  2 NT 
15 HCPs 20 HCPs 5 ♣
16 HCPs 21 HCPs 5 ♦
16 HCPs with
5-card suit		 5 ♥
17 HCPs 5 ♠


DOPI and DEPO

When playing with experienced / competitive players, occasionally an opposing player will make an intervening cue bid overcall during the Gerber/Blackwood ace asking process. This can be quite disruptive.
In this case, the DOPI and DEPO response system can be used.
For example, seat 1 is the player that initiates the Gerber/Blackwood process with a bid of  4 ♣  or  4 NT . Seat 2 is the overcaller making the intervening cue bid at the 4 or 5 level. Seat 3 is the partner of seat 1 who must respond with the number of aces using the following response system:
      D O P I response
• Double if the partner has 0 aces, or
• PASS if the partner has 1 ace or
• one hierarchy step above seat 2's cue bid if the partner has 2 aces, or
• two hierarchy steps above seat 2's cue bid if the partner has 3 aces.

If seat 1 continues the Gerber/Blackwood process with a bid of  5 ♣  or  5 NT , and seat 2 makes another intervening cue bid at the 5 or 6 level, then seat 3 responds with the number of kings using the following response system:
      D E P O response
• Double if the partner has an Even number of kings (0, 2, or 4), or
• PASS if the partner has an Odd number of kings (1 or 3).

1/11/2024
Reed's Bridge Site © 2024         (Updated 11/20/2024)