Distribution - Counting Shortness with Honors

This post continues the discussion started on Distribution Points. You can read the first post here: http://heidisbridgeblog.blogspot.ca/2016/02/distribution-points_16.html

Let's talk in more detail about Dummy Points. Here is a reminder of what we count for Dummy Points:

Dummy Points:

Shortness	Points
Useful void	5 points
Useful singleton	3 points
Useful doubleton	1 point

Seems pretty straightforward. What's so difficult with that? Well, the word "useful" for one thing. What happens if partner opens the bidding 1♠ and you have a ♠ void. Is this a good holding for your side or not later on in the auction when you've found a fit in some other suit?

Let's look at this hand:

♠---
♥AK93
♦Q43
♣AKJT82

Partner opens the bidding 1♠. You bid 2♣ and partner responds 2♥. Terrific! You have a 4-4 ♥ fit! Now you count up your HCP points (17) and your Dummy points (5) and come to 22 points! Plus partner opened the bidding so they should have about 13. That's enough for a small slam at least! So you bid 6♥.

Partner's hand:
♠AKQ92
♥QJ75
♦J9
♣73

Notice you are off the first 2 ♦ tricks. Down at least 1.

Now notice that the problem occurs because partner is counting points for their AKQ♠ and you are counting points for your ♠ void. This is called double counting. You are both counting points for the same control of the ♠ suit.

However it's not wrong to envision a slam with your hand. You just need partner to hold this hand:

♠J9642
♥QJ75
♦AK
♣Q3

Both hands partner would open the bidding 1♠. On the first hand you make game only in ♥ and on the second hand you would make 7♥. This works because partner is NOT counting points for the ♠ suit and you are. Partner's points are in the minor suits which is where you need them to be.

How do you get to slam one one but not the other?

The experts have ways of figuring this out. You don't. In a few years you will have more experience and know more bids so you can change your bidding system to allow you to get your partnership to the good slam but stay out of the bad slam. But that's in the future. Right now you will just have to work on what the most likely scenario is. Right now if your partner bids a suit and you have a void you probably shouldn't count any points for it. Sorry. It's even taking a bit of a chance to count 3 points for a singleton but this is less likely to get you into trouble if you do. Or you can just take a chance and bid the slam hoping partner has the right cards. There is no problem with that except newer players tend to take going down in a slam very personal. They are devastated. (They shouldn't be because after all they did had the guts to bid the slam!) So if you feel bad going down in your contract don't take the chance. If you don't mind taking a few chances bid the slam. You might actually make it and then you have a story to tell to all your friends.

Another thing to think about is singleton honours. Should you be counting 3 HCP plus 3 Dummy points for a singleton K? No. Again this is going to get you higher in the bidding than you should probably go.

Shortness with Honours:

Holding	Points
A	This is tough. Not really worth 7 points but better than just 4 points. Count 5 or 6 depending on how much you like a bit of risk.
K	Count 3 points for your singleton only
Q	Count 3 points for your singleton only
J	Count 3 points for your singleton only
A3	You should be okay counting for shortness here – 5 points for this holding
K3	You should be okay counting for shortness here – 4 points for this holding
Q3	Count 2 points for the Q only
J3	Count 1 point only
AK	You should be okay counting for shortness here – 8 points for this holding
AQ	You should be okay counting for shortness here – 7 points for this holding
AJ	Count for the high cards only. Don’t count for shortness – 5 points for this holding
KQ	Count for the high cards only. Don’t count for shortness – 5 points for this holding
KJ	Count for the high cards only. Don’t count for shortness – 4 points for this holding
QJ	Count for the high cards only. Don’t count for shortness – 3 points for this holding. On a bad day this might not be any better than a useless doubleton.