Stuck in a bad bridge rut

[a***@yahoo.co.uk]

What is the best thing to do when no matter how hard you try, you just keep getting bad result after bad result after bad result?

This year has started off appallingly. I've played three times so far this month, my average HCP count has been 8.42, 8.08 and 7.73. My partner(s) and I have defended 84.3% of the contracts (over 70 boards). My scores have been 55.4%, 44.2% and 42.9%, and I do not play in a club full of internationals. This seems to be an extreme bad spell even by my experience, but what I don't understand is how other decent or even average players manage to get decent scores, despite holding the same hands. I can usually put three bad scores or so down to slip-ups but there seems to be a lot of boards where we just get the wrong pair at the wrong time, and there is no way to avoid a bad score. The only thing I can think of is the best players are playing near flawlessly, so their skill more than compensates for bad luck in some way. I'm wondering what is the best thing to do, slog on and hope to ride it out and things improve soon, or start cutting down on bridge, because it is not really enjoyable constantly picking up flat single digit HCP hands and seemingly unable to have much influence in the outcome of a hand (e.g. if the hand is too poor to find a bid and I don't get on lead in the defence).

[Douglas Newlands]

Post by a***@yahoo.co.uk
What is the best thing to do when no matter how hard you try, you just keep getting bad result after bad result after bad result?
This year has started off appallingly. I've played three times so far this month, my average HCP count has been 8.42, 8.08 and 7.73. My partner(s) and I have defended 84.3% of the contracts (over 70 boards). My scores have been 55.4%, 44.2% and 42.9%, and I do not play in a club full of internationals. This seems to be an extreme bad spell even by my experience, but what I don't understand is how other decent or even average players manage to get decent scores, despite holding the same hands. I can usually put three bad scores or so down to slip-ups but there seems to be a lot of boards where we just get the wrong pair at the wrong time, and there is no way to avoid a bad score. The only thing I can think of is the best players are playing near flawlessly, so their skill more than compensates for bad luck in some way. I'm wondering what is the best thing to do, slog on and hope to ride it out and things improve soon, or start cutting down on bridge, because it is not really enjoyable constantly picking up flat single digit HCP hands and seemingly unable to have much influence in the outcome of a hand (e.g. if the hand is too poor to find a bid and I don't get on lead in the defence).

Stop measuring things and try to enjoy the game - smell the roses as you
go, so to speak.

Play a different bidding system. I'm not sure what the rules are there
but where I live, opening all hands of 8+ is allowed without an alert
as long as it's on the card. Try a strong club system with a 15+ (or
even 13+) strong club.
You are sure you hold poor hands so play a system tailored to bid them.
It's fun doing a lot of bidding. Opponents with good hands will hate it
when you open ahead of them.
It's only club bridge not high level stuff and not for money.

Play 4 card majors and open them aggressively (maybe try something like
"The Science" played by Hacketts) which opens them even with some 5 card
minors.
Play weak 1NT (or even mini NT

[KWSchneider]

Where could I find information on “The Science”? No references online...

[Douglas Newlands]

Post by KWSchneider
Where could I find information on “The Science”? No references online...

Hmmm, I was sure I had an electronic copy but it seems I have to search
for a paper one (to digitise). May take a little time.
Perhaps someone else has a copy?

doug

[Eddie Grove]

Post by Douglas Newlands

Post by KWSchneider
Where could I find information on “The Science”? No references online...

Hmmm, I was sure I had an electronic copy but it seems I have to search
for a paper one (to digitise). May take a little time.
Perhaps someone else has a copy?
doug

A quick search turned up
http://www.bridgeguys.com/pdf/science_system_cambridge.pdf
That's pretty terse.

The links I found to articles about The Science no longer work.


I also found the comment "The Science is the system played by the
Hacketts." I turned up

http://library.neo-bridge.org/CC/Open/hackett-hackett2008.pdf


Eddie

[f***@googlemail.com]

Post by Eddie Grove

Post by Douglas Newlands

Post by KWSchneider
Where could I find information on “The Science”? No references online...

Hmmm, I was sure I had an electronic copy but it seems I have to search
for a paper one (to digitise). May take a little time.
Perhaps someone else has a copy?
doug

A quick search turned up
http://www.bridgeguys.com/pdf/science_system_cambridge.pdf
That's pretty terse.
The links I found to articles about The Science no longer work.
I also found the comment "The Science is the system played by the
Hacketts." I turned up
http://library.neo-bridge.org/CC/Open/hackett-hackett2008.pdf
Eddie

The pdf dates from the early 1990s, probably hardly surprising that links no longer work.

