[CarlRitner]

ArcLight, on Oct 21 2005, 10:58 PM, said:

Although I don't agree with everything, the guy REALLY knows his stuff. This is a fantastic book for anyone designing a bidding system.

I rate it a C for intermediates and an A for advanced players and system designers. This is probably of more use to them than Roy Hughes "Building a bidding system".

I agree with your observations, and thanks for all of the thoughtful reviews.

This is Danny's 23rd or so book, but the first one not privately published. The rest of his material is equally as interesting, but it's hard to find.

Danny is a bidding theorist that deserves to get more of his material into the mainstream, so I'm looking forward to the re-issue of a lot of his earlier titles.

Cheers,
Carl Ritner

www.carlritner.com

[ArcLight]

Bridge Odds for Practical Players by Hugh Kelsey.

Very good book, quite clear. Some id pretty obvious, some less so. While Kelsey discusses how to calculate probabilities, he also shows how to use some quick and dirty estimates at the table to improve your chances 3%-15% here and there. Overall I'm not sure how much it will help your play, but its well written and interesting. Worth reading.

* Percentage Play - suit combinations

* Combining Changes - proper sequencing of suits. Ex. How do you play this?
6NT West leads the ♠J

---

Win the ♠Ace and run the ♦J, right? It wins when:
♦K is with East = 50% +
♦2-2, K with West, and Heart finesse wins = 10%
for a total of 60%!



Wrong!


Win the ♠A, finesse the ♥J. If it loses you have 2 entries to Dummy for ♦ finesses. If the ♥J wins, you can lead the ♦Q from hand. If the K doesnt appear, unblock ♣ and lead the ♦10. If West is void in ♦ use the A♣ as an entry and pick up the entire ♦ suit

♥J loses but ♦ finesse right (50% x 50%) = 25% +
♥J wins and West doesnt have all 4♦ with 4+♣ (50% x 98%) = 49%
=74%


* Care of Options - playing in such a way that the opponents dont force you to make a decision before you have more data.

* Changing the odds - Length & Shortage
A K Q T x vs. x x


* Vacant Places - how to use this properly, pitfalls players fall into. Such as when a player is forced to make discards, counting them against the vacant spaces and thinking the other defender is now more likely to hold some missing Queen.

* Freedom of Choice (aka Restricted Choice or Bayes Theorem)

[MickyB]

In general it is a very good book, but some of the stuff on vacant spaces is wrong. Have a look at this thread - the book recommended playing the opening leader for the Q♣ because he would have less diamonds.

Edit: that should have said "opening leader's partner"

This post has been edited by MickyB: 2005-October-28, 09:52

[ArcLight]

>the book recommended playing the opening leader for the Q♣ because he would have less diamonds.

Page 90 - the author says the PARTNER of the opening leader (EAST) will be more likely to have the Q♣. Thats because West had 4 ♦ to Easts 1♦. Thus West has 9 vacant spaces to Easts 12. Hence the odds are 4 to 3 that East has the Q given no other information.

However, there are other factors, such as the bidding and distribution in other suits. The author would say to first explore them, as the odds may change.
He would not say "blindly take the 4/3 chance".

In this example, one might think that West would lead a 4 card major over a minor. If thats so, then its likely West has the Q because East has 8+ cards in the majors.

But the emphasis was on vacant spaces based on cards played, not deductive reasoning based on what West probably should have lead. (The author has a book on that too).

Maybe West had a hunch that his Jxxx in Hearts would be a bad lead?
Maybe your partnership doesn't use Stayman, so the West is unsure that you have a major shortage.
Maybe you almost always open 5 card majos as 1NT, etc.

Again, the point the author was making is given the info available, not counting deductive reasoning.

[MickyB]

Sorry, I managed to write completely the opposite of what I meant then!

Obviously, it should have said that he suggested playing the PARTNER of the opening leader for the Q♣ because he would have FEWER diamonds

[MickyB]

Right, I've found the book now.

I agree with what you say, but I feel that the author should have explained the difference between information you discover yourself and information the opponents give you; and if he didn't want to get into that, he should at least not have used hands like this as examples. Still, it is well worth a read.

