Toowoomba Bridge Club

07/10/2026

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"COUNTING TO 13, OVER AND OVER AGAIN."

Someone asked for tips on remembering which cards have been played.
The answer: "Counting to 13, over and over again."

Start with 13 cards in each suit. Subtract them as they appear. That's the whole trick — no genius required, just repetition until it becomes background noise in your brain. Yes, even I pause mid-hand to recount the distribution. That's not a flaw. That's the work.

Card counting isn't a gift you're born with. It's a muscle.

Have you started counting yet, or are you still playing by feel?

Comment DEFENDNT (yes with NT) to access the Defend Against 1NT Workshop

16/09/2026

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If your partner opens 1 Spade and you've got four spades and 13+ points, you have exactly one job: tell them, “This hand is worth a serious conversation.”

That's what Jacoby 2NT is — a billboard, not a bid. Completely artificial. Totally forcing. No upper limit. You might hold 13… or 23. The auction isn't about reaching game anymore. It's about exploring slam together.

The bid that kills all this? Jumping to 4 Spades. That used to say “I'm strong.” Now it says the opposite. It's preemptive. It shuts the door on a makeable slam.

Next time you have a 4-card major raise with real strength — pause. Use the billboard.

Are you and your partner on Jacoby 2NT yet? Tell me below.

16/09/2026

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Contract bridge has 53,644,737,765,488,792,839,237,440,000 possible deals. Yes, really.

That number comes straight from the math of a 52 card deck. There are 635,013,559,600 possible 13-card hands alone.

Some of it gets weird. The odds of being dealt all thirteen cards of one suit are 1 in 158,753,389,900. The odds of a Yarborough, a hand with nothing above a nine, are about 1 in 1,828.

The average hand holds exactly 10 HCP. The most common shape is 4-4-3-2, dealt 21.6% of the time.

Play a thousand lifetimes of bridge club and you still would not see the same deal twice.

Save this for the next time someone says bridge is just luck.

30/08/2026

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Defenders — this single habit is costing you tricks every session, and you probably don't know it.

You're holding an ace, waiting for the perfect dramatic moment to spring it. Very cinematic. Meanwhile declarer is calmly discarding that suit on a side winner, and your ace dies in your hand having accomplished absolutely nothing.

No trump rewards patience. Suit contracts punish it.

That's the whole distinction, and almost nobody teaches it clearly. In no trump, nobody can throw away a suit, so ducking and waiting works beautifully. In a suit contract, declarer has trumps and side entries — your ace has a shelf life.

Different contract, different rules. In a suit contract, grab it.

Comment WEAK 2 and I'll send you the course.

24/08/2026

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14/08/2026

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This is one of the biggest mindset shifts in Two-Way Checkback.

After:

1♣ – 1♥
1NT

Many players instinctively rebid 1♠ when they hold four spades. But with a balanced hand (4333 or 4432), that actually gives partner the wrong picture.

In modern 2/1 with Two-Way Checkback, 1♠ promises an unbalanced hand. You're showing extra shape, not just four spades.

With a balanced hand, simply rebid 1NT. Don't worry about missing a 4-4 spade fit. That's exactly what Two-Way Checkback is designed to solve.

Responder can use 2♣ (invitational/weak) or 2♦ (game forcing) to ask opener for more information. If opener has four spades, they'll show them during the checkback sequence. You still find your 4-4 fit—but without sacrificing the accuracy of describing your shape first.

Think shape first. Fit second.

Your first responsibility is to tell partner whether you're balanced or unbalanced. Two-Way Checkback will take care of uncovering the major-suit fit later.

That's one of the reasons this convention creates such accurate auctions: everyone describes their hand honestly before searching for the final contract.

28/07/2026

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The slam launcher. 🚀

Pronunciation: /dʒəˈkoʊbi tuː ɛn tiː/ (noun)

Usage: “I held four Spades and an opening hand, so when partner opened 1 Spade, I used Jacoby 2NT to set the suit and start looking for a slam.”

It is the fastest way to tell partner you are thinking beyond Game.

A simple raise shows support. Jacoby 2NT shows ambition. When you have strong values and at least four-card support for partner’s Major, you need a way to force the auction while leaving room to explore for Slam.

Jacoby 2NT does exactly that.

Used over a 1♥ or 1♠ opening, this artificial bid promises four or more trumps and game-forcing strength. It immediately establishes the trump suit and asks opener to describe their hand in greater detail, revealing shortness, extra strength, or other useful features.

That extra information helps the partnership identify wasted values, uncover hidden strengths, and judge whether Game is enough—or whether Slam is within reach.

The best slam auctions begin with a clear message.

We already have the fit. Now let's find out how high we belong.

28/07/2026

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21/07/2026

21/06/2026

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Counting cards in bridge is not about having a perfect memory.

It is about learning to ask better questions.

At trick one, the opening lead is already telling you a story:

What suit did partner choose?
Was it fourth best?
Third and fifth?
An honor sequence?
A passive lead?
An attacking lead?

And once dummy comes down, the real work begins.

Start with what you can see. Count winners. Count losers. Count trumps. Count entries. Notice the shape. Track each suit as cards appear.

The key is not to count everything perfectly all at once.

The key is to keep updating your picture of the hand.

Every trick gives you more information:
Who is short?
Who is long?
Where are the missing honors?
What suit is declarer trying to set up?
What does partner’s signal mean in context?

Bridge rewards the player who stays curious.

So before you play automatically at trick one, pause and ask:

What do I know?
What can I infer?
What does this lead tell me?
What will I need to count next?

Good bridge starts with good thinking.