[Hotzenplotz]

Post by Douglas Newlands

Post by KWSchneider
Where could I find information on “The Science”? No references online...

Hmmm, I was sure I had an electronic copy but it seems I have to search
for a paper one (to digitise). May take a little time.
Perhaps someone else has a copy?
doug

I had extensive notes, but after my external hard drive gave up the ghost.....

From memory:
1m 4 card suits
1M 4 card suit; can have a longer m if in the 10-13 range
1NT 14-16
2? standard

After 1M 1NT is semi forcing
Now 2C tf to D
2D tf to H
2H tf to S

Lots of standard stuff live Jacoby

1M 2C = nat gf OR 3 card raise, 10-11

Doug can probably add some stuff to this. Fun to play.

[Tom]

Post by a***@yahoo.co.uk
What is the best thing to do when no matter how hard you try, you just
keep getting bad result after bad result after bad result?
This year has started off appallingly. I've played three times so far
this month, my average HCP count has been 8.42, 8.08 and 7.73. My
partner(s) and I have defended 84.3% of the contracts (over 70
boards). My scores have been 55.4%, 44.2% and 42.9%, and I do not play
in a club full of internationals. This seems to be an extreme bad
spell even by my experience, but what I don't understand is how other
decent or even average players manage to get decent scores, despite
holding the same hands. I can usually put three bad scores or so down
to slip-ups but there seems to be a lot of boards where we just get
the wrong pair at the wrong time, and there is no way to avoid a bad
score. The only thing I can think of is the best players are playing
near flawlessly, so their skill more than compensates for bad luck in
some way. I'm wondering what is the best thing to do, slog on and hope
to ride it out and things improve soon, or start cutting down on
bridge, because it is not really enjoyable constantly picking up flat
single digit HCP hands and seemingly unable to have much influence in
the outcome of a hand (e.g. if the hand is too poor to find a bid and
I don't get on lead in the defence).

Change your enjoyment focus from having good cards to getting the best
results with the cards you are dealt. I've had a lot of great games just
by defending well. You can't control the cards you're dealt, only how
you hand them.

Tom Reid

[Mick Heins]

Post by a***@yahoo.co.uk
What is the best thing to do when no matter how hard you try, you just keep getting bad result after bad result after bad result?
This year has started off appallingly. I've played three times so far
this month, my average HCP count has been 8.42, 8.08 and 7.73. My
partner(s) and I have defended 84.3% of the contracts (over 70
boards). My scores have been 55.4%, 44.2% and 42.9%, and I do not play
in a club full of internationals. This seems to be an extreme bad
spell even by my experience, but what I don't understand is how other
decent or even average players manage to get decent scores, despite
holding the same hands. I can usually put three bad scores or so down
to slip-ups but there seems to be a lot of boards where we just get
the wrong pair at the wrong time, and there is no way to avoid a bad
score. The only thing I can think of is the best players are playing
near flawlessly, so their skill more than compensates for bad luck in
some way. I'm wondering what is the best thing to do, slog on and hope
to ride it out and things improve soon, or start cutting down on
bridge, because it is not really enjoyable constantly picking up flat
single digit HCP hands and seemingly unable to have much influence in
the outcome of a hand (e.g. if the hand is too poor to find a bid and
I don't get on lead in the defence).

Three games is nothing.

[a***@yahoo.co.uk]

Post by Mick Heins

Post by a***@yahoo.co.uk
What is the best thing to do when no matter how hard you try, you just keep getting bad result after bad result after bad result?
This year has started off appallingly. I've played three times so far
this month, my average HCP count has been 8.42, 8.08 and 7.73. My
partner(s) and I have defended 84.3% of the contracts (over 70
boards). My scores have been 55.4%, 44.2% and 42.9%, and I do not play
in a club full of internationals. This seems to be an extreme bad
spell even by my experience, but what I don't understand is how other
decent or even average players manage to get decent scores, despite
holding the same hands. I can usually put three bad scores or so down
to slip-ups but there seems to be a lot of boards where we just get
the wrong pair at the wrong time, and there is no way to avoid a bad
score. The only thing I can think of is the best players are playing
near flawlessly, so their skill more than compensates for bad luck in
some way. I'm wondering what is the best thing to do, slog on and hope
to ride it out and things improve soon, or start cutting down on
bridge, because it is not really enjoyable constantly picking up flat
single digit HCP hands and seemingly unable to have much influence in
the outcome of a hand (e.g. if the hand is too poor to find a bid and
I don't get on lead in the defence).

