Pre-emptive Bidding -- An Introduction

WARNING! The following post talks about Pre-emptive Bidding. Pre-empts are bids used by more experienced players. If you are a new player do NOT bother reading this post. When you have played a bit more and know a bit more you can learn how to use them. For now, do not bother.

A pre-emptive bid occurs when one player JUMPS in the bidding to bid a suit and their partner has not yet made a bid.

You can pre-empt when you open the bidding.

For example, opening the bidding with 3♠ is a pre-emptive bid. You have jumped in a suit.

Opening the bidding 1♠ is NOT a pre-empt. You did not jump.

You can make a pre-emptive overcall.

RHO	You!
1♣	2♦

2♦ is a pre-empt. The opponents opened the bidding and you jumped and bid a new suit.

RHO	You!
1♠	2♦

2♦ is a normal overcall. You did NOT jump in the bidding.

Partner	You!
1♦	2♠

Unless otherwise agreed upon, 2♠ is something called a JUMP SHIFT. Partner opened the bidding. You do not pre-empt your Partner.

The purpose of a pre-emptive bid is to disrupt the opponents bidding. It shows a weak hand with a good quality, long suit. To make a pre-emptive bid you should have the following:

• 5 to 10 HCP (or you can play 6 to 11 HCP or even 5 to 11)
• At least 3 of the top 5 honors (A, K, Q, J, T) – non-vulnerable
• At least 2 of the top 3 honors (A, K, Q) - vulnerable or non-vulnerable
• No tolerance for any outside major suit (4+ cards) – your hand is too good
• No outside 5 card minor – your hand is too good
• At most 1 trick outside the suit

Some players are not as disciplined when they make a pre-emptive bid. Their suit is not as good. I recommend being very disciplined when you first start playing pre-emptive bids. After you are more experienced playing pre-empts you can "relax" the rules a bit as you see fit.

The level you pre-empt at shows the LENGTH in your suit.

Pre-empting at the 2 level shows a 6 card suit
Pre-empting at the 3 level shows a 7 card suit
Pre-empting at the 4 level shows a 8 card suit
and so on...

So with this hand:
♠AQJT65
♥82
♦93
♣973

Open the bidding 2♠. This is a pre-empt.

If your RHO opens the bidding with 1♣ (or 1♦ or even 1♥), you can now bid 2♠ which would be a pre-empt.

With this hand:
♠KQJT652
♥8
♦93
♣973

Open the bidding 3♠.

If your RHO opens the bidding with 1♣ (or 1♦ or even 1♥), bid 3♠ which is a pre-empt.

With that in mind, what will you open the bidding?

Hand 1

♠AQJT654
♥Q
♦93
♣973



Hand 2

♠AKJT85
♥962
♦2
♣Q64



Hand 3

♠KQJ875
♥9
♦AK74
♣K3



Hand 4

♠J86532
♥T4
♦T5
♣AQT



Hand 5

♠AKJT532
♥4
♦KQ
♣T85



Hand 6

♠T87542
♥Q87
♦K
♣KQ2



Hand 7

♠KQT9765
♥9
♦63
♣Q73



Hand 8

♠AK9432
♥74
♦T84
♣Q7



Hand 9

♠AK9653
♥J643
♦
♣KQ2



Hand 10

♠T976432
♥KQ8
♦KQ
♣7



Hand 11

♠KQ8754
♥J6
♦9
♣KT95



Hand 12

♠KQ8764
♥83
♦A53
♣A4



Hand 13

♠AKQT86
♥97
♦9754
♣8



Hand 14

♠T98742
♥A
♦92
♣AQ94



Hand 15

♠AKT732
♥T4
♦863
♣75



Hand 16

♠KQT98653
♥T
♦85
♣K4



Hand 17

♠AKJ976
♥T83
♦53
♣96



Hand 18

♠AJT872
♥
♦A875
♣AK9



Hand 19

♠AKT974
♥87
♦97
♣J32



Hand 20

♠J875432
♥4
♦K93
♣K6



Hand 21

♠AQ98743
♥J93
♦Q5
♣A



Hand 22

♠AKQT986
♥4
♦986
♣32



Hand 23

♠986432
♥J532
♦A65
♣



Hand 24

♠KQT543
♥A65
♦84
♣85



Hand 25

♠KQT87652
♥95
♦7
♣T8



Hand 26

♠KQT9754
♥K5
♦97
♣76



Hand 27

♠AKT98732
♥J6
♦8
♣64



Hand 28

♠KQJT65
♥865
♦Q8
♣94



Hand 29

♠J986543
♥K4
♦Q8
♣A9



Hand 30

♠KJ8743
♥AQJ9
♦6
♣Q9



Hand 31

♠AKJT743
♥3
♦962
♣97



Hand 32

♠K98742
♥J
♦AT7432
♣



Hand 33

♠AKQJ9862
♥
♦93
♣A98



Hand 34

♠AQJ9742
♥853
♦3
♣63



Hand 35

♠KQJ98742
♥Q32
♦6
♣3



Hand 36

♠AKJT9743
♥3
♦52
♣32



Hand 37

♠AKJT5432
♥52
♦T3
♣5



Hand 38

♠AQ6432
♥T
♦J63
♣765



Hand 39

♠AJ9643
♥T3
♦QT
♣AKJ