[mike777]

Have just reread a couple of older books by Miles.

Bridge From the Top I, 1987, Marshall Miles, 300 pages.
Grade=B

Good overview of bidding styles, recommended conventions and competitive bidding in the 80's. A bit out of date but an interesting read.

Bridge From the Top II, 1989, 260 pages.
Grade=B

Discusses Blue Team Club, Precision and Schenken in some detail. Second half discusses defense and signaling. Again a bit out of date but worth a read.

[Flame]

The Art of psychic bidding by Julian Pottage & Petter Burrows
The main part of the Book give you many examples of real psychs that took place on world class games. There are other discussion but they werent arent interesting to me.
Its nice to read the examples and you might even learn something but at the end you dont get the right tools to make you a good psycher.

[Flame]

Dynamic defence by mike lawrence
This isnt a quiz defence book like most, mike take you step by step into the diffence, which is much more like real life diffence.
The hands arent supper hard, which again make this more of a real hand bridge book.
GRade A for intermidiate and above

[Flame]

Moderen bridge defence by Eddie Kanter
This is a book i wish i read 15 years ago.
It contain all the defence basics and more.
Example
begin with the very beggining sequences 4th best etc, but get to more interesting stuff like when to play high in second sit, and ofcurse alot in between(like when to give count and not atitude and alot alot more).
I used the CD version.
even tho this is way below my level i still learned few things or atleast learn rules that might save time at the table. This book will help me teaching my students.
Grade =A+ for begginer. ( This must come before any convention you thinking of learning)
If you never read such a book that clear all the basics get this one even if you are better then begginer.

[ArcLight]

Opening Leads in Bridge: How to Choose the Correct Card and Use All the Available Information by Tony Sowter.

Very clear, nice coverage of the subject. While it's not as long as Mike Lawrences "Opening Leads" it still does a good job. It covers all the basics like the Rule of 11, 4th best leads (and others), not leading unsupported aces or away from an ace against suit contracts, etc. When to lead trump is covered well, in its own section. There are a number of excellent quizzes consisting of bidding sequences and a hand and you are asked to make a lead. The quizzes are good because they really test your understanding of the bidding. This is necessary for bidding and for defense.

At the end is a section on match point leads. It doesn't just say "lead passively" which a lot of people think you need to do at MP. It gives a number of quizzes where the correct action is opposite what you would expect.

Ex: whats the difference between 1NT - 3NT and 1NT - 2NT - 3NT?
What type of lead do you make against them, Active or Passive?
1NT - 3NT = Passive
1NT - 2NT - 3NT = Active!!! Not eveyone will be in 3NT. If 3NT makes you get a terrible score. If you set them, you get a great score.


While I won't say its better than the Mike Lawrence book, I will say its an excellent book, well worth reading. I suggest reading it and then reading the Mike Lawrence book later.

[Robert]

hello everyone

When I hear 1NT-2NT-3NT, the books that I have read suggest that you might go passive. Give nothing away since they have no extra values.

It often depends on your hand, however, if the defensive values are divided, partner will get in to lead towards your honors.

If you have a 1098 suit, lead away and wait for your tricks. An attacking defense might give away the ninth trick. If they have an open suit, either you or partner will get in and you will still be able to 'cash out.'

Regards,
Robert

[ArcLight]

>When I hear 1NT-2NT-3NT, the books that I have read suggest that you might go passive. Give nothing away since they have no extra values

Thats what I though too, especially in Match Points.

Here is the authors reasoning if I remember it correctly (I'll check later on):

1NT - 3NT - they are likely to make their contract (>50% probability). Thus the over trick is important.

In the 1NT-2NT-3NT sequence not everyone will stretch to reach game (that would be far more likely in IMPS though). Lets say half the field stops in 2NT or some part score.

If 9 tricks makes, those who bid 3NT will get 8MP (using his British scale with 0,2,4,6,8,10 MPS for the 6 tables) those who faced them will get 2MP.
If you give up an extra trick it wont matter much, but setting them will matter a lot, going from 2MP to 10 MP.