Three games is nothing.
--
Mickey
Find the grain of truth in criticism, chew it, and swallow
it. -- anonymous

True, and I ultimately expect a regresasion to the mean in terms of mean hand strength, but these three bad evenings come after two years with a lot of substandard performances and a perception of a lot of evenings with poor hands and having little influence on the outcome. From the last two months of 2018:

16th November (X-imps), average HCP 8.41, +16.6
21st November, average HCP 10.27, 56%
23rd November (Individual), average HCP 9.75, 43.1%
30th November average HCP, average HCP 10.33, 55.7%
7th December, average HCP 7.26, 46.5%
14th December, average HCP 10.19, 51.4%
21st December (X-mas party, scored as total points), average HCP 8.91, -190

This is why I am getting frustrated. Bear in mind that 15 years ago at the same club and with a regular solid partner I was getting 55+% almost every week, in fact we regularly finished in the top three, and the strength of the field was at least as good as the present day.

There is a correlation with my mean HCP strength, and the result (assessed over 18 months), hence picking up poor hands increases the probability of having a bad evening*. Whether that suggests a weakness in my defence relative to my declarer play and bidding, I don't know. I should probably asses whether the bottoms are occurring primarily in defence or declarer play, and whether or not it is bidding related (e.g wrong contract/too timid/too aggressive/unique action by table opponents).

*I also notice that if the first two rounds start badly, it rarely gets any better.

[KWSchneider]

Post by a***@yahoo.co.uk

Post by Mick Heins

Post by a***@yahoo.co.uk
What is the best thing to do when no matter how hard you try, you just keep getting bad result after bad result after bad result?
This year has started off appallingly. I've played three times so far
this month, my average HCP count has been 8.42, 8.08 and 7.73. My
partner(s) and I have defended 84.3% of the contracts (over 70
boards). My scores have been 55.4%, 44.2% and 42.9%, and I do not play
in a club full of internationals. This seems to be an extreme bad
spell even by my experience, but what I don't understand is how other
decent or even average players manage to get decent scores, despite
holding the same hands. I can usually put three bad scores or so down
to slip-ups but there seems to be a lot of boards where we just get
the wrong pair at the wrong time, and there is no way to avoid a bad
score. The only thing I can think of is the best players are playing
near flawlessly, so their skill more than compensates for bad luck in
some way. I'm wondering what is the best thing to do, slog on and hope
to ride it out and things improve soon, or start cutting down on
bridge, because it is not really enjoyable constantly picking up flat
single digit HCP hands and seemingly unable to have much influence in
the outcome of a hand (e.g. if the hand is too poor to find a bid and
I don't get on lead in the defence).

Three games is nothing.
--
Mickey
Find the grain of truth in criticism, chew it, and swallow
it. -- anonymous

16th November (X-imps), average HCP 8.41, +16.6
21st November, average HCP 10.27, 56%
23rd November (Individual), average HCP 9.75, 43.1%
30th November average HCP, average HCP 10.33, 55.7%
7th December, average HCP 7.26, 46.5%
14th December, average HCP 10.19, 51.4%
21st December (X-mas party, scored as total points), average HCP 8.91, -190
This is why I am getting frustrated. Bear in mind that 15 years ago at the same club and with a regular solid partner I was getting 55+% almost every week, in fact we regularly finished in the top three, and the strength of the field was at least as good as the present day.
There is a correlation with my mean HCP strength, and the result (assessed over 18 months), hence picking up poor hands increases the probability of having a bad evening*. Whether that suggests a weakness in my defence relative to my declarer play and bidding, I don't know. I should probably asses whether the bottoms are occurring primarily in defence or declarer play, and whether or not it is bidding related (e.g wrong contract/too timid/too aggressive/unique action by table opponents).
*I also notice that if the first two rounds start badly, it rarely gets any better.

I find that when you score poorly in MP while being dealt low HCP hands, you will generally find that you have not been competing to a high enough level - IE not finding those -100 against -110.

[a***@yahoo.co.uk]

Post by KWSchneider

Post by a***@yahoo.co.uk

Post by Mick Heins

Post by a***@yahoo.co.uk
What is the best thing to do when no matter how hard you try, you just keep getting bad result after bad result after bad result?
This year has started off appallingly. I've played three times so far
this month, my average HCP count has been 8.42, 8.08 and 7.73. My
partner(s) and I have defended 84.3% of the contracts (over 70
boards). My scores have been 55.4%, 44.2% and 42.9%, and I do not play
in a club full of internationals. This seems to be an extreme bad
spell even by my experience, but what I don't understand is how other
decent or even average players manage to get decent scores, despite
holding the same hands. I can usually put three bad scores or so down
to slip-ups but there seems to be a lot of boards where we just get
the wrong pair at the wrong time, and there is no way to avoid a bad
score. The only thing I can think of is the best players are playing
near flawlessly, so their skill more than compensates for bad luck in
some way. I'm wondering what is the best thing to do, slog on and hope
to ride it out and things improve soon, or start cutting down on
bridge, because it is not really enjoyable constantly picking up flat
single digit HCP hands and seemingly unable to have much influence in
the outcome of a hand (e.g. if the hand is too poor to find a bid and
I don't get on lead in the defence).

