Bridge Odds for Practical Players

by Hugh Walter Kelsey, Michael Glauert

'The most useful publication in the past twelve months. I unhesitatingly award my accolade to BRIDGE ODDS FOR PRACTICAL PLAYERS because every player should know the material it contains. This cannot be found elsewhere' THE TIMES

Backing outsiders has ruined many a punter at the bridge table as well as at the race track. Few players have any idea of how to harness the odds to solve problems that constantly recur. Which is the best line of play? Is it better to finesse or play for the drop? Will the diamonds break? Can the chances be combined? What are the exact odds?

Here is a simple guide to solving the problems that arise in assessing the odds in play at bridge. Keeping theory to a minimum, the authors show by means of many practical examples how to calculate the odds and how to come up with the right answer at the bridge table. Anyone who learns to apply the principles set out in this book need never again be accused of playing against the odds.

Genres: Games

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Hugh Walter Kelsey (1926 – 1995) was a Scottish bridge player and writer, best known for advanced books on the play of the cards.

However, he was most famous and will be remembered as a writer. He wrote some fifty books on the game, mostly aimed at intermediate to advanced players. It is a measure of their quality that many of them were still in print more than a decade after his death. Two of his books, Killing Defence at Bridge and Advanced Play at Bridge, were listed by the Official Encyclopedia of Bridge as "mandatory requirements for a modern technical bridge library". Adventures in Card Play by Kelsey and Géza Ottlik (Gollancz, 1979) is regarded by many as the most advanced book on the play of the cards. It introduced and developed many new concepts such as backwash squeeze and entry-shifting squeeze. Bridge experts surveyed by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) in 2007 ranked it third on a list of their favourite books, nearly thirty years after its first publication.

Kelsey was bridge columnist for the Edinburgh newspaper The Scotsman, wrote many articles for bridge magazines, and was general editor for the Gollancz Master Bridge series. He was the International Bridge Press Association Personality of the Year in 1993.

The Scottish Bridge Union holds an annual Hugh Kelsey Tournament. This is open to all those in Scotland who are currently receiving lessons.

Reviews

[Monte Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not for the casual Bridge player. The math itself is not so difficult that most can understand it, but the book moves quickly into more difficult examples that require serious concentration. That being said, I do think that even if the reader doesn't grasp all the information in this book, it can be a good learning exercise just to see the basic card distributions and what are the percentages on how often they break. Using this information and some common sense, the reader can see how to play the cards for the highest percentages for success. If someone is more mathematically inclined, there are deeper understandings available and supported with good examples.

[Philip William · Rating 4 out of 5]

It achieves what is says in the title