Slam Bidding Made Easier -Book Review 

By Jared Johnson 
D17 ScoreCard Editor 

Bidding and making a slam is usually the biggest thrill at the bridge table. Slam bidding is especially important at home bridge and most team games since they score more points. 

At duplicate matchpoint bridge, a slam hand counts the same as every other hand. Getting outbid on a part score hand or failing to beat the opponents’ part score could be just as costly in terms of matchpoints than failing to bid or make a slam or letting the opponents make a slam. 

But it doesn’t feel that way. Even at duplicate matchpoints you want to get the slam hands right. 

At the end of a tournament session nobody is going around asking, “Hey, did you press on to three spades over three hearts on that part score battle on board 25?” Of course not. But the slam hands are the talk of the town. “Did you get to the grand on board seven?” 

All this means you want to make the best of it when the fates have dealt you most of the high cards. 

Multi-national champion Marty Bergen is ready to help. His new book is Slam Bidding Made Easier with plenty of information on maximizing your advantage on big hands. 

The hardcover book is available for $25.00 plus $5.00 postage and handling from the author at 1 800 386-7432. There is also a $10.00 paperback companion workbook (bidding quizzes) included for free. 

The usual recommendation is 33 high card points for a small slam and 37 for a grand slam. But those are the slams that are easy to bid. The challenge is to get to the suit slams based on the magic fits. Or sometimes you have the 33 HCP but you are still off two quick losers. 

It is actually possible to construct a hand (you will never see it at the table) where a grand slam is cold on five high card points. 

However, there are quite a few hands where slams are cold or at least odds on with only 24-30 high card points with a good enough fit. These are the hands where you need special tools. 

Basic Blackwood probably won’t do it. 

Bergen discusses Jacoby 2NT and Splinter Bids. Of course, often after trotting out these conventions, you still end up in game, but they are primarily descriptive tools to pave the way for possible slam bidding. 

And naturally, you will find comprehensive coverage of cue-bidding and Roman Key Card Blackwood. 

An example (hand turned for convenience): 

All vulnerable, South dealer: 

North
ÍKQ32 
ÌJ97 
ËA6 
ÊKJ43 

West                                   East 
Í105                    Í94 
ÌK643                   ÌAQ1085 
ËQ10985                           ËKJ43 
Ê108                    Ê62 

South 
ÍAJ876 
Ì2 
Ë72 
ÊAQ975 

South opens 1Í, and North bids a Jacoby 2NT (a convention played only by explicit agreement with partner) that promises an opening hand plus trump support and asks partner to further describe his hand. 

South bids 4Ê showing a good five-card suit. That pleases North who cue-bids 4Ë to show the ËA. South shows a heart control (singleton) with 4Ì. North still checks up on aces with 4NT, finds the partnership is missing one, and bids 6Í. There is nothing to the play. 

There are only 25 high card points, and the ÌJ is worthless, but the perfect fit in the black suits and the red suit controls make the slam ideal. 

Wouldn’t you like to get to more slams like this? Buy this book. 

P.S. One more tip: “The reality for slam contracts is that eight trumps may not be enough.” If you only rate to have an eight card fit, exercise caution. When you only have eight trumps, one opponent will have four (or more) trumps almost a third of the time, and that alone could sink your contract on some hands. 

True, you may not have two quick losers off the top, but on many hands there is what we sometimes refer to as “handling charges” in trying to collect your entire 12 tricks. A bad break may make the price too high. 

If you have nine trumps, an opponent will have four trumps less than 10 percent of the time, a big difference. 

Notes Bergen: “The ninth trump is the most underrated card in bridge.” 

(It applies to game contracts too. Four-four fits or five-three fits can be devilish with those four-one breaks, and sometimes you lose trump control. But think about it. How often have you lost trump control with a five-four or six-three fit?)