Penalty Doubles

Richard Pavlicek says:

If your side holds 23 or more HCP, you should never allow the enemy to play undoubled.

If each side holds 18 to 22 HCP, you should double only if you expect at least a two-trick set.

To help, he provides this chart of the number of tricks you can expect partner to win on defense:




HCP 6-9 10-12 13-15 16-18 19-22

Tricks 1 2 3 4 5

(Click the link above for a lengthy discussion of Penalty Doubles and other bridge topics.)

Here's Another Trick Taking Chart:

Partner's tricks based on his bidding. The 3rd column is the number of tricks Pavlicek's chart above would give based on the number of HCP indicated by the bids shown below.

Partner's Bid 1-level overcall (7-17 HCP) Opening bid or 2-level overcall Open/overcall of (15-17) 1NT Open 2C or 2NT

Tricks 1 2 3 4

Pav 1-4 3 4 5

  Fit Adjustments
No 8+ fits -- add 1 to # of winners (Added to author's list. See below.)
8-card fit -- reduce winners to 1 trick in the suit
9-card fit -- reduce winners to 1/2 trick in the suit
Example: Pard opens 1 = 2 tricks
If you have 3 in the suit, subtract 1
If you have 4, subtract 1.5
10-card fit -- reduce winners to 0 tricks in the suit
Example: Pard opens 2, you have 4 spades = 0 tricks

Add pard's tricks to yours, subtract the adjustments, and compare the total to the number of tricks needed to set them.

Obviously, Pavlicek's chart is more generous, but on the other hand, he says to double only if you can set them by 2.

At the page linked above, 6 different bidding sequences are shown for the same hand (KQ42-98-KQ53-765).

1. E-W bid 4S, S's winners = 2 spades (presumably for being trump) and 1 diamond.
2. E-W bid 3S, S's winners = 3 spades, 1 diamond. The explanation is "When you
   and your partner have no fit, the defense will do better than expected."
   Could be, but then it should be shown as a Fit Adjustment, which was added above.
3. E-W bid 5H, Nobody bids diamonds. S's diamond winners go up .5 -- Not explained.
   S's spade winners are reduced to 1.5. Not explained.
   The "Discounted by" line further reduces spade winners by .5, but increases D by .5.
4. E-W bid 5D. N opened 2S, Spade winners should have been adjusted to 0 per Fit Adj.
5. E-W bid 1S then 2D. S's diamond winners go up to 3, spade winners go down to 1.
6. E-W bid 3D. S's diamond winners drop to 2, spade winners go up to 1.4.
   The author says: "Sometimes you have to guess."

This has been included despite the confusion because help is needed (by me, anyway) for when to make penalty doubles and maybe someone else can get something out of this that I couldn't.

The Rule Of Ten:

IF the combined values of the partnership exceeds 20 HCP,
AND your side has no known 8+ card fit,
AND your trump winners plus the bidding level of their contract is 10+,
THEN double.

Ignore the sample hand given at the above link; it has the Diamond Ace in two different hands (unless they have since fixed it - they've been told).

Another web site has a Rule Of Nine, but it only addresses trump suit holdings and no outside values, which can't be right. (Your Aces take nothing?)

It should go without saying that none of these guidelines are very helpful if not backed up with good defensive play.