Accurately assess the value of your combined hands Accurate hand evaluation is critically important to reaching the right contract in bridge. Yet, for over 75 years now, hand evaluation has essentially relied on Milton Work's 4-3-2-1 honor point count -- a count known to be seriously flawed and inaccurate. Even in balanced hands aces are under-valued, queens and jacks are overvalued, tens are not factored in, and distribution and fit are barely considered. All in all, this method gives a very unsatisfactory, inaccurate point count that leads, too often, to the wrong contract. In this book, the author addresses these flaws by applying corrections to the 4-3-2-1 honor point count and Goren's distribution point count, and introduces revolutionary new findings that lead to much more accurate hand evaluation. Most importantly, this new Optimal hand evaluation accurately assesses the value of both hands combined, the true test of hand evaluation. Over 100 example hands clearly establish that the Work/Goren point count is simply erroneous and that various other more modern methods do not offer a better alternative. Reading this book will let you be the judge, and applying the Optimal point count is sure to substantially improve your bidding.

In his first book, Optimal Hand Evaluation, the author introduced a number of corrections to the Goren point count to reach "optimal" hand evaluation accuracy. That first book focused on non-competitive bidding situations where no further adjustments were needed as a result of the opponents' bidding. This book now deals with this specific topic. First, it challenges the very premise of the Law of Total Tricks and compares the results of its application "at the table" by world-class players to the effectiveness of the Optimal point count. Then, it reveals how to precisely quantify: - The point-count adjustments that should be applied to hands that are short or long in a suit bid by the opponents. - Which point-count adjustments should be made to honors. - How adjustments translate a hand's Offense to Defense ratio. - What adjustments apply to balanced hands. This book begins with an overview and two-page summary of the Optimal point count. The full rationale and statistical support data justifying the point count can be found in the first book, as well as over 100 example hands illustrating its accuracy.

My goal for “The Modified Optimal 2/1-Club System” is to show how to use the Optimal Point Count (OPC) method of hand evaluation developed by Patrick. Darricades in his book “Optimal Hand Evaluation” (2019) to improve the dialogue between two players to achieve an optimal bridge contract. The primary objective is to demonstrate how to apply the new system approach to contract bridge by illustrating a more accurate method of hand evaluation whether you play 2/1, Standard American (SA), Acol or Precision, among others. The Two over One (2/1) Game Force bidding system was an improvement over the SA System that has been in effect and played by bridge players for many years. Many claim that the advantage of the 2/1 system allows the partnership to know that game is possible with only a single bid provided one has 13+ points. As we shall see for suit contracts it is only true if the opening 2/1 bidder has 15 points, not 12/13 points since 25/26 points do not result in game whenever a singleton in one hand finds “wasted honor points” in partner’s hand. Yet, most 2/1 conventions call for 13+ High Card Points (HCP). Another flaw of the 2/1 approach is the fact that opening 1-level suit bids have a wide bidding range (12-21). To eliminate this flaw, the principles of Pinpoint Precision with 1*= 18+ points and new responses associated with a new and improved hand evaluation method. A major flaw of most Strong Club opening bids is that they are based solely on HCPs with opening bids of 1*=16/17+ HCP. To correct these flaws among others, the search for a better hand evaluation method and a better bidding system has been unrelenting. Hand evaluation methods have been popularized by Milton Work, Charles Goren, Marty Bergen, and Petkoy Zar, and others. All falling short when applied to the commonly used “dialogue” bidding systems. The Optimal Point Count (OPC) method of hand evaluation corrects the many flaws of prior hand evaluation methods when applied to any bidding system. In this book many “traditional/standard” bidding practices that do not help to show suit fi t and distribution are to be avoided or re-defined. Splinters and mini splinters which show the location of voids and singletons to help locate wasted honors, the XYZ bidding convention, cue bidding, and new bids for the investigation of game and slam are among the cornerstone conventions reviewed in this book. Newly defined 2 and 3-level bids to show hands with 6/7+card suits are defined to prevent the opponents from finding their optimal contract and to improve upon difficult bidding sequences using traditional bidding strategies. The evaluation of one’s Offense to Defense Ratio (ODR), why many well-known bidding sequences must be avoided, and an analysis of several old “standard” bridge laws/rules are reviewed to show why they need not be used to improve one’s judgement if one employs the OPC method.

How to refigure your assets as the bidding proceeds

Bridge players constantly argue about the 'best' bidding systems and conventions. Strong Club or Natural? With or without relays? Standard or 2/1? Weak or strong notrump? Was the Blue Club system really better than the natural systems in the 1950s and 1960s? Is two-way Stayman as good as Stayman and transfers? Disciplined or undisciplined weak twos -- which work better? And many, many more... Well, now we have the answer to those questions, provided by exhaustive analysis and the results of computer simulations. And not only which is better, but also by how much, typically tested in thousands of 24-board IMP matches. Playing the same deals via the same AI software eliminates the variable of player skill, and bidding methods are judged solely on their own merits. It is as objective a test as modern technology can provide. And the results may not be what you would expect.

The Losing Trick Count is a way of measuring the trick-taking potential of a trump contract. It enables you to calculate the playing-strength, the tricks in your own hand and to estimate those in your partner's hand. Used correctly the LTC is a vastly superior valuation technique for accurate bidding.