Finding a Fit

In Lesson 4 we counted your HCPHigh Card Points (HCP) Honour cards (the Ace (A) the King (K) the Queen (Q) the Jack (J) and the Ten (10) in each suit, each of these cards is has a different points value called HCP = High Card Points. There are a total of 40 points in the entire pack of card... More.  This lesson is about when you and partner have both been biddingThis term is also called the 'auction.' In each online deal, a player is the nominated as the dealer -this title rotates each new game. The dealer is the player who starts the bidding even if its a pass. Players take their turn at bidding in turn and in order ... More and you find that between you you hold at least 8 card in a suit, this is called a ‘fit’. If you have a ‘fit’ in a suit this is a very strongOpeners strong hand contains 17+ points Responders strong hand contains 16+ points In NoTrump its high card points In a suit its total points (with distribution points) More situation as your side have the majority of the points. So now that you have one very long suitIs the suit with the greatest number of cards in a hand.
This term is not usually used on a suit with fewer than five cards. More, it is to your advantage if you have a small number of cards in other suits.

Dis-regard Long Suit Distributional Points

Firstly, you must now ignore the long suit distributional points that you previously calculated (pre-fit finding) and start again (remember you can only use one method of distributional points evaluation at a time).

After establishing that you and partner have at least 8 (or more) cards in the same suit , suit shortages in other suits can add extra power to your hand. These shortages enable you to ruffAnother word for trump a way to win a trick and it means to play a trump card on a trick when that player has run out of the suit which was led. If trumps were the suit led then following suit and playing a trump card is not 'ruffing' its following suit More the side suits gaining extra tricksA round of 4 cards where each player contributes 1 card. There are 13 tricks in a game of bridge. More:

• voids  (0 cards in a suit)  are worth 5 extra points
• singletons (1 card in a suit) are worth 3 extra points
• doubletons (2 cards in a suit) are worth 1 extra points
  
  

How to count your Short Suit distribution points.

The following system is commonly used for Short Suit Points:
Short suit distribution pointsShort suit distribution points are added for voids, singletons and doubletons after finding a fit with partner Do not calculate long suit distribution points and short suit distribution points for the same hand at the same time A void is worth 5 extra points A... More: 5 points for a voidHolding no cards in a particular suit after all cards have been dealt. More in a suit; 3 points for a singletonAn original holding of one card in a suit. More in a suit and 1 point for a doubletonA holding of two cards in one suit that were initially dealt to a player. More with no honorSometimes known as face cards or honours , each is worth high card points. They are:
the Ace (A)  = 4 HCP
the King (K) = 3 HCP
the Queen (Q) = 2 HCP
the Jack (J) = 1 HCP
and the Ten (10 or T) in each suit
The 10 and 9 card in any suit are k... More cards, these are added to your HCP after your partnership has reached a fitA combined holding of at least 8 cards in the two combined hands in one suit. This significance of this is if you have a' fit' then you hold the majority of cards in that suit. More. This is the way you re-evaluate the strength of your hand after you partner has supported (bid) your trump suitThe suit of cards with the highest ranking over the other suits in a particular hand
Usage - A card in the trump suit whose trick-taking power is greater than any other suit card.
In bridge the trump suit is determined by highest bid that wins the contra... More.

Definition of Terms · a ‘void’ is where your hand contains no cards in a suit; · a ‘singleton’ is where your hand holds only 1 card in a suit; · a ‘doubleton’ is when your hand holds two cards in a suit; · a ‘fit’ in a suit is when you and your partner have 8 or more cards in one suit;