Rules for Bidding

 

1.Open 1 no trump if you have 12-14 pts and no singleton or no major suit longer than 4, or minor suit longer than 5.

2.  Else open your longest suit 12-22 pts. With a 6-card suit you can open with 11 pts. Remember length before strength

3.  Do not open any suit with less than 4 cards

4.  If you have 2 suits with 4 cards:

With Clubs & Spades open 1 Club

With Hearts and Spades open 1 Heart

Otherwise open the higher ranked suit.

5.  With 3 suits of 4 cards:

With a ‘red ‘ singleton: open 1 Club

With a ‘black’ singleton: open the ‘middle’ suit

6.  With 2 suits of 5 cards open the higher ranked suit

7.  Before you open the bidding in a suit, think what you will re-bid if partner responds. Partner expects you to make a second bid. This can be in another suit or in no-trumps.

8.  If you have only 1 suit of 4 cards then your re-bid will be in no-trumps.

9.  You can re-bid any suit of 5 cards or longer

10.Try to show the hand SHAPE as well as the STRENGTH

11.    Your second bid can miss a level of bidding to show a strong hand

12.     Even though you have passed this does not prevent you from bidding later.