Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game using a standard 52-card deck. It is played by four players in two competing partnerships, [1] with partners. Losing- Trick Count - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In the card gamecontract bridge, the Losing- Trick Count (LTC) is a method of hand evaluation used in situations where a trump suit has been established and shape and fit are more significant than high card points (HCP) in determining the optimum level of the contract. Based on the bidding and a set of empirical rules, the number of "losing tricks" held in each of the partnership's hands is estimated and their sum deducted from 2. Origins[edit]The origins of the Losing Trick Count—without that name—can be traced back at least to 1. Joseph Bowne Elwell's book Elwell on Auction Bridge. BRENDAN: I hate to do it because his brother helped me win a Response of the Week Award, but I have to go against Frasier on this one. Bob Hartley all the way. Arts and crafts, video games, antiquing, science experiments--what's your fancy? eHow's covered all of your hobby-related needs, so discover something new! Learn how technology can show you how to improve your posture. Click here to find out about the hottest new wearable on the market: http://bit.ly/1O98iMq. ICHABOD CRANE ATHLETICS Sound in Body, Sound in Mind, Sound in Spirit. These words are inscribed on the wall of the fitness room outside of the Ichabod Crane High.
In the preface (page v), Elwell mentions chapters on "Estimating the Values of Hands". The sections later in the book (pages 8. Estimating" but ending differently. Elwell sets out a scheme for counting losers in trump contracts that looks very much like the simple basic counting method given below. The term "Losing Trick Count" was originally put forward by the American F. Dudley Courtenay in his 1. The System the Experts Play (which ran to at least 1. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Sleepy Hollow Ichabod Crane Ultra Design Action Figure - Medicom - Sleepy Hollow - Action Figures - Hold onto your heads… it's the Sleepy Hollow Ichabod Crane Figure!On page two among various Acknowledgments, the author writes: 'To Mr. Arnold Fraser- Campbell the author is particularly indebted for permission to use material and quotations from his manuscript in which is described his method of hand valuation by counting losing tricks, and from which the author has developed the Losing Trick Count described herein.' From this we may speculate that Elwell's ideas filtered through Fraser- Campbell to Courtenay. The Englishman George Gordon Joseph Walshe contacted Courtenay about issuing a British edition. Together they edited the American edition and retitled it The Losing Trick Count for the British market. This title went through dozens of printings and remained in print for two decades. Subsequently it has been republished by print- on- demand re- publishers.)LTC was popularised by Maurice Harrison- Gray in Country Life magazine in the 1. In recent decades, others have suggested refinements to the basic counting method. Basic counting method[edit]The estimated number of losing tricks (LTC) in one's hand is determined by examining each suit and assuming that an ace will never be a loser, nor will a king in a 2+ card suit, nor a queen in a 3+ card suit; accordinglya void = 0 losing tricks. A = 1 losing trick. AK = 0; Ax or Kx = 1; xx = 2 losing tricks. AKQ = 0; AKx, AQx or KQx = 1 losing trick. Axx, Kxx or Qxx = 2; xxx = 3 losing tricks.(Some authorities treat Qxx as 3 losers unless the Q is "balanced" by an A in another suit.) LTC also assumes that no suit can have more than 3 losing tricks and so suits longer than three cards are judged according to their three highest cards. It follows that hands without an A, K or Q have a maximum of 1. J x x x ♥ J x x♦ J x x ♣ J x x has 1. Until further information is derived from the bidding, assume that a typical opening hand by partner contains 7 losers, e. A K x x x ♥ A x x x♦ Q x ♣ x x, has 7 losers (1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 7). ![]() Example[edit]To determine how high to bid, responder adds the number of losers in his hand to the assumed number in opener's hand (7); the total number of losers arrived at by this sum is subtracted from 2. Thus following an opening bid of 1♥: partner jumps to game in 4♥ with no more than 7 losers in his own hand and a fit with partner's heart suit (7 + 7 = 1. With 8 losers in hand and a fit, responder bids 3♥ (8 + 7 = 1. With 9 losers and a fit, responder bids 2♥ (9 + 7 = 1. With only 5 losers and a fit (5 + 7 = 1. Refinements[edit]Thinking that the method tended to overvalue unsupported queens and undervalue supported jacks, Eric Crowhurst and Andrew Kambites refined the scale, as have others: In his book The Modern Losing Trick Count, Ron Klinger advocates adjusting the number of loser based on the control count of the hand believing that the basic method undervalues an ace but overvalues a queen and undervalues short honor combinations such as Qx or a singleton king. Also it places no value on cards jack or lower. New Losing- Trick Count (NLTC)[edit]A "New" Losing- Trick Count (NLTC) was introduced in The Bridge World, May 2. Johannes Koelman. Designed to be more precise than LTC, the NLTC method of hand evaluation utilizes the concept of "half- losers", and it distinguishes between 'Ace- losers', 'King- losers' and 'Queen- losers.' NLTC intrinsically assigns greater value to Aces than it assigns to Kings, and it assigns greater value to Kings than it assigns to Queens. Some users of LTC make adjustments to the loser count to compensate for the imbalance of Aces and Queens held. Koelman argues that adjusting a hand's value for the imbalance between Aces and Queens held isn't the same as correcting for the imbalance between Aces and Queens missing. Because of singletons and doubletons, missing Aces that add losers tend to outnumber missing Queens that add losers.