A retired math teacher, the author has long felt that counting is the most useful skill she can instill in her bridge students, but that most books approach the subject at too high a level... No longer! This book introduces the concept of counting for newer players, and helps them to begin acquiring a skill that is critical to their becoming better players.

Did you ever notice how the bridge experts always seem to know where every card is? How their finesses always seem to succeed? How their guesses are nearly always perfect? This book won't teach you to play quite that well, but it will introduce you to some very simple techniques that the experts use on play and defense. As declarer or defender, counting the hand is the one thing that will help you the most. But how do you keep track of all those cards? This book will show you how - explaining the tricks of the trade, and helping anyone who can count to thirteen to become a much better player. Full of practical examples of how to apply the information you get from counting, this book is sure to improve your game.

Written for complete beginners, this book is based on material that Barbara Seagram uses in her own classes to introduce hundreds of new players to the game every year. The book will take readers to the point where they can enjoy a social game with friends or begin to explore their local bridge club.

Bridge.

The Fun Way To Serious Bridge is for anyone who wants to learn and understand the fundamentals of the mind-stimulating and challenging game of bridge -- and enjoy every minute of it! Harry Lampert combines his skills as a bridge player and teacher with his artistic talents to bring you a totally new FUN way to learn the game. The magic of his superb cartoons and simple, informative language will help you to absorb the principles of serious contract bridge -- and remember them. You'll laugh and learn every step of the way from opening bids to strip and end plays. Whether novice or seasoned social player, this unique book will make good bridge a simple "trick." You'll learn all about: * Opening bids, suit bids, response and no trump bids, and how to force bids * Competition and the reasons and ways behind it * Big hand bidding such as Blackwood Convention, grand slam force and Gerber Convention * Patterns of play including how tricks are won, the finesse, establishing a long suit, when to pull and delay trumps and entries. * Defensive and advanced play -- plus much more!

DIVCommon terms, fundamentals of offensive and defensive bidding and play made clear. 130 bidding hands, 18 sample games. Summary of bidding. /div

This is an important, and in some ways revolutionary, book. The point count method of hand evaluation was first proposed in 1914 and popularized in 1934 by Milton Work. The Banzai Method advanced by David Jackson and Ron Klinger improves on Milton Work by reassessing the relative values of the honour cards but also adds a further dimension to accurate hand evaluation by including the tens and is of crucial importance when assessing balanced hands. According to Eric Kokish, an internationally respected American authority, who has contributed the Foreword, the many example deals are an eye-opener. When you finish this book, it is unlikely that you are going to look at your hand the same way as you have in the past.

The Losing Trick Count is a way of measuring the trick-taking potential of a trump contract. It enables you to calculate the playing-strength, the tricks in your own hand and to estimate those in your partner's hand. Used correctly the LTC is a vastly superior valuation technique for accurate bidding.