Customer Reviews

Bid Better Play Better: How to Think at the Bridge Table

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book(copyright 1966,pub.1976) is an easy book to follow and understand. It has an enjoyable flow in its teaching and understanding of the game of bridge. I found it brought me back to the basics of the game. It cut through all the clutter that seems to attach itself to the game of bridge. I had initially thought:"What can an old book teach me!". Well I learned a lot! It is a bridge book for everyone.

This is a new, updated edition of one of the greatest bridge books of all time. Teaches you how to think like a bridge player. Much of the material is aimed toward advanced beginners and intermediates, but even new players will benefit from her clear approach and practical advice.

Thank goodness Dorothy Hayden wrote this classic BEFORE "<fill in the blank> for Dummies" became the obvious title for any non-text book one might read to learn ANYTHING. Yet, that is really what this book is about. Reading (and practicing what you learn by reading) will indeed develop "card sense" where once there was very little (or none). After you have the basics of our amazing game in hand, this book can help you take another step toward mastery.

If you're up on modern bidding methods, you'll feel a temptation to skip the "old" material on bidding. Don't do it. Unless you're expert enough to design a complete bidding system from earth, air, fire, and water; the presentation of the fundamentals herein will help you improve both your understanding of Standard American (or 2/1) biddng methods AND your grasp of the foundation of your own bidding methods (even if you bid differently). That foundation will help you intelligently incorporate (or reject) new methods as your personal biddng methods and style mature.

Basic bridge at its best presented in a fun and easy to read format, order both of her books together! Who better to learn from than a member of the ACBL Hall of Fame, and inventor of the splinter bid. Chapter Two on forcing bids is one you will want to share with all your friends once you read it, so get your copy machine ready to roll into action until they order their own book. "Bid Better" covered everything about bidding, leading and signaling imaginable and was so easy to understand, and was NOT boring. She writes in a way to capture your attention. Dorothy states "The way to improve your bridge is to cut down on your mistakes. There are two main causes of error: bad judgment and ignorance. Errors in judgment are not easy to correct but errors due to ignorance are." This book gives the information needed to cut down on errors through the knowledge it presents, and the wonderful tips for all levels of players. A book you can read more than once and still enjoy and learn. This book was recommended to me by my friend Cary Bush, tytyty.

I was looking for a book without a lot of blather. This is it. It's straight forward and simple. I can sit down and read a particular section and get the idea quickly. No cute stories or long-range examples covering 50 years. I'm happy.

Dorothy Hayden Truscott's BID BETTER, PLAY BETTER has been in print for over twenty years, and no surprise. This is a generous and well-explained guide to correct evaluation of the hand, with an emphasis on "reading" what your partner and opponents are holding; Ms. Truscott excels in making us read the context of the bidding process. And this book offers sound strategies for the playing of the hand as well.

This is not my very favorite book for rank beginners (in my opinion BRIDGE FOR DUMMIES by Eddie Kantar is actually quite good and more comprehensive), but it is really meant for developing players -- advanced beginners and intermediates. Those who would forego Ms. Truscott's no-nonsense prose style might instead consider S.J. Simon's WHY YOU LOSE AT BRIDGE. Like BID BETTER, PLAY BETTER, it deals with how not to form bad bridge habits or how to chuck them a-borning, but its take on bridge-playing is more social and Simon's prose style is appropriately quite droll.

This is timeless advice for experienced bridge players who are unable to take their play 'to the next level.' The author provides clear guidance on fundamental conventions and strategies that really can improve your play.

This is a great book written in lay terms to help bridge players update their play. I find it very helpful.

The updated version of a classic, this book provides a great primer in Standard American style bidding for learning players. The author, a Hall-of-Fame champion player for many decades, is also a great teacher and writer. This book can take you much farther than the very elementary beginners' textbooks used in many introductory classes and give you a foundation for learning more sophisticated methods later if you wish. It's also very reasonably priced compared to most bridge books. However, it does not cover the play of the hand or much about defence, topics that should not be neglected either.

This is an updated version of a book I have. The book arrived very timely in excellent condition. I would most deffinitely use this vendor again.