Hand Evaluation : Bridge Online
In a game of bridge the strength of your hand comes from 2 sources:
•high cards
•long suits
High Card Points
High Card Points, HCP, enable you to evaluate the strength of a hand and then pass that information to your partner.
High Card Points
A = 4
K = 3
Q = 2
J = 1
This is a good way of deciding whether to open the bidding, or respond to partner's opening bid. It is particularly useful in notrump contracts.
Length Points
| ♠ AKQJ | ||
| ♥ 65 | ||
| ♦ JT54 | ||
| ♣ AK6 |
Long suits are as useful as HCP - often more so. Look at this hand:
The spade suit is great but only worth 4 tricks.
| ♠ AKQ653 | ||
| ♥ JT54 | ||
| ♦ AK6 | ||
| ♣ 8 |
Now look at this hand:
You have fewer points but more tricks as the spade suit is probably worth 6 tricks.
Length Points
To evaluate your length points (LP), add one point for a 5-card suit and one more for every card after that. The hand shown is worth 2 extra points for its spade length.
Total Points
These are commonly known as TP. Total points are a combination of HCP and LP. The hand shown has a total value of 19 TP. There are 17 HCP and 2 LP.