JEFFY B'S BIGGER AND BETTER BRIDGE BID SHEET

OPENING BIDS:

With 13 points you MUST open, with 12 you should. With 6-11, and a long suit (6 cards or more) you may open weak.

THE BIDS:

1c: 12+ points, no 5 card major. SEMI-FORCING.
1d: 12+ points, no 5 card major, 4 GOOD diamonds or 5 card diamond suit.
1h: 12+ points, 5 hearts.
1s: 12+ points, 5 spades.
1NT: 15-17 points, balanced hand (no singletons or voids), no 5 card major.
2c: 22+ points, imbalanced hand. FORCING BID.
2d: 6-11 points, 6 diamonds.
2h: 6-11 points, 6 hearts.
2s: 6-11 points, 6 spades.
2NT: 20-21 points. Balanced. Stoppers in all suits. No singletons or voids.
3 level bids: 6-11 points, no support for other suits, 7 card suits.

Responses(**):

Over a 1 level suit opener:

With 6-10 points, and an 8 card fit(*), make single raise.
With 6-10 points, and no support, bid 1NT.
With 6-10 points, and a suit of your own, bid 1 of your suit.
With 11-15 points, and a suit of your own, bid 2 of your suit - NOT JUMPING
With 11-12 points, and a balanced hand bid 2NT.
With 13-15 points, and a balanced hand bid 3NT.
With 9-11 points, and at least an 8 card fit, jump in partner's suit 'limit raise'. Invites game if partner has more than minimum.
With 15+ points: Jump a level and bid your best suit.

* support with 3 in major, 4 diamonds, or 5 clubs.

** bear in mind how much you need to make game for the various suits (below).

Special bids:

Over a 1c opening, 1d is negative, 0-6 points. With 5 clubs, you may pass.
Over 1NT opener, 2c is stayman, promising at least one 4-card major. Shows 6+ points. Declarer should respond by bidding his cheapest 4-card major, or 2d if no 4 card major.
Over 1NT opener, 2d and 2h are Jacoby Transfer bids. 2d promises 5 hearts, 2h promises 5 spades. If you are 5-5 or 5-4 in the majors, bid 2c instead. These transfers are FORCING.
Over 1NT opener, 2s is a transfer to minors with a weak hand. 1NT bidder should bid 3c, at which point responder passes with clubs or corrects to 3d.
Over 2NT opener, 3c is stayman as above, and 3d/3h are Jacoby transfers. 3s is a transfer to minors.
Over 2c opener, All responses are artifical, and give an indication of your point count:
- 2d means 0-3 points
- 2h means 4-6 points
- 2s means 7-9 points
- 2nt means 10+ points.
If you have a good suit of your own, you can show this in subsequent bidding. Note that a 2c opening bid is FORCING TO GAME except in the specific case of 2c-2d-2NT, which may be passed, and shows 22-23 balanced points in the 2c bidders hand. After responder shows his points, 2c bidder will bid his own suit with an imbalanced hand, or NT with a balanced hand.

Over any 2 or 3 level preempt, any new suit bid or NT bid is FORCING.

Specifically over a weak-2 bid, a 2NT response asks for hand quality. Responses are:

3c: minimum point count, minimum suit quality
3d: maximum point count, minimum suit quality
3h: minimum point count, maximum suit quality
3s: maximum point count, maximum suit quality

To make game:

NT = 25 points.
major suit = 27 points, 8 card fit.
minor suit = 29 points, 8 card fit.
small slam = 33 points.
grand slam = 36 points.

Count distribution against this total if in a suit contract.

Overcalls:

You may overcall with as few as 8 points and a 5 card suit. However, do not feel obligated to overcall simply because you have 8 points. If you do not have a good suit of your own, you are probably better passing and playing defense. If you have a strong hand you may overcall with a 4 card minor.

Simple overcall (bidding your suit at cheapest level) shows 8 points and a 5 card suit.
Jump overcall (skipping a level) shows 6 points, a 6 card suit, and very limited defensive strength.
1NT overcall promises 15-17 points and a balanced hand. Over a 1NT overcall, 2c is stayman, 2d/2h are Jacoby transfers.
X (double) promises 11+ points, and support in at least 2 of the unbid suits. Generally (but not always) means a shortness in opener's suit. This is a FORCING BID. (Exception: this bid may be passed by the responder, if the responder holds 5+ cards in the doubled suit, has no other long suit to bid, and has decent setting chances.

If you have 11+ points, and no 5 card suit, you may double for take-out. Lighter overcalls are acceptable when playing not vulnerable vs vulnerable, vulnerable overcalls should be a bit stronger.

With a very strong hand either a) make simple overcall then jump on next bid or (better) b) X, then jump on next bid.

Doubling:

A double is for TAKEOUT whenever:

partner has not made a bid (other than pass), and the current bid is 2S or less, or
the double is directly over a 3-level preempt.

If neither of these 2 cases are true, then the double is for PENALTY, except for the following situation:

1A - 1B (or 2B) - X. This is a NEGATIVE double, implying short suits in both A and B, and tolerance for the other two suits. To make a negative double, you should have 9 or more points.

A REDOUBLE implies balanced strength with no fit for partner. Example: 1A-Double-Redouble. You should have 12 points, reasonably balanced for this bid.

Other wacky bids:

Cue-Bidding:

An opponents opening bid (either 1A-2A or 1A-P-P-2A) is a Michaels Cue Bid. It promises 5-5 in the majors and 8-12 points. If the cue bid is made over a major suit opening, then it promises 5 in the other major, and 5 in either minor.

Unusual 2NT:

Jumping to 2NT directly over an opponents opening bid (1A-2N) is Unusual 2NT, and promises 5-5 in the two lowest unbid suits.

When does a NT bid promise stoppers?

NEVER PROMISES STOPPERS (generally artifical bids):

1NT opening
1NT direct response

ALWAYS PROMISES STOPPERS (in opponents suit):

any NT bid not listed above promises a stopper in all suits that opponents have bid.

PROMISES STOPPERS IN ALL SUITS:

2NT opener
3NT opener.

Rebids:

With a weak hand (nothing more than you have promised):

Rebid partners suit at next level
Rebid own suit at next level (with 1 card more than promised)
Bid no trump at cheapest level
Pass (only over a weak response)
Bid new suit (not reversing) if you have a second long suit.

With a strong hand(16-18 points, if opener):

Jump in partner's suit.
Jump rebid in your own suit.
Bid a new suit, even with 4 cards.
Reverse.

With a very strong hand (19-22 if opener):

Jump in a new suit.
Jump in notrump.
Double jump in partner's suit.
Double jump in own suit.

Slam bidding:

4NT is Blackwood IF A TRUMP SUIT HAS BEEN AGREED ON. If no trump suit has been decided, then it is a natural NT bid. If Blackwood, the responses are:

5c = 0 or 4 aces
5d = 1 ace
5h = 2 aces
5s = 3 aces

The 4NT bidder can then ask for kings, by bidding 5NT.Responses are the same as for 4NT responses.

4c is Gerber. Directly over any no trump opener (and ONLY then) it asks for aces the same as blackwood (just at a cheaper level).

4d= 0 or 4 aces
4h = 1 ace
4s = 2 ace
4nt = 3 aces

the 4c bidder can then ask for kings, by bidding 5c. Responses are the same as for 4c responses.