Convention Cards

If you play competitive bridge you need something called a convention card.  What is it and why is it necessary?  I supplied questions to Glenna Shanahan and Vic Johnson.  The questions with their answers are listed below.

1. Why do convention cards exist?

Vic:  Convention cards exist as a function of two basic rules of bridge.

•  #1 - Secret bidding agreements or signals are illegal. The opponents are entitled to listen to any  conversation you have with your partner both during the auction & during play of the hand for the 50% of the hands you are playing defense. Your opponents are entitled to know the      meaning  of any call or signal you make. 
•  #2 - You are not allowed memory aides at the table. The card is for your opponents.

2. What are the reasons to fill out a convention card?

Vic:  You fill out a convention card as a courtesy to your opponents to inform them of your bidding agreements & signals.

Glenna:   We fill out a convention card because all partnerships play what those 2 people like to play—none of my cards are the same for any partner except the person I’m playing with that day.

 We also keep it on the right corner of the table so that opponents can look at it to know what you are playing/

3.  Is a convention card for a person or is a convention card for a team of two people?

Vic:  Every player is required to fill out a convention card. You & your playing partner’s card should be identical. I highly recommend huddling with partner to fill out your convention cards prior to every game. Doing so is excellent preparation.

Glenna:  The convention card is for the pair playing together,

4.  Are they actually used by the Madison Bridge Club? For what?

Vic:  Madison Bridge Club is an ACBL affiliated club. It is required to follow ACBL rules which require convention cards as stated above. Do the MBC Directors make an obvious point of enforcing this rule? Not often. But if a disagreement arises & your side has no convention card, then your side will lose.

Glenna:    Yes, each pair should have matching cards. If 1 person does not have a card, the director can say some conventions cannot be used until both players have filled one out.

5.  In Madison Bridge Club competitive play (Monday-Saturday) the directions are to tell people of the conventions before you start a set with another team.  Some people do that and they come up with weird acronyms that make no sense (to at least me). I play with people that simple state, “We play American Standard”.   What acronyms are applicable to convention cards?

Vic:  The rules stipulate that agreements must be clearly explained. Acronyms are not acceptable. If someone gives you an acronym you are not familiar with, just politely ask them to explain. If they refuse or give you a hard time, then call the Director. Having said that, there are certainly some acronyms that are pretty universally understood: “Stayman” for example. Telling MBC opponents you play “Standard American” is a courteous thing to do, because most North America players have at least some idea of what the various Standard American agreement are. In reality, however, you have no right to expect that they have even a clue. And if they are from Europe or Russia or any place in Asia, they probably do not. The rules do not allow you to simply toss your opponents an acronym & then cop an attitude that implies they are ignorant if they do not know what the acronym means. Unfortunately, there are experienced players who do that routinely, especially against opponents they tag as less experienced. Do not let them get away with it. Politely ask them to clearly explain their agreement.

Glenna:     Wdp: well done partner. BRB: Be right back ty: Thank you. USDC: upside down carding.  GL: good luck. WDO: well done opponent

5.  What happens if you have no idea what is on your convention card?  Can you be penalized?

Vic:   You fill out your own convention card. I am not sure how you could not know what is on it. But yes, you can get in trouble for a convention card that is marked with an agreement you do not play or do not understand. That is misleading your opponents.

Glenna:   If an opponent asks you the meaning of something and you haven’t discussed it with your partner: Do not make something up. Simply say we have No Agreement or We have never discussed this.

6.  Do convention cards become more important as you get better in bridge?

Vic: Yes.

Glenna: No, the reason to have one never changes for the opponent. For you it might become more important: For instance you receive a 0 on a board and you made 3NT so what happened?  You look at your card, find the score and see that you misplayed it—could have made 4 or 5

7.   Who is in charge of making sure convention cards meet either Madison Bridge Club or ACBL criteria?

Vic:  The Director of the game in question.

Glenna: You and your partner must make sure they match. If they match and are pretty complete, no one will complain. Hope this helps. 

Extra

Vic:  I am supplying a convention card marked as I feel new players (at the level of your Monday morning group) should aspire to understand & use with your playing partners. Feel free to ask me about anything that is not clear. Click here for the convention card.

If the link above did not work click on https://madisonbridgeclubmondaymorning.blogspot.com/2020/07/convention-card-picture.html
to see a picture of the convention card.

Note:  If you cannot get either link to work Email Vic Johnson at vrayjay42@gmail.com and he will email a copy to you.

ALERT: You will need to tweak the Convention Card by hand as follows. Go to: LEADS (versus suits) in lower left hand corner.

Find:  x x x  (change lead from the last x to the first x)

Find:  A K x  (circle A)

Find:  x x x x  (change lead from the last x to the first x)

Find:  x x x x x  (change lead from the fourth x to the first x)

Note: The change to the first x makes it a "top of nothing" lead.

More

You can go to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) and obtain more information on Convention Cards by clicking here.