[sceptic]

Quote

I am continually noticing in my partnerships that the main reason that we do not do significantly better is we make too many mistakes

Does not leave much hope for us mere mortals if you make statements like that

[MickyB]

It's probably getting a bit technical for much practical use, but at MPs you should bid game iff

Probability (you making enough tricks)

plus

Expected value of (proportion of the field to make enough tricks)

is greater than 100%. That's regardless of whether you think that the other tables will bid the game.


I think that must assume that everyone is in the same strain...if your anti-field methods have found a 4-4 fit when others will be in NT, say, your +140/+170 might be a pretty good score already.

[mikeh]

I like Adam's posts: in fact, mine will be the shorter because he has said most of what I wanted to say.

My own experience suggests a huge difference between strong fields and weak. Like most of us, I suspect, I don't go to Nationals very often so my 'toughest' mp games are usually at Regionals, and most of my mps is at a club or a Sectional tournament, and I am sure that these translate well to non-acbl players.

We have a tendency to stratified pairs in acbl-land, with usually only one flighted pair game per tournament. I have NEVER won a regional stratified pairs, altho I have won a number of the supposedly tougher Flight A events. Friends of mine of comparable skill and similar methods (usually more mainstream than mine, if anything) have had considerable success at both, and I think I know why.

I generally don't change my game much: I compete a little more for the partscore, I tend to bid notrump a bit more and so on but I generally try to 'play bridge'. I do the 'book' mp adjustments but I stay in the boat and play, usually, as if my opponents are not complete idiots, even when the evidence suggests otherwise. This works fine in a stronger field, because the opps will tend not to do really stupid things and they will tend to double when you over-reach, rather than to misdefend or overbid.

I remember good friends of mine who put together a 236.5 and a 237.5, on a 156 average, to win a stratified by four boards. Going through the hands afterwards, they scored a huge number of 11's or 12's when the opps did something remarkably bad... but it wasn't really luck. On reviewing the auction and the play, the winners really put great pressure on their opps by doing things that, against good opps, should have resulted in terrible boards... but they picked their spots.

So my advice is to really pay attention to your opps in a typical weak field. I am not so sure about how this should affect your bidding, other than doubling the opps more often when they are weak, but in the play, when deciding on your line, tend to go with the line that promises the biggest reward even or especially if doing so requres a defensive error. I tend to rarely insult my opps by my line of play, and that is clearly wrong in a typical mp event.

In a tough(er) event, playing solid bridge is usually enough to keep you in the hunt and then take advantage of the inevitable gifts (you will not win many events without a gift or two) and avoid being the donors of the gifts. Avoid the zero, unless the game is kind of blah and you need to try to turn it around. Having said that, I read that Fantoni and Nunes played 3N twice with 10 card major suit fits en route to winning the recent Blue Ribbon, and I suspet those guys know a bit more about winning tough pairs games than I do

[awm]

This is a sign that Justin plays in stronger fields...

Basically there are three levels of pairs, in broad terms:

(1) Really bad pairs. These pairs can screw up virtually anything. Pass throughout and they may not bid their cold game. Let them bid 3NT with ten top tricks and they may take only nine. Against these sorts of people, it's often best not to take risks. Sure, they will have no idea what to do if you preempt against them on a five-card suit, but they'll have no idea what to do if you pass. And sometimes you preempt a five card suit, they pass it out, and you just go down too many... Since your expected board is a near-top against these folks if you just play "normal bridge" there's no reason to do anything. These folks populate a lot of the local clubs and you will see them in stratified regional fields, but you won't find many of them in flight A fields at regionals.

(2) Mediocre pairs. These pairs can usually get a normal hand right. If you pass throughout they will usually get to game if they have it (and not when they don't). Assuming there's no hard play problems they will make the normal number of tricks when they declare. Against these folks, a little action can go a long way. When they're out of their comfort zone (i.e. you preempt them aggressively) they will make a lot of mistakes. They will have trouble figuring out when they need to double to preserve a good MP score. It can pay to be active against these folks. You see a lot of these sorts in flight A fields at regionals, or on the first day of national events. These are the better players in your typical club game. Many of them are gone by day two in a serious pairs field.

(3) Good pairs. These pairs will often declare a hand a trick better than the field. If you pass throughout they will virtually always get to a good contract and hand you an average-minus at best. They also tend to defend well. Being active against these pairs can pay off since they will occasionally judge wrong, but they are also very capable of taking you for a number when you get out of line. These are the best players in the game; you will find only a few of them in a regional pairs field. Against these players it's hard to do more than consistently hold your own. Playing a fairly sound game usually works better than being wild and crazy. The best way to get a really good board against them is often to underbid or otherwise go for reasonable non-field contracts, because this will more or less take their defense out of the equation (either your contract is better than the field spot or it isn't, and when it is better you will get a near-top regardless of how the good players defend the hand).

