About Bruce...

          Bruce Thompson is a retired university professor. He taught graduate students at the University of New Orleans applied statistics for 11 years. He then moved to Texas A&M University (TAMU), where he taught applied statistics again to graduate students for 27 years. He retired in 2016 holding the academic titles, Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology, and Distinguished Professor of Library Science. He also held academic rank at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston). If you have an acute, inexplicable, peculiar desire to know more about Bruce, you can watch a video of him lecturing at the Texas A&M University Writing Center about "Writing for Scholarly Publication".
          Upon retirement, Bruce moved to Savannah, at which point he joined the Savannah Duplicate Bridge Club (SDBC). He subsequently passed the ACBL test enabling him to direct Club games. Prior to the SDBC Club burning down, and the pandemic, he directed "human" (in-person) Novice games. Each game was preceded by a brief lesson.
          During the pandemic, Bruce began directing on-line SDBC Bridge Base Online (BBO) 99er games. Because in-person instruction was not possible, Bruce began writing bridge lessons that could be e-mailed to players. For a couple of years these went out to roughly 60 players on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. This led to the creation by Bruce of Esther.
          Because the "Esther Bridge Lessons" were written over the course of a multi-year pandemic, there are lot and lots and lots of them! So, check back frequently, if not hourly, to see if more lessons have been uploaded by Bruce. As Esther recently opined, "Bruce, you Malodorous Misanthrope, if you really cared about novice and rising bridge players, you would stop sleeping, and eating, and focus instead on writing, and uploading!"

About Esther...

          Esther Klinktoast-Houstonhousen is a Quintuple Gold Emerald Life Master (20 Million+ ACBL MasterPoints), who engages in dialogs with Bruce about various duplicate bridge topics. These dialogs thus create the "Esther Bridge Lessons", which typically run 3 to 7 pages in length. Most include duplicate bridge Boards or Hands.
          Esther, as you can see in her lessons, seems to constantly vacillate between adamantly demanding to be called "Ms. Klinktoast-Houstonhousen", or at other times, "Esther", because she is "a warm and caring person." Notwithstanding this vacillation, Esther at least is consistent in her alliterative amalgamation of constantly insulting her interlocuter, Bruce, in these humorous, but also insightful lessons replete with bridge wisdom!
          The "Esther Bridge Lessons" are copyrighted by Bruce. However, interested persons are granted permission to reproduce any lesson for non-profit, personal use.The publication, or the re-publication, of any Esther or other lesson linked here is expressly prohibited, unless pritten written permission is obtained. This is so that Esther can track the use and impact of these quite substantial efforts.

Some VERY Important Other Bridge Info

Hand Evaluation Readings

          For a relatively brief but relatively comprehensive explanation of "hand evaluation methods", and game contract general HCP requirements, look at the Wikipedia "Hand Evaluation" entry. There is also a GREAT chapter on this topic in a fabulous, wonderful print resource for Beginners (and Advancers as well) is a little "pocket book" (so-called because this 121-page book is small enough fit in your pants or shirt pockets). This pocket book is replete with bridge wisdom. The author, Marty Bergen, is a 10-time National Bridge Champion, and creator of numerous bridge conventions, including "Bergen Limit Raises", "DONT", and the "Rule of 20", and has had a regular column in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin since 1976! This wonderful little pocket book is pocket posh tips for bridge players, and can be found new or used online from various vendors, including WALMART (~$12):
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pocket-Posh-Pocket-Posh-Tips-for-Bridge-Players-Paperback

