Queens And Jacks

Archive for the ‘Scoring Meld’ Category

The number one rule in bidding is: If you have a marriage in any suit no matter how strong it is you must bid on two different circumstances:

You are the second bidder and the first bidder passed.
Your partner sent you a meld bid and if the person before you passed you must bid to cover in case they felt the risk was worth bidding with no marriage.These two situations call for a bid because if your partner get stuck with the bid, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment.

If you are the person that is first to bid, and you have aces in all suits, you should send a bid of 51, that is to tell your partner that you have aces.  A 51 opening bid is a bid that says “hey I got some power with aces in each suit” that is one of the advantages of being able to open the bidding session.  You should weigh the risks if you have no marriage (ring, like a wedding ring) in case your partner does not adhere to the first rule; passing and leaving you the bid winner with no marraige and you are set automatically.

You are able to “table talk” during the bidding process.  If your hand contains 20 meld you can bid 2 higher to tell your partner you have about 20 meld.  I will bid 20 if I have as little as 14 meld if I have power to back it up (like aces around).  If it is my turn to bid and the auction is at 53, I can bid 55 to let you know I have 20 meld.

18 - 24 meld	2 higher than previous bid
26 - 34 meld	3 higher than previous bid
36 - 44 meld	4 higher than previous bid
46 - 54 meld	5 higher than previous bid
56 - 64 meld	6 higher than previous bid
66 - 74 meld	7 higher than previous bid
76 + meld	8 higher than previous bid
Special Note	This is usually capped at 58. A meld bid of 59 has a special meaning you will see below

There are situations where special bids may apply.  This is when you have 100 Aces (one ace in each suit), 1,000 aces (two aces in each suit) or 30 + meld when you have to bid by increments of 5.  In these situatons you would bid as follows.

100 Aces	Open With 51
30 Meld Bidding above 60?	Bid 10 over last bid and hope your partner knows the rule too!
1,000 Aces	Bid 59

Counting meld can be difficult at first.  Remembering what is what can at times be confusing.  Below is a table to help you out.  You can print this out to keep it handy if you need to, that way you can easily make sure you are counting your meld correctly.

Usually the game is played where if you have doubles you get extra points.  Therefore having 2 of each suit of a card is a big meld hand and important to gain control of the hand by winning the bid.  If you have a lot of points with Queens and Jacks hopefully your partner has a strong hand, or you have a lot of Aces yourself.