Customer Reviews

Countdown to Winning Bridge

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This may be the best book I've read on card placement and deduction, even better than Mike Lawrence's HOW TO READ YOUR OPPONENTS CARDS. And thats saying a lot because How To Read is a great book.

This book has many examples, and covers a wide range of inferential topics. There are sections for defenders, and how to confuse and mislead the opponents. You are really given the tools to solve a great number of hands. Its more than just counting, its using that information, and thinking about what the opponents might have done.

As a book on counting cards, the authors do a credible job. A minor complaint is that they make light of the difficulties of counting cards, sometimes in all four suits, and counting high card points in each defender's hand by writing, "Did you do anything more complicated than count to thirteen?"

As a book on probabilities, the authors "fall on their sword" in Chapter 6. They consider a deal played in 3NT first by South, then by North. Of course, South gets a different lead and plays differently and gets a different result than North but the authors erroneously claim that these two independent events are somehow related by what they call the "Monty Hall Trap". Then they introduce the unhelpful idea of "biased information" which only serves to muddle their explanations of their last two examples. Amazingly, the last example, a very complicated example based on how much expertise the opponents have, is advertised as a clarification of the previous simpler example. As a final surprise, the authors conclude chapter 6 by saying that the reader should essentially ignore the results of their last two examples and instead rely on "the basic odds".

I recommend that you stay away from chapter 6 and instead read the excellent discussions of bridge probabilities in Bridge Odds for Practical Players (Master Bridge).

The single most important skill in bridge is the ability to count the hands. Tips and techniques used by experts to "know" where every card is. This book is certain to improve your play and defense.