BBO Discussion Forums: rules of thumb - BBO Discussion Forums

SO my son is really taking to the game and has started accumulating rules of thumb...e.g Rule of 7 - how long to hold off with your Ace, rule of 23...when you can use Stayman...Rule of 11; rule of 12.......does anyone have more to add to the list ?

Hey, you can find some other similar rules here: http://omahabridge.o...s_of_Bridge.pdf

 shugart24, on 2024-May-22, 07:28, said:

I don't think these Rules are a good idea, teach him to think like a bridge player.

 jillybean, on 2024-May-22, 08:19, said:

I quite liked the Queen finding rule
Otherwise agree.

I guess many of these rules can be statistically appraised to determine their worth, but in practice they are a measure to be used holistically with others during decision making.

I think some are questionable even when intended as useful shortcuts for reasoning that has to be made: for instance, I find it simpler to think "that lead is probably 4th" and then subtract from the Ace (14) to know how many higher cards and then figure out where they all are, rather than load my memory with a rule to subtract from 11 or whatever.

For similar reasons I try to avoid memorizing things like "5♦ is 1 or 4 Keycards": it is much safer to think "this is a keycards reply to 4NT, it's the second reply possible, we agreed 0314, so it shows 1 or 4 Keycards". That way you can change partnerships and agreements and asking strain and still get things right.

But not everyone thinks in the same ways, and memory is not my best bridge skill.

 jillybean, on 2024-May-22, 08:19, said:

I don't disagree

 pescetom, on 2024-May-22, 08:30, said:

I concur with the consensus but I'm not a rules kind of person really - how about vague guidelines or frameworks - vaguely how many points, how many trumps, how many losers etc

I am always amused that 52:48 vs 50:50 is such a big thing

I quite like that someone has coined "Another Rule of 10" and I think I mentioned on another forum that I like the Trump Suit Unbid Rule

There are some nice ones for when you have knowledge but nothing pointing specifically to an action. The "rule of 7" specifically stops them from running 5-x suits; if you don't have the count and it's safe to do so, "just follow it and use your think energy on the rest of the hand".

But as several said, they shouldn't *override* thinking. And one should have the failing case(s) to mind (in my example "can't duck, can't survive a switch").

I do like Burn's Laws, though:

• Avoid playing in a suit where the opponents have more cards than you.
  
• Count your missing aces and subtract from 8. Do not play at that level.
  
• You cannot make 3NT on a crossruff.

How old is your son? (I'm envisioning a fairly young person. Obviously, the older he is, the more you can go straight to "teaching him to think like a bridge player", however one does that.)

But I assume the goal is for him to have fun and learn to play the game. If he finds learning these "rules" fun - great! You can, of course, sneakily use that to teach him a little bit about the game.

Maybe he can keep a notebook where he writes down each rule, where it came from, and the logic behind the rule. Is it meant to tell us something about the count of a suit? Or the possible shape of a closed hand? Why would that help us play the hand better?

He can act like a junior scientist, treating each time he uses a rule as an experiment. Did it work out? Why or why not? Was there some information from the bidding or seeing the dummy that should have told us the rule wouldn't work in this case?

And so on . . . I think that would be more productive than just raining on his parade and telling him that real bridge players don't use rules.

 jdiana, on 2024-May-22, 15:03, said:

My son is 32 and has amazing card sense since he was a little kid. He isn't memorizing these rules and becoming dependent upon them, sorry to give that impression. I have explained to him the logic of the few I'have taught him ---rule of 7 and rule of 12. I haven't taught him the rule that if your partner's opening lead is an Ace, you should renege and trump it

 shugart24, on 2024-May-23, 04:22, said:

Sorry - I had a completely different picture in mind. It's great that you've found something you can do together. I was never able to interest my sons in bridge, even though they like playing other games.

I don't use too many "rules", and then not blindly as everyone has said. The ones that come to mind are:

The Rule of 11
"Eight Ever, Nine Never"
The Rule of 7
The Rule of 15 (for deciding whether to open in 4th seat)
The Rule of 8 (for deciding whether to interfere after opponent's NT opening in direct seat) and the related "Rule of 2" - these are from Mel Colchamiro's How You Can Play Like an Expert (Without Having to Be One). You might get your son a copy of that book.

Maybe teach him how to simulate theoretical distributions

Most rules work well on average 🙃

Also teach him about infinity, sorry infinities

I think Pescetoms favourite rule is wonderful

Has anyone come up with more points rule

Do the opposite to what the opponents think (sometimes) rule

I should not mock generations of experience and expertise

8 trumps is better than 7 rule most of the time but not always

He and I are both actuaries, although I am retired and have been trying to forget about my career

https://www.larryco....idding-rule-of- has several. More generally I really like Larry Cohen's site for a wide range of questions.

The rule of 11 is actually a subset of a rule of 15: when the lead is nth highest, subtract n from 15 and use that rule to figure out how many cards higher than the card led are in the other three hands. So third highest, 15-3=12, use rule of 12. 5th highest, 15-5=10, use rule of 10. I'd be surprised if most readers here don't already know this. And of course this is entirely too much math for some. :-)

"Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable sub-human who has learned to tie his own shoes and not make messes in the house." -- R. A. Heinlein, The Notebooks Of Lazarus Long