[MacWaves88]

Hi all Goulash funs,

Primarily thanks to BBO for its existence, particularly for free Goulash tournaments.

Goulash is an extreme Bridge challenge, where, generally, auction quickly goes beyond rational zone of precise bidding conventions.
In a way it returns the game to its roots before a plethora of sophisticated bidding conventions were invented.
Because the Goulash auction tends to quickly reach the 4th or 5th level, most conventions are completely useless and you have to rely on your experience-based intuition.

I understand experience as having thousands of games played and hundreds of "irregular" hands witnessed, not only in Goulash tournaments.
It can not be bought and it is not as quick process as learning one or another convention.

I quote after one Polish Bridge Master - Andrzej Macieszczak: "If you play Bridge long enough, you' ll get your 13 spades hand". *
"Irregular" deals happen, only in regular tourneys they do happen sometimes, while in Goulash we have them coming hand after hand.

(Let me note here that, as an "oddity", at least once per Goulash, the Old 3NT is the best contract to play!)

&&&

Let's finally get to the topic.
The Goulash bidding is where the main challenge of the deal lays. What goes for whom and what doesn't?
When we see partner 's hand after the lead, we generally know what determines the outcome.

If the dummy represents more or less what you have expected, then all is good, at least when it comes to your communication.
You just do your job and take it philosophically when your side suit Ace gets ruffed on the first round.




In Goulash advanced players use their experience to think (feel) beyond the information (or lack of it) provided by the bidding and often they must act intuitively.
However they rarely gamble, as it is the case of many not-experienced players, who tend to overbid with disastrous results.

The difference is subtle but it is grounded on:
- perfect knowledge of Bridge scoring (with attention to the vulnerability status)
- calculation of sure/probable winning and losing cards (supposed position of key-cards at Opps, voids, probable splits)
- information where the eventual lead will come from
- probability of Opps making their game
- last but not least, abilities of the declarer to execute a difficult contract or of the defenders to find a rewarding defense (knowledge of the players).

Based on that general approach and acknowledging the "no rules" dimension of Goulash, I d like to share few points, which might lead to better results
and what is even more important to a better communication between you and your partner, which is the winning strategy and tactic of Bridge Game (and of the Life itself):

- If you can, make your first bid natural, 1, 2, 3 or 4 presenting the length of your suit and your strength (if you bid 5 clubs/diamonds as a dealer, then you might block your P from declaring a doable 4 in one of the majors or/and from asking you 4nt)

- If you have a nice 12PC+ 2 suits hand, start low, so you might get a chance to present your second suit (in Goulash the rule of presenting longer suit first do not always bring the best results, on higher levels Aces and Kings matter the most so consider bidding AK10xx before QJxxxxx)

- Do justice to your hand - there is a difference between KJxxxxxxx and AKQJxxx, don't be stubborn with your 9 card suit if partner bids his or the bidding level gets to high and you also have 3-4 side suits losers

- Don't overbid your hand, especially strength-wise, unless you are forced by your P or you are defending what seems to be a cold game of Opps; by a slight overbidding in the beginning of the auction you might give a reason to go too high in your P's last bid before Opps' cheerful DBL)

(! NOTE: the top results in Goulash are rarely made by those who properly executed their contracts; 100 % is generally received because of an overbid;
advanced Players don't let themselves easily pushed up in bidding, they know when to brake)

- If you have a full suit (AKQJxxx +) and some extra values you might start your auction with 4NT - blkw (make sure before the tourney that you play the same version and that your P uses DOPI as almost surely Opps will make an intervention)

And now I add few points, which relate to intuitive, yet based on experience, aspects of Goulash bidding

- Often your P might open 4 h/s with a void and 3 possible losers in another suit, BLKW won't provide the required information and there is no space in Goulash auction for traditional cue-bids. Therefore your response is crucial and if you have some values, you bid, specially when Opps are trying to find their game with 5c/d.
First of all, unless you have AKQJxxxx, you tame your ego and you focus on getting your P to the right contract generally by bidding your Aces, voids or going straight for 6 (leaving him/her/it the decision to go for the grand slam, unless you have a hand to bid it) and also generally NOT bidding hands with too many "holes" above 5 level, specially when VULNERABLE

- Doable small slams hands often happen in Goulash but I would risk an observation that they split about 40 % - 40% with promising slam hands which sadly must go down 1, given proper defense. That's when your intuition could be applied. Depending on how ambitious you are about final result and/or how seriously frustrated might become your partner, I say, bid them more often than pass them! Anyway most Opps won't be silent lambs there.

- Climbing from 6th to 7th level is where all Bridge players, not only in Goulash, have to get intuitive and that's where the undesired aspect of luck becomes crucial.
Let's note that if you want to get an experience of executing the grand slam without going through thousands of average deals, Goulash Tournament is the place!
Often grand slam is also bid as a defense against the most-probably-doable small slam of opponents. Before you bid it, pls count your losers, don't forget the vulnerability status and calculate the score.
I had a P last night, who stubbornly "defended" scoring -1100 3 times in one tournament against not so obvious or not doable small slams, each time getting us the lowest score.

I am not an expert and I am making my mistakes. I was never a pro but played intensively in my youth and then on BBO few years ago. With new email I ve reconnected and I am well below 5000+ logins (which I somehow naively hope are proofs of physical presence, though the number represents 15+ years of playing every day), so my invitations sent to advanced-looking players are often turned down.
Some experiences in not-so-ideal partnership have inspired me to write this post.

I believe even (or especially) masters are always learning and some of those who are just starting their adventures in Goulash, might find the above remarks germaine.

And the very last thought:

What also differentiates real advanced players from self-called masters and virtuosos, that the former ones rarely comment on your play, especially when the new hand is dealt. It s your job to eventually apologize for a mistake, just to clean the trust space for the rest of the tourney. Anyway all your hands are recorded in the database of BBO and analyzing the results of Goulash Tournament might quickly improve your performance.



Many good games to all!