Three games is nothing.
--
Mickey
Find the grain of truth in criticism, chew it, and swallow
it. -- anonymous

16th November (X-imps), average HCP 8.41, +16.6
21st November, average HCP 10.27, 56%
23rd November (Individual), average HCP 9.75, 43.1%
30th November average HCP, average HCP 10.33, 55.7%
7th December, average HCP 7.26, 46.5%
14th December, average HCP 10.19, 51.4%
21st December (X-mas party, scored as total points), average HCP 8.91, -190
This is why I am getting frustrated. Bear in mind that 15 years ago at the same club and with a regular solid partner I was getting 55+% almost every week, in fact we regularly finished in the top three, and the strength of the field was at least as good as the present day.
There is a correlation with my mean HCP strength, and the result (assessed over 18 months), hence picking up poor hands increases the probability of having a bad evening*. Whether that suggests a weakness in my defence relative to my declarer play and bidding, I don't know. I should probably asses whether the bottoms are occurring primarily in defence or declarer play, and whether or not it is bidding related (e.g wrong contract/too timid/too aggressive/unique action by table opponents).
*I also notice that if the first two rounds start badly, it rarely gets any better.

I find that when you score poorly in MP while being dealt low HCP hands, you will generally find that you have not been competing to a high enough level - IE not finding those -100 against -110.

Could be a factor, I am trying to bid more aggressively. Another factor I think is significant is that against me, people seem to take far more liberties, i.e. they seem desperate to buy the hand at all costs. Yesterday evening I got fed up with it and started using the double card more. The multiples of 100 often score well in matchpoints.

There was one ridiculous hand where I held x AKQxx Q AKT98x. I opened 1C and reversed into hearts, whilst the opponents aggressively competed in the other two suits. Partner was silent throughout. It got to the point where oppps bid 6D over my 5H, and I thought sod it, double, if it makes it is a bottom anyway. It went two off for a good score, someone else went one off in 5H (partner held 4H and 2C, hearts were 4-0) but there was one ridiculous score of 2H our way. This sums it up really, I have to compete to the six level and someone else gets to play at the two level.

Another silly one was where it was our hand against a pair that just don't like defending, they compete to 4D and I double as we have the majority of the HCP and I hold DQxxx. Two off for a top. Why?

New years resolution, start doubling for penalties more often. I do not do that nearly often enough.

[i***@gmail.com]

Instead of doing something stupid, like learning a new system that no good players use, try competing more. Open more preempts. Ex. a weak 2 is any 6-card suit and any 4-10 hcp. ignore 4-card major rules and honor rules vulnerability rules and any other rules that prevent you from preempting. preempt... preempt... preempt

overcall at 1 level on any 5-card suit and any 8+ hcp. at 2-level a little more sound.

RHO opens 1C, I hold xx Jxxxx KQx Qxx, I bid 1H without thinking. Sometimes even a good 4-card suit.

BID BID BID. Don't give opps an easy auction. Don't let them use their powerful tools. Make them make seat-of-pants decisions.

[Hotzenplotz]

Post by i***@gmail.com
Instead of doing something stupid, like learning a new system that no good players use,

snipped.
No good players? Yes, Tom Townsend and the Hacketts are not much good.roflamo. You must be an American.

[f***@googlemail.com]

Post by Hotzenplotz

Post by i***@gmail.com
Instead of doing something stupid, like learning a new system that no good players use,

snipped.
No good players? Yes, Tom Townsend and the Hacketts are not much good.roflamo. You must be an American.

The Hacketts haven't played 4-card majors for years.
Tom hasn't for even longer, in fact I am not sure he ever did in any sort of serious partnership.

[Hotzenplotz]

Post by f***@googlemail.com

Post by Hotzenplotz

Post by i***@gmail.com
Instead of doing something stupid, like learning a new system that no good players use,

snipped.
No good players? Yes, Tom Townsend and the Hacketts are not much good.roflamo. You must be an American.

The Hacketts haven't played 4-card majors for years.
Tom hasn't for even longer, in fact I am not sure he ever did in any sort of serious partnership.

Did I say they still played it? Basic comprehension please Frances.