Duplicate Bridge Pairs Game Mechanics

          ACBL duplicate bridge games award ACBL MasterPoints ("MPs") to top-ranking duplicate Pairs competitors. In Pairs competitions, about 40% of the top-ranking Pairs receive MPs. Top-ranking Pairs receive disproportionately more MPs the closer the Pairs are to the top of the rankings.
          ACBL-sanctioned games are run by ACBL-licenced Directors. The duties of ACBL Directors include (1) structuring each given competition so that the competition is a fair as possible, given the number of competitors, and time constraints, and (2) making rulings whenever infractions of the ACBL Rules, the ACBL Laws of Bridge, occur. The purpose of Director rulings is not to punish players who violate the Laws, and instead rulings are merely intended to try to restore the situation to be as close as possible to what would have been if the infraction had not occurred.
          An optimally "fair" competition occurs when every duplicate Pair (1) plays every other Pair and (2) every bridge Board. For example, a "perfectly" fair competition might involve 8 Pairs, each playing all 7 other Pairs, and during 7 Rounds of play each involving 3 Boards, every one of 21 Boards. But "perfectly" fair competitions are not always possible, and so Directors make certain compromises to come as close as possible to a "perfect" competition when "perfect" isn't an option.
          Newer duplicate bridge players may be interested in Esther's discussion of "Bridge Pairs 'Movements' (e.g., 'Mitchell', 'Howell') and ACBL MasterPoints: What's It All About Alphie, and What is 'Stratification'?". ["movement.pdf"] Newer duplicate bridge players also may be interested in Esther's discussion of "Where Do ACBL Directors Come From?". ["directors.pdf"]

Duplicate Bridge Scoring Methods

1. How Duplicate Pairs Bridge is Scored in Matchpoints. ["scoring.pdf"]

2. How Duplicate Swiss Teams Bridge is Scored in IMPs. ["swiss.pdf"]

Some Important Bridge Probabilities and Statistics

      For more information about Bridge Probabilities, CLICK "Card Split Probabilities for Even vs Odd Splits". ["probabil.pdf"]

      Or CLICK an external link to a great web page with "Relevant Probabilities for Bridge Players". This web page can inform your decisions, such as trying to drop Opponents' honors, and how often you can expect certain hands to occur, such as:
          1. 52.6% of the hands you are dealt will hold 7 to 12 HCPs. 10.1% of your hands will hold 15 to 17 HCPs. 1.0% of your hands will hold 20 to 21 HCPs. 0.4% of your hands will hold 22+ HCPs.
          2. 4.1% of your hands will hold a void.
          3. The probability of you and Partner holding a "magic" 8-card fit goes up as You hold more cards. If you hold 4 cards, there is a 34% probability that together Partners hold 8 cards. If you hold 5 cards, there is a 54% probability that Partners hold 8 cards. If you hold 6 cards, there is a 76% probability that Partners hold 8 cards. If you hold 7 cards, there is a 93% probability that Partners hold 8 cards.
          4. 2-Suited hands play better in suit contracts than do "flat" hands. But 2-Suited hands also increase the probability of Partners finding an 8-card fit! If you hold a 4-4 split across your longest 2 Suits, the probability of Partners holding an 8-card fit is 60%. If you hold a 5-4 split across your longest 2 Suits, the probability of Partners holding an 8-card fit is 74%. If you hold a 5-5 split across your longest 2 Suits, the probability of Partners holding an 8-card fit is 84%!!!
          5. With 4 non-trump cards out, the probability of Opponents ruffing on the 2nd Round is 60%, and with 5 non-trump cards out the probability of Opponents ruffing on the 2nd Round is 32%.
          6. If you play 2 times per week, you will hold an 8-card suit on average once a month, you will hold an 7-card suit on average once per session, you will hold an 6-card suit on average 4 times per session. You will hold at least 1 void once per session. You will hold all 4 Aces once every 2 months. You will hold AKQJT once every 3 months!
          7. You will be dealt all 13 cards in a single suit, on average (could be today!) once every 60,000 years. HINT: When this happens, IMMEDIATELY open 7 of your long suit. Unfortunately, in duplicate, you will obtain only an Average Board MatchPoint score!!!

          Also see "Esther Bridge Lesson" #40 "A Comprehensive List of 8 Different Categories of Bridge Probabilities, and How These May Help Guide Your Bidding and Play", which is a comprehensive summary of various bridge-related probabilities. If your Opponents have found an 8-card fit, do you realize that you and Partner very likely also have one? ["8_probs.pdf"] Structure:
     1. Hand HCP Probabilities
     2. Suit Length Probabilities
     3. Hand Distribution Probabilities
     4. Hand HCP/Distribution Combined Probabilities
     5. Trump Fit with Partner Probabilities When You Hold 1-Suited or 2-Suited Hands
     6. “Reciprocal Fit Probabilities”: Opponents’ Trump Fit Probabilities When You Have a Trump Fit, and vice versa
     7. Probabilities of Dropping Opponents’ Honor(s)
     8. Probabilities of Opponents’ Suit Card Splits


Return to the "Esther Bridge Lessons" website.