Gambling 3 Notrump — An opening bid of 3 Notrump based on a long, solid minor suit. The 3 Notrump opener anticipates partner holds a stopper in the suit lead by the leading opponent, then running the long minor suit. Among the variations, two treatments include:
Gambling 3 Notrump Method 1 — common use: opener has a long running minor suit, either 7 to the A K Q x x x or 8 with the A K x x x x x x with no outside Aces and most play no outside King (if opened in first or second seat).
Bidding
Meaning
3N — P
Responder has sufficient outside controls, happy for partner to play with a favorable opportunity to make game.
3N — 4C;
Responder believes 3 Notrump is not attainable. 4C allows partner to pass or correct to 4D if Diamonds was partner’s long suit.
3N — 4H/S
With a long, strong major suit, responder can pull the contract to an attainable game of their own. Opener must pass.
3N — 4D
A forcing bid asking opener to provide further information, with responder promising a big hand wishing to explore slam. One variation asks opener to identify a short suit (Hearts or Spades) or bid 4N denying a short suit. See below for extensions to the convention.
3N — 5C
Responder has game values in the minors but no interest in playing in 3 Notrump. Opener passes or corrects to 5D
One problem with the above structure is that opponents lead through the responders hand, making the value of an isolated King or tenaces questionable. One work around is for opener to make an conventional bid of 3Sas a replacement to 3N — this allows responder to accept 3N with stoppers and ensure the lead comes to the stronger hand. A second treatment is shown below.
Gambling 3 Notrump Method 2 — advanced treatment:opener has an 8 card weak, somewhat broken minor suit, no outside Aces and most play no outside King. For disciplined bidders, the quality of the suit quality improves with the vulnerability, as:
Non-Vulnerable: Q J 10 x x x x x Vulnerable: A Q J x x x x x
Bidding
Meaning
3N — P
Responder has sufficient outside controls, happy for partner to play with a favorable opportunity to make game. Thus, responder has all 4 suits stopped.
3N — 4D
A forcing bid asking opener to provide further information, with responder promising a big hand wishing to explore slam. Opener identifies a short suit (Hearts or Spades) or bid 4N denying a short suit. Further, opener may bid 5C to show a singleton/void Diamond or 5D to show a short Club suit (Smolen-like).
3N — 5C
Responder has game values in the minors but no interest in playing in 3 Notrump. Opener passes or corrects to 5D
Gambling 3nt Bridge Convention
Bridge Gambling 3nt
Gambling 3NT is an opening bid of 3NT based on a long (7+ card) solid (headed by AKQ) minor suit. There are three main variations of gambling 3NT: strong, medium, and weak.
Bridge Gambling 3nt
- The Gambling 3NT by Chris Jagger. I’m not going to pretend that the gambling 3NT is a vital convention that everybody should know, but it is a part of normal Acol, and your partner will probably assume that you are playing it. Moreover, I recently discovered that half of the Tolle team don’t know the continuations!
- Today, most 2/1 partnerships play 3NT. as Gambling. The bid must be alerted, hence the asterisk. The bid promises is a long running minor suit. ‘Long and running’ means at least AKQxxxx (yes, seven of them).
