As West rebid at the level of Three, over East’s weak response of Two Spades, and when there was no need for him to rebid, he must have a very strong playing poker hands, and East must make a further bid. He bids Four Hearts and West passes. An inferential force is even more pronounced in a sequence such as:

West must not pass because East is very clearly inviting him to choose between playing the hand in Three No-Trumps or Four Hearts, whichever contract best suits him.

Bidding slams.
There are 40 points in the pack and experience has taught that if the combined hands have a total of 25 points game will be made, 33 the small slam, and if 37 the grand slam, and if 37 the grand slam. There are, of course, exceptions, but in the long run the bridge poker rules is to be relied on.

When the bidding of the partners shows that they hold between them the balance of strength, they should consider bidding a slam.

As a guide it may be said that prospects of a slam are good when a player holds enough to make a positive response to a forcing bid; or when the point count of the combined hand totals at least 33; or when a player has enough for an opening bid opposite a partner who has opened with a bid of Two, or who has opened with a bid of Two, or who has opened the bidding and made a jump rebid.

Before a slam can be bid with a measure of safety, it is essential for the partners to find out if they hold between them control of the vital suits. The Blackwood convention has been designed to enable the partners to learn how many Aces and Kings are held by the partnership.

When the trump suit has been agreed either directly by support or by implication, or if a forcing situation has been set up, a bid of Four No-Trumps by either partner asks the other to bid Five diamonds if he holds on Ace, Five, Hearts if he holds two and Five Spades if he holds three.

If the online poker player who has bid Four No-Trumps, after his partner’s response continues with a bid of Five No-Trumps, he is showing that he holds all four Aces and is asking his partner to bid Six clubs if he lacks a King, Six Diamonds if he holds one King, Six Hearts if he holds two, Six Spades if he holds three and Six No-Trumps if he holds all four.

Look at the hands at the foot of the page. Bidding:

Once East has shown that he has support for spades, West, with support for hearts, visualizes a slam. His bid of Four No-Trumps asks East how many Aces he holds, and East’s response of Five Hearts tells West that he holds two.

It is important for West to bid the slam in spades, because if East plays in hearts and his two Aces are in hearts and clubs (as they are ) the opening lead of a diamond from South may break Six Hearts out of hand.

When West plays in Six Spades, the ♦ K is protected against the opening lead and 12 poker tricks are assured.

As West knows that there is an Ace against the hand the grand slam is out of the question and West, therefore, has no need to bid Five No-Trumps to ask East how many Kings he holds.

The convention is a very useful one, but it must be used with discretion, because if partner lacks the necessary Aces the partnership may find itself carried out of its depth.

As a rule, it may be said that if the final contract is to be in clubs the bid of Four No-Trumps should No-Trumps be made unless the bidder holds at least two Aces, and if the contract is to be in diamonds he should hold at least one Ace.

A limit bid is a bid that informs partner of the precise strength of the hand, and so permits him to estimate the combined strength of the partnership, and drop the bidding if he can see no future for it.

No-Trump bids are limit bids because they are made on an agreed number of points in the hand.

A single raise of partner’s suit is a limit bid that shows moderate strength and support for the suit; a double raise of partner’s suit shows that the poker hands is too good for a mere simple raise and invites him to bid game if his hand is above average; a triple raise is distributional, it promises good support for the suit and a few scattered points, but no more because with good support for the suit coupled with high-card strength it would be more in order to make a gradual advance to a possible slam.