Bridge Unleashed

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Bridge Unleashed

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BRIDGE UNLEASHED PRESENTS

Let's Go Slammin':

The Complete Slam Bidding Map

Twelve tricks is where bridge stops being arithmetic.

In two hours you get the whole toolkit in one place: when a slam is actually there, control bids, Roman Keycard Blackwood 1430 with the queen ask and the king ask, quantitative 4NT, splinters, and Exclusion for the hand with a void.

One map, so you stop guessing at the six level.

You had thirty one points. You went down one.

Here is the hand that ruins an evening.

You hold: ♠️ K Q J 9 6 ♥️ K Q ♦️ K Q 5 ♣️ K Q 4.

Partner raises spades. You add it up, twenty-one and change, and the bidding tells you there’s plenty over there. Six spades. Confident.

They cash the ♥️ A. Then they cash the ♣️ A. Down one, and you never played a card that mattered.

Thirty-one high-card points between the two hands, and the slam was dead before the opening lead because points were never the test. Controls were.

Nobody ever explained the difference, so most club partnerships bid slams by feel: somebody gets excited, somebody bids 4NT without a plan, and the partnership finds out at trick two whether it worked.

Two hours fixes that. Not with one gadget, but with the whole map.

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What you will learn

Six Tools, One Afternoon

Card 1: ♠️ Know When a Slam Is There

The test that replaces the thirty-three-point myth. Count controls instead of points, understand why the trump fit comes first and the arithmetic second, and learn the two questions to answer before anybody bids 4NT. Most bad slams are lost here, three rounds before the ask.

Card 2: ♥️ Control Bids

Learn how to describe a hand below game without committing to anything. Show your first- and second-round controls up the line, understand what partner’s silence means, and find the one suit where you both have losers. This tool finds the slams Blackwood can’t and stops the ones Blackwood would have bid.

Card 3: ♦️ Roman Keycard Blackwood, 1430

The ask, done properly. Learn the five keycards, the 1430 responses, and the two follow-ups almost nobody plays correctly: the queen ask and the king ask. We’ll also cover void responses and the safety rule that tells you when to sign off at the five level.

Card 4: ♣️ Quantitative 4NT and Gerber

Over notrump, 4NT is not the keycard ask, and treating it as one is a genuinely expensive mistake. Learn what 4NT means after 1NT and 2NT, how partner accepts or declines, and where Gerber fits.

Card 5: ♠️ Splinters

One bid that shows a fit, game values, and exactly where your shortness is. Learn how to read partner’s splinter, why your king opposite their singleton just lost value, and how a splinter turns a slam guess into a count.

Card 6: ♥️ Exclusion Keycard

The advanced piece that solves a real problem: You have a void, so partner’s ace in that suit is worthless, and the normal ask gives you a useless answer. Exclusion asks for keycards outside your void. We’ll bid one together.

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Who is this for

Beginner to tournament player, and that is on purpose

Slam bidding has a reputation as advanced material, and half of that reputation is undeserved. The tools are simple. What's missing in most partnerships is that nobody ever laid them out in order, so players learn Blackwood, use it everywhere, and never find out what the other five tools do.

We build from zero and finish at the top. If you sat through Two Over One Session 3 on August 2 and want the full version of the control bids and the keycard ask, this is that. If you missed it, nothing here assumes you were there.

Three-column list:

New to slam bidding You will leave knowing when to start looking, how to count controls, and how to run a keycard auction without hoping. No prior convention knowledge assumed.

Bidding slams already The queen ask, the king ask, void responses, and the quantitative 4NT auctions that have quietly been costing you. Plus the discipline of when not to ask.

Bidding them well Splinters, Exclusion Keycard, the grand slam decision, and the full agreements checklist to settle with your partner.

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Play of the Hand

TThen We Sit Down and Bid Them

Monday afternoon, we take the deals straight out of Wednesday’s lesson and play them at a live table.

Every deal is built around a slam decision: some where the slam is cold and the auction has to find it, some where twelve tricks are one control short and the win is stopping at game, and some where the grand slam is there for the partnership that asked the right question.

Tracey watches the play and talks through the decisions in real time. Not a lecture. A table, with a champion looking over your shoulder.

This session is included with your ticket.

📅 Monday, August 10

🕒 3:00 to 5:00 PM Pacific

🔗 Deals and table link will be sent to registrants

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What's included

What Your $25 Covers

The Live Lesson

Wednesday, August 5, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM Pacific. Two full hours with a break, live on Zoom.

Play of the Hand

Monday, August 10, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM Pacific. Bid and play live deals with real-time feedback.

Live Q&A at Both Sessions

No question is too basic. That rule is not decoration. It’s how the room runs.

Both Replays

Emailed within 24 hours and yours to keep.

The Student Workbook

Fill it in as you follow along during the lesson.

What's Included

Every Workshop Is Now Two Live Sessions

Learn it on Lesson Day. Lock it in on Play Day.

♠ 2-Hour Live Lesson

A full, unhurried lesson that goes from the absolute basics all the way to expert-level application. Not a highlight reel. A complete teaching session.

♥ Taught by Tracey Bauer

Two-time World Bridge Federation Women's Spring Festival Champion, 2020 and 2022. Lifetime Platinum Member with over 200 platinum points.

Tracey learned bridge in her 30s, which is exactly why she teaches it the way she does: no jargon walls, no club politics, no assumption that you already know the thing nobody ever explained.

She bids these auctions at the international level. She teaches them like a friend who wants you to win on Tuesday night.

♣ Full Replays Within 24 Hours

Cannot make it live? No problem. Both sessions are recorded and emailed within 24 hours. Watch on your schedule, as many times as you need.

FAQs:

Q: I have never bid a slam. Am I going to be lost?

A: No. We start with when a slam is even worth looking for, and build every tool from there. The workbook walks with you. Every workshop we run has beginners in it, and they leave with the same checklist everyone else does.

Q: I already play Blackwood. Is this too basic for me?

A: If you play Blackwood and nothing else, the second hour is going to be the useful part of your month. Control bids, the queen and king asks, quantitative 4NT, splinters and Exclusion are all things most partnerships have never written down.

Q: Do I play 1430 or 0314?

A: We teach 1430, and the workbook says why. If your partnership plays 0314, every principle transfers and only the first two steps swap. We cover that in one slide so nobody leaves confused.

Q: Do I need a partner to attend?

A: No. Come alone. Everything you learn is written as an agreement you can hand to any partner afterward.

Q: What if I can't make one of the sessions live?

A: Both are recorded, and both replays land in your inbox within 24 hours. You keep them.

Q: Why is Play of the Hand five days later?

A: Because slam auctions reward a little practice before you sit down. You get the lesson Wednesday, the replay and the workbook for the weekend, and then we play Monday afternoon with all of it fresh.

Q: Is this ACBL Standard or 2/1?

A: The slam tools work identically in both systems. Nothing in this workshop depends on which one you play.

Q: What do I need to have ready?

A: A device with Zoom, something to write with, and your questions. The workbook arrives by email before we start.

REGISTER NOW

Choose Your Access

One ticket. Both sessions. Both options include the Live lesson and the Play of the Hand.

Stop guessing at the six level

Two hours Wednesday, one table Monday, and six tools that turn the best part of bridge into something you can actually count. Both sessions, both replays, twenty five dollars.

Single Workshop

VIP Membership