Royal auction bridge up to date

Front matter

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ROYAL AUCTION BRIDGE UP TO DATE

Contents

PAGE

Best Leads for a Doubled Declared Trump . . . . 52

Echo ' . 53

Introduction

A REVISED count at Auction has come into vogue, and I have endeavored in this new edition, to give a description of the game as it is played today. Under this new count, holding a good Spade suit with top Honors you declare Royals and not ** two Spades " as formerly.

The new count does not alter the principles of the game of Auction, but the score is materially changed. The advantage of Royals over the old count is, that good dark suits are not wasted, but are bid up and competition is made more lively. The suit values are but one point apart. Thus, a one bid will not beat a two bid, as before, when a ** one no-trump " declaration over-called a '' two Club " bid. You can now go game in the black suits, which even a grand slam would not give you at the old count, when Spades and Clubs scored only two and four. Royals and Clubs now present a very substantial Honor count, and are worthy of consideration.

Auction has many exciting phases of play that do not occur at the parent game. Bridge, and to many of its devotees it undoubtedly owes its popular precedence over Bridge to its more exciting possibilities in the matter of playing for stakes. Auction also requires a keener sense of values.

The score plays an all important part in the bidding, and it requires clever strategy and good judgment 8 to know when to force the opponent's bid to an unattainable contract and when to take the bid away from him, especially when the score is a game each and a fulfilled contract may give him the rubber. If the bid fails, you can only lose in the Honor column, and you still have a chance for a more successful bid on the next deal.

The loss at Auction differs from Bridge in this: the declarant loses only to his adversary in the Honor column, while in Bridge the adversary scores against him in the trick column, which frequently gives him game or rubber.

When doubled at Auction, the game, if successful, counts an additional benefit over Bridge, for you score, not only for the doubled tricks in the score, the same as at Bridge, but you also receive a bonus 9 in the Honor column, which does not occur at Bridge. Good hands are not wasted at Auction.

The privilege of bidding for the trump gives each player a chance to name his own suit, and, if he is not strong enough to over-call his opponent, at least he has given valuable information to his partner, and directs his lead in case he has no top cards of his own. A declaration at Bridge is final, while at Auction it is frequently no more than an indication of strength.

Before Bridge became so generally known, it was not uncommon to meet with players who boasted their independence of rules. They were quite content to rely on their '* card sense,'' as they expressed it, and it never seemed to occur to them what a blind game they were playing.

There may be novices at Auction who are likewise self-sufficient, but just as Bridge grew upon the casual player more and more, until he was not satisfied to play a mediocre game himself nor to join in a game with those who did, so it will be with Auction and in a much shorter time. The loss to the player who boasts of his independence of rules at Auction will soon demonstrate to him that a thorough knowledge of the different phases of the game is essential to a satisfactory score and as an acceptable partner.