Total Tricks and Sacrifices

Most points in pairs events are won and lost in part-score battles: both sides have a fit and both want the contract. The question isn’t “can we make it?” but “is it better to bid on or to defend?”

This module gives you a simple guide for those decisions:

The Law of Total Tricks and how to use it at the table.
How to work out whether a sacrifice pays.
When to balance in the pass-out seat, and when not to.
Forcing passes when the opponents sacrifice against your game.

1. The Law of Total Tricks

The total number of tricks available on a deal is about equal to the total number of trumps.

“Total tricks” means the tricks your side can make playing in your best fit, plus the tricks the opponents can make playing in theirs. “Total trumps” means the number of cards in your longest fit plus the number in theirs.

If you have nine spades and they have eight hearts, there are 17 total trumps, so roughly 17 total tricks. If they can make nine tricks in hearts, you can probably make about eight in spades.

The practical rule

With an eight-card fit, compete to the two level. With a nine-card fit, compete to the three level. With ten trumps, compete to the four level.

In other words, bid to the level equal to the number of trumps your side holds (eight trumps → eight tricks → the two level).

Why it works

Suppose you hold nine spades and the opponents hold eight hearts (17 total tricks). The auction stops at 3♥ by the opponents.

If they make 3♥ (nine tricks), you’ll take about eight tricks in spades. 3♠ goes one down: −50 or −100, which is better than −140 for letting them make 3♥.
If they can make only eight tricks in hearts, you can probably make nine in spades, and 3♠ makes.

Either way, bidding 3♠ with nine trumps is the winning decision.

Adjusting the count

The Law is a guide, not a guarantee. Add a trick when:

Both sides have double fits (a second fit in a side suit).
Your high cards are in your own long suits.

Subtract a trick when:

Your hands are flat (4-3-3-3 shapes).
You have wasted honours in the opponents’ suit, such as K Q x opposite a singleton.
Your trump suit has bad breaks or poor quality.

2. Counting partner’s trumps

To use the Law, you need to know your side’s trump length. That’s why the methods in Modules 2 and 3 matter:

A simple raise usually shows three-card support (an eight-card fit).
Bergen raises, Jacoby 2NT and splinters promise four cards (a nine-card fit opposite a five-card major).
A support double shows exactly three; a direct raise shows four.
A pre-emptive jump raise (1♠ – (Pass) – 3♠) usually shows four trumps and few points: perfect for the Law.

3. Sacrifices

A sacrifice is a contract you expect to go down in, bid because going down costs less than letting the opponents make their contract.

Use the scoring table. Here are the key numbers:

Their contract	They score if it makes
4♥/4♠ not vulnerable	420
4♥/4♠ vulnerable	620
3NT not vulnerable	400
3NT vulnerable	600
Small slam in a major, vulnerable	1430

Your doubled sacrifice	Not vulnerable	Vulnerable
1 down	100	200
2 down	300	500
3 down	500	800
4 down	800	1100

When it pays:

Favourable vulnerability (you not vulnerable, they vulnerable): you can go three down doubled (−500) against their vulnerable game (−620) and still gain.
Both not vulnerable: two down doubled (−300) against 420 gains; three down (−500) loses.
Unfavourable vulnerability (you vulnerable, they not): even one down doubled (−200) against 420 gains only a little, and two down (−500) loses. Sacrifice rarely.

Three warnings

Will their contract really make? If they would have gone down, your sacrifice turns a plus score into a minus. This is a phantom sacrifice.
The five level belongs to the opponents. When you push them from 4♠ to 5♠, they often go down. Before sacrificing, ask whether you’d do better by defending.
Decide once. Take your decision early, preferably with one bid. Bidding again and again gives the opponents more chances to double you or to find the right contract.

4. Balancing

When the opponents stop at a low level with a fit, it’s usually right to balance: to bid or double in the pass-out seat, even with a weak hand.

1♥ – (Pass) – 2♥ – (Pass) – Pass – ?

The opponents have found a heart fit and stopped low, so they have about half the high cards between them. Your partner has the rest. Balance with a takeout double or a suit bid on hands you’d have passed in the direct seat.

“Borrow a king.” When you balance, you’re bidding partly on partner’s values. Partner should subtract about 3 points from their hand before bidding again, so you don’t get too high.

When not to balance:

The opponents haven’t found a fit (for example 1♠ – 1NT – 2♦ – Pass). They may be in a poor contract, and you may be about to rescue them.
You’d have to bid at the three level with a poor suit and no fit.
You’re vulnerable, your hand is weak and flat, and the opponents stopped in a part-score that will probably fail.

5. Forcing passes

Your side bids a game you expect to make, and the opponents sacrifice at the five level.

