Hand Evaluation

Background

• Many tricks are won with high cards:   Ace, King, Queen, Jack
• Some tricks are won with spot cards in long suits
• Some tricks are won trumping in a suit that you no longer have (a short suit).
  
  
• Some tricks are won with finesses of cards in good positions.
• Certain high cards (Ace and King) and certain combinations of high cards (King-Queen in same suit) can be used to quickly gain the lead.
  
  
• Conclusion:   The inclusion or exclusion of the above features in your and your partner's hand is a measure of how many tricks that you will take.
• Observation:   Card position requires some knowledge of the opponents hands. One approach is to assume card position is good 50% of the time.
• Observation:   If the opponent's bid suits or double, then you gain some information about card position.

Suggestion

• Bridge players use different methods to evaluate hands.
• However, most bridge players use the same base guidelines.
• These Bridge Notes describe a commonly used set of guidelines.
• Recommendation:
  • In the beginning, use one set of simple guidelines as "rules".
  • Always follow these rules even though they sometimes result in bad contracts.
  • With experience you can learn more complex guidelines.

Hand Evaluation Guidelines

1. Initially add HCP & LSP (points) to get an initial value for your hand.
   • High Card Points (HCP) are the core of the hand evaluation. Most (close to 100%) approaches use the same scheme.
   • Long Suit Points (LSP) provide a simple measure to evaluate how your hand distribution will effect the ability to win tricks.
   
   
2. When you find a fit (you and your partner have a total of 8+ cards in a suit) that will be a good trump suit, and you have at least 3 of those cards in your hand; you can add SUP (points) to the initial total (item 1 above).
   • A supplemently Short Suit Distribution Point Count or Support Points (SUP) provide a measure of the ability to ruff or trump tricks.
   
   
3. From the play of the hand, gaining control of the lead is clearly an important feature for a hand to have.
   • Quick Tricks (QT) provide a measure of this feature. A hand with 2 QTs is good. More than 2 QTs, infers a better hand.
   
   
4. Point Count Requirements are shown here.
   • With experience, you can study various Point Count Modifers.
   • With experience, you can study various Alternate Point Count Methods.
   • A table showing the percentage of hands with specific distributions can be found here.