Oftentimes in last-hand situations we must force the opposition to make a bid outside the value of their hands. Sometimes the bluff nil can be our best avenue to achieve this.
All experienced players understand the importance of situational bidding. We are accustomed to last-hand situations where we must force the opponents into a higher bid than otherwise necessary. Sometimes in these situations we are left with little to no choices – any bid we make seems to lead to an easy victory for the opponents. This is when the bluff nil can present the best opportunity.
The score is 450 for the opponents and 440 for your side. It’s been a closely fought game, and it appears whoever gets the best cards on the last hand will win. Bags are obviously not a concern for either side. Partner opens the bidding with a 2-bid. Your right hand opponent bids 3. Your hand is as follows:
♠ A
10 7 4 2
8 6 3 2
J 9 5 2
The “proper” bid here would be 5 (your team will need 7 for a tie). Clearly, the hand value is only 1 trick. Even if partner shows up with an extra trick or two, you have little to no chance of making 7 tricks.
What about a nil bid here? And why should we make a bid that will obviously fail? Bidding nil here can serve a twofold purpose:
1. Possibly force the LHO to bid nil as well.
2. Possibly force the LHO to bid 8.
(LHO may decide on either one, due to the necessity to bid game. It would require a disciplined LHO to bid anything else.)
Either option leaves us with a much greater chance of setting the opponents than any other bid we would have made. With any other bid, your LHO simply makes a 3 bid which is all that is necessary.
When we consider bidding a “bluff nil”, we are looking for one of two options:
1. To force a desperate opponent nil
2. To force a higher opponent bid than otherwise necessary (without your nil bid).
Go to The Thirdy-One Bid