Bridge Gambling 3nt
Gambling 3NT Consider the following hand ♠Ax ♥xx ♦AKJTxxx ♣xx. You likely have 8 Tricks, you only need 1 Trick from Partner's hand to make a very nice bid of 3NT. Looking at your hand you would need considerably more help from Partner to make a better score than what you would gain from 3NT. The Gambling 3NT by Chris Jagger. I'm not going to pretend that the gambling 3NT is a vital convention that everybody should know, but it is a part of normal Acol, and your partner will probably assume that you are playing it. Moreover, I recently discovered that half of the Tolle team don't know the continuations!
| Aggressive 84 42 73 AKJT763 | Moderate Q32 A8 9 AKQ9752 | Conservative A K43 KT AKJT872 |
Now, the earliest reference that I've found for the Gambling 3NT is 'Howard Schenken's 'Big Club' circa 1968. The late great Schenken defined his 3NT opening as a 'solid minor suit, 17-21 HCP, 8.5-9 playing tricks, [and] should include [an] ace, king or queen in every suit.'
This conservative approach has lost popularity, though, because it is less preemptive than the other two styles. The aggressive hand type is also more frequent than a running minor suit with ALL side suits stopped, which appears about as often as Halley's Comet.
That said, the disadvantage of an aggressive treatment is that it may wrong-side the contract when partner holds stoppers (read: tenaces) in the other three suits.
Why play the Gambling 3NT? The following tournament deal is an example in all its dice-rolling glory.1 (Hands rotated for convenience.)
| North | ||
| KQT3 | ||
| AT872 | ||
| West | — | East |
| A95 | AJT2 | 8742 |
| QJ6543 | K9 | |
| J | South | 8543 |
| Q94 | J6 | K73 |
| — | ||
| AKQT9762 | ||
| 865 |
South dealt and opened 3NT, which was passed out. Sitting West was Philip Alder, expert player and former bridge columnist for The New York Times. A heart lead would have set the contract by two, but Alder led the
Partner will normally pass an opening 3NT. However, he is allowed to bid if it's deemed necessary. There are several flavors of response schemes to choose from. Below is a summary of some common approaches.
| Meaning | |
|---|---|
| 4 | There are a couple ways to play this:
|
| 4 | Again, a couple ways to play this:
|
| 4 | Natural, showing a good 6+ card heart suit. |
| 4 | Natural, showing a good 6+ card spade suit. |
| 4NT | Quantitative, inviting 6NT. |
| 5 | Bail-out bid, showing major-suit weakness but good support for both minors. Asks opener to pass or correct to |
Bridge Gambling 3nt
Opener's Rebids After a Strong 4
There are multiple ways to define opener's rebids in response to a strong 4 ask.
Approach #1
| Meaning | |
|---|---|
| 4 | Gerber. |
| 4/ | Cue bid showing a side-suit ace. |
| 4NT | Minimum strength. |
The same rules can apply over a strong 4 response, except that opener cannot use Gerber.
Approach #2
Alternatively, opener's rebids may describe suit length.
| Meaning | |
|---|---|
| 4// | A singleton in the bid suit. |
| 4NT | A semi-balanced hand, i.e. 2-2-2-7 or 2-2-7-2. |
| 5/ | Natural, to play. |
- If the opponents double 3NT for penalty (how unsporting!), responder may bid
4 as a runout bid, askingopener to pass or correct to4. - If the opponents overcall, a 4NT bid by responder is natural. It is neither quantitative nor Blackwood.
Gambling 3nt Bridge Convention
Defense to the Gambling 3NT
Expert Ron Klinger suggests the following approach to dealing with an opposing 3NT opening.2
| Meaning | |
|---|---|
| Double | Penalty-oriented. |
| 4 | Takeout for the majors, with a preference for hearts. |
| 4 | Takeout for the majors, with a preference for spades. |
| 4 | Natural. |
| 4 | Natural. |
1 ACBL. Daily Bulletin, Volume 61, Number 9. 2019.
Bridge Gambling 3nt
2 Klinger, Ron. Bridge Conventions, Defences and Countermeasures. London, Weindenfeld & Nicolson, 2017.