If 9 tricks dont make, you will get a good score provided you dont blow the making trick.

The point was the pay off from going from 2MP to 10MP was worth the risk.

I will try and post the complete reasoning later, as I dont want to put false words in the authors mouth.

[Flame]

Jlall, on Nov 3 2005, 12:28 PM, said:

I wonder if this thread has the most "views" in the history of BBF

Dont know but this thread is great, very important for most players to know which books to read.

[MickyB]

Jlall, on Nov 3 2005, 06:28 PM, said:

I wonder if this thread has the most "views" in the history of BBF

I did a search for "bridge" and sorted by number of replies replies...A thread on Tenerife had over 18000 views, 2nd and 3rd were on BBO cheating and Zar points, this thread was fourth.

[CarlRitner]

Flame, on Nov 3 2005, 01:32 PM, said:

Jlall, on Nov 3 2005, 12:28 PM, said:

I wonder if this thread has the most "views" in the history of BBF

Dont know but this thread is great, very important for most players to know which books to read.

These reviews are great!

It's also nice to know where you can get these books; I encourage everyone to check out the ACBL BookStore for new and in-print titles. They offer all ACBL members 10% off.

For out-of-print titles, please visit my ACBL-sponsored website. There are thousands of bridge books and thousands of bridge magazine back issues available at reasonable prices.

Cheers,

Carl Ritner
ACBL Library Book & Magazine Sales

[mike777]

Two Over One Workbook, Mike Lawrence, 1987, 2004, 12.95$ 190 pages.
Grade=B-

Finally after almost 20 years I got around to reading this book. Perhaps the most popular book ever written on the 2/1 system.
Very disappointing. One of the worst books he has written. Still I give it an above average grade simply because I think it is a must book to read and understand with so many online and offline players playing his style of 2/1. Very little theory on why he makes the choices he does. Strong Jump shifts and 2/1 forcing only to 2nt or 3 of a suit. He mainly explains system through examples. Book could be organized a little better. Last half of the book is an improvement as he discusses his style of strong jump shifts, 2/1 in comp, 3 card raises and forcing NT.

The Uncontested Auction Bidding Quizzes, Mike Lawrence, 1990, 5$ used, 280 pages.

Grade=A-

Excellent book for those that want to learn and practice bidding Lawrence's style of 2/1. Hundreds and hundreds of examples. Great value for 5$.

[ArcLight]

>He mainly explains system through examples.

Very true.

I spent HOURS going though his CD on 2/1 (twice!) and reading the book, taking notes, trying to come up with rules. I came up with 9-10 pages of system notes, plus a few extrapages of extra conventions he covers on his disk. I think it would have been nice to have a guideline like this provided, (I'd have paid extra).

However, the book still helped. And I very much like the fact that he presented both sides of many issues, rather than just telling you to do one thing. and not even mentioning alternatives


I very much liked The Uncontested Auction Bidding Quizzes

[Chamaco]

ArcLight, on Nov 12 2005, 03:00 AM, said:

>He mainly explains system through examples.

Very true.

I spent HOURS going though his CD on 2/1 (twice!) and reading the book, taking notes, trying to come up with rules. I came up with 9-10 pages of system notes, plus a few extrapages of extra conventions he covers on his disk. I think it would have been nice to have a guideline like this provided, (I'd have paid extra).

However, the book still helped. And I very much like the fact that he presented both sides of many issues, rather than just telling you to do one thing. and not even mentioning alternatives


I very much liked The Uncontested Auction Bidding Quizzes

I agree with both Mike and Arclight (BTW, what's ur name ? )

I worte many time sthat ML style of wriing is asystematic, unstructured, hence it's hard to extract a structured system based on sequence.

However, In almost every book he wrote, he *tells a story*, and that's what I ike most.
At the first ML books I read, was really puzled, but then I started to like them more and more !

This (the fact I love ML books) is one more reason why I was disappointed with the latest Fought the Law book: my expectations for every ML book are always very high, but I acknowledge one cannot always wrirte at a high standard.