Customer Reviews

Points Schmoints!: Bergen's Winning Bridge Secrets

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the perfect book for players who more-or-less have the basics in place. This will correct your misconceptions and raise your game a couple of levels. The first half of the book is all about bidding, and rather than just talking about basic bidding, tells you what to do in those tough borderline situations. A great example is his "Rule of 20", used to decide whether to open the bidding or not: If the sum of your HCP and the number of cards in your two longest suits is 20 or more, open with your normal 1-level bid; else pass. Very effective, and much better (and easier) than counting short-points, long-points, or quick tricks, since this takes into account the ENTIRE distribution. The second half of the book is about declarer play and defence, and is equally good. What distinguishes this book from the rest is that the author doesn't waste space on the basics, and instead concentrates on the intermediate-to-advanced stuff.

Another selling point of this book is Bergen's great sense of humor. Peppered through the book are short anecdotes of actual hands played by him, his friends or students. Most of them are very funny. One gets the sense that Marty was "saving up" his experiences for this book, and has put all his best stuff on paper here. None of his other books come close to the standard set by this book for content or organization, though "More Points Schmoints" tries hard.

Marty Bergen's "Points Schmoints" is a fun-to-read book that offers a dozen tips on how people who've already mastered the basics of bidding and play can improve their game. The Law of Total Tricks, in particular, is extremely useful for duplicate games.

While Bergen writes with wit and flair that keep this book engaging, I wish he'd done a bit less story-telling and provided a bit more depth of content instead. For the price I feel his book is a bit thin, and that's the one thing that keeps me from rating it 5 stars.

A must for intermediate duplicate bridge players who want to improve their bidding skills. Experts will also find the book beneficial as a review. Easy and enjoyable to read.

If you have been playing bridge for a year or a decade and want to improve the bottom line on your Bridge score sheets, this is the book for you. Marty Bergen makes the point over and over again that points alone will not give you a proper evaluation of your hand for offense or defense and he does it with humor and confidence. Each principle is presented clearly and succinctly. Of course, to benefit from these principles you have to be willing to think and play outside the box.

My wife thinks this is the best book she has even read and has not put it down over the last month. Life has been very peaceful, I think I'll get her another

This book is filled with entertaining stories along with easy-to-understand tips and techniques that will improve every facet of your game. 1996 Bridge Book of the Year.

For any intermediate to experienced duplicate bridge players, this book is both amusing and enlightening. Bergen analyzes some hands in detail as well as relating many bridge table anecdotes. A terrific addition to any duplicate player's library.

This is a great book for bridge lovers. Easy to read and full of useful advice for someone who wants to improve her/his game.

Bought as a gift. My 80 year old mother in law and her partner are wiping the floor with their opponents after learning the tricks in this great Bridge handbook. Go Mom!

This is an easy to read book with lots of good pointers for success at duplicate bridge. It does NOT include much in depth analysis or large numbers of example hands. It is mostly rules of thumb and anecdotes. I would have preferred a bit more content, but what was there was excellent.

I recommend it for beginning to intermediate duplicate players.