A balanced hand or balanced distribution in
card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific.
Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ga ...
s is a hand with an even distribution of suits. In the game of
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...
, it denotes a hand of thirteen cards which contains no singleton or void and at most one . Three
hand patterns are classified as truly balanced: 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 and 5-3-3-2. The hand patterns 5-4-2-2 (an example of a two-suiter) and 6-3-2-2 (a single-suiter) are generally referred to as ''semi-balanced''.
In natural bidding systems, balanced hands within specified high card point (HCP) ranges are generally opened with a notrump bid, or rebid in notrump.
In the Netherlands, a bidding system called ''Saaie klaver'' ("''
Boring club The Boring Club (or in Dutch: Saaie klaver) is a bidding system in the card game contract bridge, designed by Lucas Smid of the Netherlands. In this system all balanced ('boring') hands, that in most natural systems would be opened 1NT or would be ...
''") that reserves the 1 opening for all balanced hands (''boring hands''), has gained some popularity.
See also
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Single suiter
In contract bridge, a single suiter (or single-suited hand) is a hand containing at least six cards in one suit and with all other suits being at least two cards shorter than this longest suit. Many hand patterns can be classified as single sui ...
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Two suiter
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Three suiter
In the game of contract bridge a three suiter (or three-suited hand) denotes a hand containing at least four cards in three of the four suits. As a bridge hand contains thirteen cards, only two hand patterns can be classified as three suiters: ...
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Bridge probabilities
In the game of bridge mathematical probabilities play a significant role. Different declarer play strategies lead to success depending on the distribution of opponent's cards. To decide which strategy has highest likelihood of success, the declare ...
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Boring club The Boring Club (or in Dutch: Saaie klaver) is a bidding system in the card game contract bridge, designed by Lucas Smid of the Netherlands. In this system all balanced ('boring') hands, that in most natural systems would be opened 1NT or would be ...
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Kamikaze 1NT
Kamikaze 1NT is a preemptive 1NT opening in the game of contract bridge and in common practice shows a balanced hand with 10-12 high-card points (HCP) - also known as the mini-notrump range. It is used in first or second seat hoping to make 1NT o ...
Literature
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Contract bridge bidding