Anyways I expect Justin is playing mostly in flight A regional or national pairs where the "bad" players are type (2) and the good ones are type (3), which backs up his intuition about being more active against the bad pairs. Having played a fair number of club games I've noticed some type (1) players and honestly it's best to just stay out of their way and don't risk getting to some non-field contract that removes their defense or play from the equation!

[mike777]

"Really bad pairs. These pairs can screw up virtually anything."


So level one is basically 99%+ of bridge games online and f2f? Anything outside "only" Flight A or stronger?

[jmc]

I have found everyone's comments interesting. Awm's characterization of the 3 types of players is helpful but, I'll freely admit, I am more a category one than a category three.

I am trying to prepare for the red ribbon pairs in St. Louis. My competition will be mainly B and C players. My thought is that eliminating zeros, bidding competently, and defending well should be enough to do ok. I'm always glad to find a little luck when I pick up the cards, too. We play precsion with transfer responses and a weak 10-13 NT. I think we try and be aggressive but not too edgy.

Considering the B competition, any further suggestions or elaborations?

Thanks again for all the great posts,

jmc

[Ant590]

Considering myself as a recent graduate from group #1 of Adam's ranking I was wondering what are the 'tells' that one can use to distinguish between group 1 and 2 (presumably in a local event 3 should be obvious)?

Are convention cards a good start? Age? Couples?

Ant.

[inquiry]

A lot of good topics have been discussed, and I may be the last person who should offer advice on pairs strategies. But here goes.

1) I try to bid down the middle (normal), picking the agressive low-level balancing, penalty double, land preferring 3NT to other game contracts more often at pairs.

2) I try to pick up most MP after the bidding is over, by taking percentage plays and not dropping tricks by adopting greatly against the odds lines of play (offense or defense). I even take lines that assure down one when there are some lines that will allow a contract to make if everything is right (but go down more when wrong). The advantage of going for MP in play, is it is easier to guestimate the odds of different lines than in bidding.

3) If I am out of competition, I play 100% down the middle.

4) If I am in contention, needing a board to "win" I take more chances trying to create a swing... late in an event, who wants to finish 3rd? I rather take an educated swing trying for First ending in Eighth.

[inquiry]

Oh, I just thought of a new strategy for pairs.. Try NOT to look like Adam's #1 group.... so your opponents will give themselves a chance to go wrong against you. If you can, try to give the impression you fall into category 3..

Best way to do this, don't come to the table arguing (or discussing the last hand), briefly look at your opponents CC, act like you are there for BRIDGE, not socializing. Bid in tempo and don't look like your are distracted. If you look confident, that will help in some odd ways.

Some sort of tricky ways to look (or sound) better than you are, might be

• Write some lifemaster pair like number somewhere on you CC (but don't say it is your!!!).
  
• talk about how you not quite a platinium lifemaster yet (even if you are 9999.32 Masterpoints short
  
• Mention to your partner that you are not "sure" where you stand on the latest Barry Crane list (of course you are not on it.... but you really haven't checked have you?.
  
• Talk about going to some obscure regional, in someplace no one would go for anything but bridge (not hawaii, not orlanda, etc). Only a serious player would treck to out of the way non-tourist places to play bridge.

Sadly these tricks will only work once, maybe twice against someone who discovers "our" real playing stregnth.

[Gerben42]

Perhaps a 50% game is something you might want to get into, but usually 50% games are really 40% games. And that are the ones at MP you really want to stay out of. On the story about 3NT and 4M, try Kit Woolsey's book on MP. I guess the 10-card fit hands where Fantoni / Nunes bid 3NT instead of 4M are similar to the hands suggested there.

BTW I'd like to comment that I've also never won a regional stratified pairs. But since most regional tourneys in Germany have real prizes (money, or useful things like the pyjamas I am currently wearing) I prefer not to find out what a regional stratified pairs is

[mike777]

A superior series of posts so far. Just wanted to say thank you to all for taking the time to post.

[bid_em_up]

jmc, on Dec 15 2006, 02:39 AM, said:

I am trying to prepare for the red ribbon pairs in St. Louis.  My competition will be mainly B and C players.  My thought is that eliminating zeros, bidding competently, and defending well should be enough to do ok.  Considering the B competition, any further suggestions or elaborations?

Thanks again for all the great posts,

jmc

Some other things that havent been touched on. Some should go without saying, but....

