WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF?

Apparently, almost everyone. The Big Bad Wolf being the Director. New players cringe in guilt or intimidation; players who have been playing a little longer often get upset with the Director’s ruling because they don’t understand what is involved in the ruling; the long playing players have learned how to use the issues to better their score and want their cake, and ice-cream, and chocolate fudge sauce. The true roll of the Director is to keep equity in the results when errors are made. And in any session of bridge, there will always be errors made at every level of play.

Hundreds of points are lost each year simply because players don’t know the correct action to take and tend to take what their opponents (or partner) tells them. A director cannot come to the table unless called. (Altercations and very slow play are exceptions.) There are certain basic rules every player should be aware of. And the rules fall into two different categories: penalties/adjustments and ethics. Under the latter category, the five most common abuses are: Alerting when you shouldn’t, failure to Alert, bid out of tempo, when declarer claims (declarer and opponents), and pulling the wrong card from the bidding box. In penalties/adjustments the most common errors are: lead out of turn, bid out of turn, reneging, and major vs. minor penalty cards. These are the easiest, so let’s take them first.

Lead out of turn: When you are declarer and the wrong opponent leads you have 5 choices. The large number often flusters Declarer, but don’t let it because this is to your real advantage and you should use it.

1. You may require the person who should have led to lead the suit his Partner led. (He must continue to lead the suit until he has lost the lead.) The offending player returns the card to his hand and may play any legal card he wishes.

2. You may forbid the person who should have led to lead the suit led by offender. (Once the lead is lost, he may then lead the suit led incorrectly by his partner.) The offending player returns the card to his hand and may play any legal card.

3. You may leave opponent’s incorrect lead on the table as a major penalty card. (With a little thought I think you will find that no one should select this one, but it is your right.)

4. You may accept the lead, have partner lay down dummy and resume normal play in a clockwise direction with declarer playing second. (This is effective if you feel partner has an unprotected honor in the suit being led, i.e., Kxx.)

5. And everyone’s favorite - accept the lead and make yourself the Dummy. Play proceeds in a normal fashion. (This one is to your advantage if the auction proceeded in such a way that the weak hand was going to be declaring. You can now keep the strong hand up.)

Bid/Pass out of turn: Before you have a choice, the first thing the Director will ask the next bidder if he wishes to accept the bid/pass. If the answer if yes, the auction continues without penalties of any kind. However, if the bid is not accepted, then there is a bid or pass out of turn. The rulings are different so pay attention.

Pass out of turn - the offender (that’s the dastardly individual who said pass) must pass at his next turn to bid. After that he may make any legal bid. There are no lead penalties as he gave no information concerning a suit.

Bid out of turn - the offender’s partner is banned from the auction. The offender may continue to make any legal bid but his partner must “pass” whenever it is his turn. (The exception to this rule is when it is RHO’s turn to bid and he passes or bids a lower ranking suit so that the offender may repeat his bid in the same denomination and suit. Offender’s partner is not barred from the auction.) So why is the non-Offender barred and not the offender? Because the non-offender has information to which he is not entitled, i.e. his partner has an opening hand.

The Revoke: The very first thing to remember is that you do not have to “fess” up. It is up to the opponents to establish that you revoked. (And, no, you may not hinder them by messing up your cards. That is why it is imperative that you agree upon the result after the hand has been declared but before picking up your cards.) The second is there is no revoke on trick 12. With the exception of Dummy, anyone has a right to inquire if a revoke has occurred (and you must answer honestly). Dummy’s job is to watch for revokes by the Opponents. He never reports that Declarer has revoked. After the hand has been declared, he may then inquire as to revokes. If a revoke is missed, it is Dummy’s fault. (It is also Dummy’s fault if Declarer reneges.) There is no penalty if the person who reneged did not win the trick he reneged on and his side won no subsequent tricks. There is a one trick penalty if the offender did not win the trick he reneged on, did not win a subsequent trick with the card with which he did not follow suit, but his side won a subsequent trick. There is a two trick penalty if offender won the trick he revoked on and his side wins a subsequent trick or offender later wins a trick with the card he failed to play and his side wins at least one subsequent trick. In the case where the injured side believes the renege cost them tricks they should have had, the Director may make an adjustment. For example, an opponent reneges when Declarer is drawing trumps. Declarer has losers that can be discarded on a long suit in Dummy but doesn’t get to discard them because the person who reneged trumps. Now the losers have to be lost. Instead of making 5, Declarer only makes 2. If injury like this can be shown, the Director will adjust the score to bring it back to equity, allowing for penalties. (In this case, the penalty would be 2 tricks. The non-offending side is now making 4 when they should have made 5. Therefore, the adjustment.)

Major penalty card: ANY card that is inadvertently played illegally. It remains on the table to be played at the first opportunity, which includes discarding it.

Minor penalty card: This occurs when you drop a card, pull two cards from you hand, etc - an accidental occurrence. It only applies to the spot cards (2-9). The only penalty for when to play these cards is that if you plan to play a “spot” card when the suit if led, you must play the minor penalty card. However, if you have a honor card you wish to play you may do so leaving your “spot” card on the table. You do not have to lead the card if you are on lead, so long as you play an honor card from that suit or you lead a different suit. However, any honor card automatically becomes a Major Penalty Card and is subject to that disposition.

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Ethics are hard to define but in some cases ACBL has gone out of its way to establish a base guide line. For example, when someone asks you to explain a bid you are required to give as full a explanation as possible, including any nuances that are strongly affected by the bid. An example of that is when an opponent explained the other night to me that because his partner didn’t bid 3NT he knew he had no slam interest (spades was their agreed on suit). It is not necessary for your opponent to ask the correct question, only to indicate in some fashion that he wants information about a bid. The opponent is entitled to all the information you and your partner have discussed, including bids that show interest or disinterest. The best policy is when in doubt, explain.

