Customer Reviews

Play Bridge with Mike Lawrence

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There are 52 hands. Mike Lawrence walks you through all his thoughts as he plays those hands. This is a once in a lifetime chance to sit behind a great player and have him tell you why he is doing what he is doing. Not a book for beginners, but if you are developing a good feel for the game of bridge, this book will be invaluable, not to mention interesting.

Yes, you will learn a lot, but oh, so painlessly. Mike has a sly, dry sense of humor mixed with dispassionate common sense that emphasizes the need to size up your opponents. All the technical skill in the world will not save you if you misjudge who is sitting to your right and left. Mike has an enormous ability to get through to the reader what it takes to be effective. I recommend this book and the similar "Play Teams with Mike Lawrence" (my favorite) as an introduction to his more serious books. I own most of them, and through the years I would say every one of them has improved my game, some enormously.

Some years ago I wrote to Mike about a hand that I was proud of the result, but my more traditional player/friends scorned my wizardly thinking. I held S-QJ10, H-XX-D-XX C-A10XXXX. Partner opened one heart. For various systemic reasons the bid 1NT was not available to me. I cleverly bid 1S; confusion reigned, and we received an excellent result--but my purist friends were horrified at my bid. Mike's response to my letter was "did you ever hear of the word 'pass'?" I loved it.

To serious and non-serious bridge players, get this book. It's a treat!

One of the best bridge books ever. Shows how an expert thinks.