Which Loser to Discard? 6.10.24

[@josephl.rhodes6655]

Clear. Thanks as always

[@thebridgeteachers]

Thank you for watching!

[@clasesdelucrecia1616]

Many thanks Samantha. I would like to have lessons for practise counting and shapes. And squezes. Many thanks

[@thebridgeteachers]

Thank you for the suggestions! I'm collecting squeeze hands and plan to do a series at some point.

[@Aarmaxian]

In this hand, I noticed that even if the declarer draws the last heart, they do not increase their trick count. Is that right?

[@thebridgeteachers]

Great spot! That is 100% correct. Essentially, they would be trading a diamond loser for a heart loser. By losing the heart, they have the ability to trump both diamonds. If instead, they draw the heart, they now don't lose the heart, but they do lose one of the diamonds because they can now trump only one of them.

[@Aarmaxian]

Samantha I am trying to teach Bridge absolute beginners. What is the best approach?

[@thebridgeteachers]

Say less. :) The temptation is to try to teach everything at once. But the less you can teach and the more you can get them playing, the better. I usually start by dealing out a few hands and skipping the auction, just getting the feel of how basic notrump play works, then add piece by piece as they are comfortable. Just remember, the goal is to get them playing, not to make them good or make them understand everything. There are lots of teaching resources out there. I have a beginning bidding book available on Amazon. My website is a great place for beginners. ACBL.org has a ton of stuff for people just learning. Best of luck!

[@thebridgeteachers]

I'm not sure what happened to my reply.. but let me try again! My goal when teaching new players is to get them playing as fast as possible. After all, that's the fun part of the game. I strongly believe in less is more when teaching bridge. The less information you can give them, the better. I like to start by just dealing a (or using a preset) hand. No auction. Start with notrump. No dummy. Just have two sets of partners playing notrump until they get the feel of how the play goes. Don't worry about them getting it right. You just want them playing. So you might drop a hint here or there (like, your partner was already winning, did you need to play your ace on their king?), but not much. Then after a hand or two add the concept of dummy. Then add the concept of trump. Once they have a sense for that, you can then add the auction. But, same principle here: Start with - just bid what you have. and don't worry if they bid 7d with only four diamonds between the two hands. Then, slowly, you can pepper information in. Less is more. My goal is always to get people to see how fun the game is and not worry about if they are doing it right or not. Once they understand how bridge works, they can choose to work hard to become good or to just play and have fun. Either way, they are playing! Some good resources for you: My website is designed for beginners. (On my front page I have a free video about how to learn bridge in 2 minutes.) I also have a basic bidding book. ACBL.org has tons of resources for new players and teachers. Best of luck!

[@Aarmaxian]

@@thebridgeteachers Thanks a lot. This is exactly what I am doing. I have not looked at your book but I will do so.

[@Aarmaxian]

@@thebridgeteachers Thank you very much Samantha. All that you have said makes so much sense. I enjoy all your videos. You are a great teacher.