When you are asked for an explanation it is imperative that you give an explanation and not the name of a convention. If your opponent is having difficulty understanding, it is incumbent on you to give as much information as you can to clarify the bid. Opponents are not responsible for knowing all the conventions. If you do not know the correct explanation of a convention or how much information is required, check with your director. Many of us play the same conventions, some of us with variations. A lot of time can be saved if you look at your opponent’s convention card first - that’s why it is there. And, never, never, never ask a question of opponents during an auction unless it affects whether you will bid or not. There is a proper time to ask questions if you are going to defend. The person who is on lead may ask questions before he does so and his partner, after the lead is face-down on the table. The question to ask yourself is: Why do I want to help my opponents clarify their bids during the auction? Once the auction is over, questions may be answered by either opponent (so corrections can be made). It is only during the auction that one player can give the answer. Now let’s clear up some of the most common ethics problems.

Not Alerting when you should:

Rich Colker who has long served as the leading authority on such things puts this as simply as possible: If partner fails to alert when he should have, then you must pretend that you heard the alert and continue bidding according to your agreements. You are playing Jacoby 2NT. The auction proceeds:

1S P 2NT

And partner doesn’t alert but does bid 3H at his next bid. You must not only bid as if partner has the hand promised (stiff or void in hearts) but you must alert because it is an alertable bid with specific understandings. You have to pretend you heard the alert. Partner is allowed to make an error, but you are not allowed to take advantage of a non-alert to correct your auction - you must continue to bid according to system.

Alerting when you shouldn’t:

When partner alerts and shouldn’t have, you have to do the opposite. You have to pretend you heard no alert and continue bidding according to your agreements. This includes assuming partner’s bids mean what they should. Partner can bid almost any legal bid but you must bid strictly according to your agreements. Even if opponents ask for an explanation which clarifies what partner “thought” the bid was for your benefit, you may not take advantage of the explanation. Any indication that you have, can have serious repercussions.

If you are the person who fails to alert and later you realize your error, you may take any corrective bid you want (partner is allowed to use his bridge knowledge). For example, you and partner play transfers and you have the following auction.

1NT 2H*

2S 3H

3S 4H

P

This auction doesn’t exist with what you play on your card. You are entitled to use your bridge knowledge to ascertain that partner made a bidding error.

Whether you fail to Alert or not Alert, do not at a later time in the auction mention it verbally, facially, or by body language. Do announce it prior to the opening lead. (Misinformation given by partner during the auction should also be corrected prior to the opening lead.)

Bids out of tempo: Recently a player said to me that he thought it was okay to bid out of tempo as long as you didn’t pass. This is not correct. There will always be hands in which we have to stop and think about. However, the hesitator should be aware that he is giving his partner an ethical problem. Even if the hesitator bids, everyone knows he has a problem and the more experience a player has, the easier it is to figure it out. This is called “unauthorized disclosure”. Because of this, the National Appeals Committee instituted the 80% rule as a guide. The partner of the hesitator no longer can bid what he feels is right. He must bid what 80% of the people at his level would bid. That means, if 80% of the people at his level would pass, he must pass no matter how sure he is that he should bid. The only “out” is if partner makes a forcing call - then partner has to bid. Bidding on marginal values can have serious repercussions. His partner must consider any bid he makes in this light.

Claiming: You may not claim if there is an outstanding trump or if there is a finessing situation which is needed to make your bid. That’s why if there is an outstanding trump it is assumed that Declarer is unaware of it. I hear people all the time say “I’m never claiming again!” One just needs to practice how to make a good claim. Firstly, you can not claim and then decide to change mind and pick your hand back up. Once you’ve claimed, your hand and opponents’ hands stay on the table. It’s alright if you make an error when explaining. Call the Director. ACBL has said that opponents should be supportive when a claim is made. Declarers often become flustered and forget exactly what they planned to do when opponents jump at them for not stating something exactly right. Everyone at the table should remain calm. If, as an opponent, you cannot follow the line of play or you think the person is incorrect, ask for another explanation. A claim is to help speed up the game. It is not there in hope of getting a good board because an opponent intimidates Declarer. If your side is defending and Declarer makes an error in the claim, ask Declarer to restate the claim. If Declarer makes the same incorrect explanation, then call the Director. If there are any problems, call the Director.

The Bidding Box: At the Pittsburgh Nationals the Directors were told to crack down on errors made with bidding cards. If you really pull a wrong card from the box, and realize it before your partner bids, you are entitled to put the correct bid down. However, if it is a slip of the mind, you are not entitled to do that - your bid must stand. A slip of the mind is: Partner opens 1C and RHO passes. You look at your hand and with 6 diamonds and 4 hearts you think to yourself “I have enough to reverse this hand so I’ll bid diamonds first and then hearts. The last thing in your mind is hearts. You place your bidding card on the table and then realize you have bid 1H instead of 1D. This is a slip of the mind, a nanosecond of loss of concentration. You cannot correct this bid. The trouble is nobody is willing to admit to anything but an error in hand-eye coordination. The National Directors decided that they would ask players to convince them it was an error and not a “slip of the mind”. This is not easy to do. Directors are going to be cracking down so slow down and check the bidding card in your hand before placing it on the table.

Tip of the Day: You are NOT required to give opponents the benefit of your bridge knowledge. You do not have to tell opponents what you “think” a bid means. If you and partner have not discussed a bidding situation simply say “We have not discussed this auction” or “We have no understanding (or agreements) for the bid”. If you have to work it out, let them work it out for themselves. However, you must make an agreement after the hand is over, even if a temporary one, until you have had a chance to discuss the situation.