1) Get a good nights rest the night before (no playing midnite zip swiss or watching late nite movies).
2) Do not eat a heavy lunch OR dinner.
3) Watch your alcohol intake (if you drink at all).
4) Arrive early. Get your entry with a fair amount of time remaining prior to the start of the event. Find your table. Have your CC filled out ahead of time. In other words, when you get there, be prepared to PLAY.
5) Make sure you use some of the extra time for a potty break. There is nothing worse than having to hold it for the first six to eight boards because you need to go and cant get a break. It also disrupts your concentration.
6) Spend some of the other extra time reviewing your CC. You dont need to study it in detail, just refamiliarize yourself with it.
7) If you happen to spot a flaw in your system that needs to be corrected, above all else, DO NOT attempt to change it now. Wait until after the event is over.
8) I have always found it to be of crucial importance to play for at least AVERAGE on board #1, unless you have real good reasons to do otherwise. A disaster on bd #1 can set the tone for the next several boards, if not the entire session. I have had many a good game destroyed by this. This is not saying dont take advantage of a gift (if one presents itself), but do you best to bid/play for average to average plus.
9) Do not discuss hands during the session. Save the mental energy for later hands.
10) See #9.
11) Above all else, try to have fun. Opponents who see you and partner enjoying yourselves, are inclined to let their "guard" down as well. Their mistake. Oh well. Also, if you are not having fun, you are less likely to concentrate or play well.
12) Lastly, if you have a disaster, do your best to forget it and keep playing your best game. Crying over spilt milk, so to speak, accomplishes nothing except to distract you into spilling more milk.

As always,

jmoo.

[glen]

bid_em_up, on Dec 15 2006, 09:23 PM, said:

Posting above, with comments below...

11) Above all else, try to have fun.

Ok

1) Get a good nights rest the night before (no playing midnite zip swiss or watching late nite movies).

Wait, that's taking away from the fun

2) Do not eat a heavy lunch OR dinner.

No fun at all.

3) Watch your alcohol intake (if you drink at all).

Reduced fun.

4) Arrive early. Get your entry with a fair amount of time remaining prior to the start of the event. Find your table. Have your CC filled out ahead of time. In other words, when you get there, be prepared to PLAY.

5) Make sure you use some of the extra time for a potty break. There is nothing worse than having to hold it for the first six to eight boards because you need to go and cant get a break. It also disrupts your concentration.

Well, we slept in, and drank a whole pot of coffee to wake up due to late night, so we had to buy the entry late, and now we need several coffee potty breaks.

6) Spend some of the other extra time reviewing your CC. You dont need to study it in detail, just refamiliarize yourself with it.

Glad partner has his name on our cc, because after that late nite couldn't remember it.

7) If you happen to spot a flaw in your system that needs to be corrected, above all else, DO NOT attempt to change it now. Wait until after the event is over.

Oh well, we are stuck playing Reverse Hsikok, whatever that is

12) Lastly, if you have a disaster, do your best to forget it and keep playing your best game. Crying over spilt milk, so to speak, accomplishes nothing except to distract you into spilling more milk.

Plus you get tears in the milk too, so watered down milk.

8) I have always found it to be of crucial importance to play for at least AVERAGE on board #1, unless you have real good reasons to do otherwise. A disaster on bd #1 can set the tone for the next several boards, if not the entire session. I have had many a good game destroyed by this. This is not saying dont take advantage of a gift (if one presents itself), but do you best to bid/play for average to average plus.

What happened to no crying over spilt milk? A bad board on the first one just gets the blood flooding (when will that pot of coffee kick in?).

9) Do not discuss hands during the session. Save the mental energy for later hands.

No fighting, no fun.

10) Opponents who see you and partner enjoying yourselves, are inclined to let their "guard" down as well. Their mistake. Oh well. Also, if you are not having fun, you are less likely to concentrate or play well.

Opponents who see you fighting will be enjoying Rocky VII too much to play well.

------
P.S. If trying to win the red ribbon pairs, one wants to cut down on errors as much as possible - so simple system (whatever makes the partnership the most comfortable), straightforward carding agreements, and spend all prep time on getting your D on the very same wavelength in all situations - discuss all prep boards where there was any confusion. If rich hire Kokish as coach. Play in a two session live event where you say nothing to each other (all smiles all the time) until the whole event is over.

[MFA]

Quote

I really think estimating what the field will be doing is overrated..

So right!
Bridge is so difficult that just focusing on the evaluation problems and the card play problems is more than enough. Much of the deep MP talk about percentages and tops & zeros is just useless theoretical babbling.
In practice those textbook examples where you need to take an extreme matchpoint decision come up much less frequently than people realize.

Play tight/aggressive (as in poker? ) and be sure not to get mentally disturbed about bad boards. This is actually much harder to accomplish in MPs because these tourneys tend to be more hectic to play than IMPs due to the frequent shift of opponents.

[whereagles]

Best strategy is: "either we play the hand or they play doubled"

[barmar]

mikeh, on Dec 14 2006, 06:48 PM, said:

We have a tendency to stratified pairs in acbl-land, with usually only one flighted pair game per tournament. I have NEVER won a regional stratified pairs, altho I have won a number of the supposedly tougher Flight A events. Friends of mine of comparable skill and similar methods (usually more mainstream than mine, if anything) have had considerable success at both, and I think I know why.

There may be another explanation for this. If you've studied books like "Inferences at Bridge", these inferences generally assume that the opponents are playing "correctly". But flight C players don't always do the right thing, and your inferences will frequently be wrong as a result. As a result, you're more likely to be "fixed" by weak players.

[Gerben42]

I think Glen summarized the best strategy: Just like when you are trying to play winning poker, you are not there "to have fun"! You are there to win!