How to use the bidding box properly

The bidding box is a great way to bid in bridge. It is helpful for the hearing impaired and also for the memory challenged. Now one doesn't have to remember what their partner opened -- it is right there in front of them. However, you do have to use it properly.

First decide on your bid. Do NOT reach for the bidding box until you KNOW what you want to bid.

Then reach into the bidding box and grab your bid plus all the cards underneath it.

Pull out your bid and check to make sure that this is indeed what you meant to pull out.

Now place it on the table right in front of you upside down so that everyone can see the bid.

When making subsequent bids place them to the right of the original bid so that everyone can see all bids clearly. This also includes the Pass card.

This sounds so easy -- what trouble could possible occur?

The first thing that could happen is that someone doesn't decide on what they are going to bid before reaching into the bidding box. So say my partner reaches in and pulls out the 1♠ bid then thinks about it for a moment and then reaches for the Pass card and plays that instead. Excellent. What has this action told everyone at the table? That my partner has some ♠ in their hand but couldn't bid them for some reason -- probably not enough points. Now I have some unauthorized information. That means that I received information from an illegal way of communicating. In bridge we are not allowed to act on unauthorized information. That means that I have to IGNORE the fact that my partner mentioned ♠ at all. If this happens at a bridge club the best thing to do is to call the director. The director is there to make sure little irregularities like this do not allow one side to gain an advantage. The director will explain all the rules involved nicely and clearly. That's their job.

Generally this means for me (since my partner made the suspect action) that both my bidding and play could be questioned. As long as I do everything normally things will be fine.

So say this is my hand and the final contract is 4♥ and I need to make an opening lead. What would I lead on this hand?

♠QJT9
♥QT4
♦Q85
♣Q84

Here I think it is clear that the Q♠ is called for. Just because your partner nearly bid 1♠ doesn't mean you are banned from leading a ♠. You are not. This hand has a natural ♠ lead since they do not want to lead away from the Q in all their other suits.

Can the opponents question this lead? Of course they can. They can call the director and say that the unauthorized information lead you to lead a ♠. The director will look at the hand and decide whether or not the information did lead you to make that killing opening lead. Sometimes you can even have a committee get together to decide whether or not your lead was suspect. This rarely happens, but can. The committee then decides whether or not they will allow the lead to stand or change the opening lead and thus the result of the contract. In any case don't worry. No one thinks you are cheating. You are not good enough to cheat. You are still too new.

Let's take a look at another hand you might have had:

♠K7
♥QJT9
♦QT85
♣842

Say the contract is 3NT (bidding was 1NT-3NT) and you are on lead. What would you lead now? Remember that your partner did reach into the box and pull out that 1♠ bid then put it back. Does that help you?

Here a ♠ lead would be very unusual. That information I mentioned was unauthorized, remember? Pretend it never happened. If it didn't happen I think pretty much everyone would lead the Q♥ on this hand. Here if you lead a ♠ (and it works out) the opponents could ask for some recourse because partner pulling out the 1♠ card could certainly have influenced you to lead a ♠.

What else can go wrong with the bidding box?

One can put down the bid without checking to make sure it is the correct bid. If you mean to bid 1♠ but place the 1♥ bid in the table in front of you instead what can you do?

Well as long as you notice the incorrect bid before the next person bids you can simple say "Oooops! I meant to bid 1♠! Let me change my bid." Then place the 1♠ bid in front of you instead. This is allowed because you always meant to bid 1♠.
HOWEVER if you pull out the 1♥ bid intending to bid 1♥ and place it on the table in front of you and then remember that your teacher said to bid 1♠ if you are 5-5 in the majors you are NOT allowed to change your bid. This is now a change of MIND rather than a change of BID. In the first example you meant to bid 1♠ but messed up. In the second example you meant to bid 1♥ but then decided to change your bid after you made it. Sorry, not allowed. Checking the bid before you place it on the table helps to prevent this. (However, everyone messes this up so don't worry if you do also.) Again in a situation like that you can always call the director. They are there to help.