1♠ – (2♥) – 4♠ – (5♥) – ?

When your side has bid game expecting to make it, a pass at your turn is forcing. You must double them or bid on. You can’t let them play 5♥ undoubled.

Pass (forcing) says: “I’m happy to bid on to 5♠. You decide.”
Double says: “I’d rather defend. Let’s take the penalty.”
5♠ says: “I want to play in 5♠.”

Agree with your partner which auctions create a forcing pass. A common agreement: a pass is forcing when our side has voluntarily bid game, or is in a game-forcing auction, and the opponents bid over it.

6. Pre-empting with the Law in mind

Pre-empts push the opponents to guess. Use the Law and the vulnerability:

At favourable vulnerability, pre-empt freely: a three-level pre-empt with seven cards and a weak hand is normal.
At unfavourable vulnerability, keep your pre-empts sound: a good suit and fewer losers.
When partner pre-empts, raise to the level of your combined trumps. Partner opens 2♠ (six cards) and you have four spades: you hold ten trumps, so bid 4♠ straight away, whether you expect to make it or not.

Rules worth remembering

Total tricks ≈ total trumps.
Compete to the level equal to your side’s number of trumps: 8 trumps → 2 level, 9 → 3 level, 10 → 4 level.
Add a trick for double fits; subtract for flat hands and wasted honours.
Sacrifice at favourable vulnerability, rarely at unfavourable.
The five level belongs to the opponents.
Balance when the opponents stop low with a fit, and partner should subtract a king when replying.
When your side has bid game expecting to make it, pass is forcing over their sacrifice.

Try these

1. You open 1♠ and partner raises to 2♠. LHO bids 3♥ and it’s your turn. Your hand is a minimum with ♠ K J 8 7 6 5 ♥ 6 ♦ A Q 4 ♣ 9 8 2. What do you do?

2. Same auction, but you opened a five-card suit and your hand is ♠ A Q 8 7 4 ♥ J 5 3 ♦ K 6 ♣ Q 9 2. What do you do?

3. You’re not vulnerable; the opponents are vulnerable. They bid 1♥ – 2♥ – 4♥. You hold ♠ K Q 10 9 6 5 ♥ 8 ♦ J 8 6 4 ♣ 7 3, and your side has about 10 points. Partner has shown nothing. Should you sacrifice in 4♠?

4. LHO opens 1♦, partner passes, RHO raises to 2♦ and LHO passes. You hold ♠ K J 6 4 ♥ Q 10 7 3 ♦ 8 2 ♣ A 9 5. What do you do?

5. Your side bids 1♠ – (2♥) – 4♠ – (5♥), and you’re the opener. You have extra values and a void in hearts. What do you do, and what would a pass mean?

Answers

1. 3♠. Partner’s raise usually shows three spades, and you have six, so your side has nine trumps: compete to the three level. Your singleton heart is a good sign too. This isn’t a game try; partner should pass.

2. Pass (or double if you play competitive doubles). You have only an eight-card fit and a flat hand with ♥ J 5 3, which may be wasted. The Law says you’ve done enough at the two level.

3. Possibly, but think carefully. If you go three down doubled (−500), you gain against their vulnerable game (−620). But your hand has little defence, partner may hold heart tricks, and 4♥ may not make. A sacrifice decision taken without partner’s help is risky. If you do bid 4♠, bid it once and then stop.

4. Double (a balancing takeout double). The opponents have found a fit and stopped at the two level, so your side has about half the points. You have both majors and short diamonds.

5. Pass: it’s forcing, and it invites partner to bid 5♠. With your void, your hand is better for playing than defending. If partner doubles, you can pull to 5♠ with this shape. A direct 5♠ is also reasonable.

Words to know

Term	Meaning
Law of Total Tricks	The guide that total tricks on a deal roughly equal total trumps held by both sides
Total trumps	The length of your side’s longest fit plus the length of the opponents’ longest fit
Sacrifice	A contract bid in the expectation of going down, to score better than letting the opponents make theirs
Phantom sacrifice	A sacrifice against a contract that would have gone down
Balancing	Bidding or doubling in the pass-out seat when the opponents stop at a low level
Borrowing a king	Balancing on partner’s expected values; partner should subtract about 3 points when replying
Forcing pass	A pass that requires partner to bid on or double, because your side has bid game
Favourable vulnerability	You’re not vulnerable and the opponents are vulnerable

What next?

Count total trumps on every competitive board at your next session. Afterwards, check the hand records: were there about as many tricks as trumps?
Agree forcing-pass rules with your partner.
Move on to Module 5: Safety plays and probability, where the focus changes from bidding to declarer play.