[2]NLTC differs from LTC in two significant ways. First, NLTC uses a different method to count losers (explanation and loser- count lists below). Consequently with NLTC, the number of losers in a singleton or doubleton suit can exceed the number of cards in the suit. Second, with NLTC the number of combined losers between two hands is subtracted from 2. As with LTC, the NLTC formula assumes normal suit breaks, it assumes that required finesses work about half the time, and it must only be applied after an 8- card trump fit or better is discovered. When counting NLTC losers in a hand, consider only the three highest ranking cards in each suit: Count 1. A in a suit of at least 1 card in length. Count 1. 0 losers for a missing K in a suit of at least 2 cards in length. Count 0. 5 losers for a missing Q in a suit of at least 3 cards in length. Count 0 losers for a void suit. The following three basic hands, which are all valued equally with LTC, are often referred to when illustrating the differences between the A,K,Q values with LTC and NLTC: в™ Axxx ♥Axx ♦Axx в™ЈAxx - 8 LTC losers, but only 6 NLTC losersв™ Kxxx ♥Kxx ♦Kxx в™ЈKxx - 8 LTC losers, and also 8 NLTC losersв™ Qxxx ♥Qxx ♦Qxx в™ЈQxx - 8 LTC losers, but 1. NLTC losers. Here is the basic NLTC list. For simplicity, cards below the rank of Queen are represented by "x": Void - 0 losers. AKQ - 0 losers. AKx - 0. Q)AQx - 1. 0 losers (missing K)Axx - 1. K,Q)KQx - 1. 5 losers (missing A)Kxx - 2. A,Q)Qxx - 2. 5 losers (missing A,K)xxx - 3. A,K,Q)AK doubleton - 0 losers. AQ doubleton - 1. K)Ax doubleton - 1. K)KQ doubleton - 1. A)Kx doubleton - 1. A)Qx doubleton - 2. A,K)xx doubleton - 2. A,K)A singleton - 0 losers. K singleton - 1. 5 losers (missing A)Q singleton - 1. A)x singleton - 1. A)All singletons, except singleton A, are initially counted as 1. A and K are initially counted as 2. Professional bridge player, Kevin Wilson, explains this concept of a suit that contains more losers than it contains cards: "Think about how much of declarer play is about timing. When you're missing an Ace, you're losing more than just a trick; you're losing timing because the King, Queen and Jack that you might hold can't score immediate tricks. First you must force out the Ace [and when the opponents win their Ace, they might immediately score more tricks, or they might establish winning tricks for later in the play]. The idea of 1. 5 losers for a singleton [and 2. In Kevin's article, he coins the term "modified" losing- trick count, or MLTC. The following is a more extensive and detailed NLTC list. This list is essentially the same as the basic list, but it displays J's and T's which technically don't affect the losing- trick count. This list also displays an "(x)" after each of the three- card listings, which reminds users that the loser count for three- card suits and suits of three- plus length is the same: Void - 0 losers. AKQ(x) - 0 losers. AKJ(x) - 0. 5 losers. AKT(x) - 0. 5 losers. AKx(x) - 0. 5 losers. AQJ(x) - 1. 0 losers. AQT(x) - 1. 0 losers. AQx(x) - 1. 0 losers. AJT(x) - 1. 5 losers. AJx(x) - 1. 5 losers. ATx(x) - 1. 5 losers. Axx(x) - 1. 5 losers. KQJ(x) - 1. 5 losers. KQT(x) - 1. 5 losers. KQx(x) - 1. 5 losers. KJT(x) - 2. 0 losers. KJx(x) - 2. 0 losers. KTx(x) - 2. 0 losers. Kxx(x) - 2. 0 losers. QJT(x) - 2. 5 losers. QJx(x) - 2. 5 losers. QTx(x) - 2. 5 losers. Qxx(x) - 2. 5 losers. JTx(x) - 3. 0 losers. Jxx(x) - 3. 0 losers. Txx(x) - 3. 0 losersxxx(x) - 3. AK doubleton - 0 losers. AQ doubleton - 1. AJ doubleton - 1. AT doubleton - 1. Ax doubleton - 1. KQ doubleton - 1. KJ doubleton - 1. KT doubleton - 1. Kx doubleton - 1. QJ doubleton - 2. QT doubleton - 2. Qx doubleton - 2. JT doubleton - 2. Jx doubleton - 2. Tx doubleton - 2. A singleton - 0 losers. K singleton - 1. 5 losers. Q singleton - 1. 5 losers. J singleton - 1. 5 losers. T singleton - 1. 5 losersx singleton - 1. As with LTC, players seeking greater accuracy can also make adjustments with NLTC. LTC normally uses a one- loser "resolution" (i. LTC commonly adjust in ВЅ- loser increments. To compare, NLTC normally uses a ВЅ- loser resolution, and typical NLTC adjustments are made in Вј- loser increments. For more accuracy players can also adjust using smaller increments. J's and T's are initially assigned no value in losing- trick counts, but these lower honors can be valuable (not to mention the value of intermediates like 9's, 8's and 7's). J's and T's are more valuable when they're together in the same suit, and they're most valuable when they support higher honors in the suit. Other holdings that possess no initial losing- trick count value, but can be considered for upgrades, include unprotected K's, Q's and J's in short suits. As with other methods of hand evaluation, players can either upgrade or downgrade the value of a given holding based on the ensuing auction. With no additional information available, the following is a list of plausible initial NLTC adjustments: AKJ - Вј- loser upgrade. AKT - в…›- loser upgrade. AQJ - Вј- loser upgrade. AQT - в…›- loser upgrade. AJT - Вј- loser upgrade. Hobbies, Games & Toys - How To Information.
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