Webmaster's note: Jody Badum (right) is an accomplished 42 player in Austin, Texas. He is a member of the Austin 42 Club and has played in numerous 42 tournaments in Texas and New Mexico. He is president of the National 42 Players Association (N42PA). He is also founder and president of PrismNet, a company that specializes in business internet services.Commentary by Jody Badum
My full name is Jody Badum. I was born in March of 1971. My family resides in Corpus Christi and loves to play all types of games. Being the oldest grandchild meant there weren't other kids to play with so I hung around the adults early. 42 is the main game my family plays. My granddad is a strong bridge and chess player as well. He has won several tournaments in both. I learned from my family how to play, but I learned from him how to win.I joined the Austin 42 Club in August of 2009. My nickname is the human calculator, and this commentary discusses how high to bid up a contract based on three factors:
|
• The seven dominoes in your hand
• The other contract bids • The score |
Lets say for all three of the following scenarios we have the following seven dominoes:
1. If I was last to bid and everyone else either passed or bid 30, and the score was 2-2, I would bid this at 31, call aces trump and lead the .
Example: We were down 6-3 and I was bidding third. My partner opened with a pass. My first opponent bid 36. I am one domino away from a lay down. Since we are down so much, I bid two marks. I guessed that the odds were better that my partner had the 
and not the 
since he passed. Five-offs are usually in passing hands. I called aces as trumps and lead the . My partner did have the . I pulled all trumps in the first hand. He then led the 
which I played the on. The score became 5-6 and we won the game eventually.
2. If the score was 6-3 and was I bidding first, I would bid 41 and lead the daring the opponents to go a mark bid.
3. If the score was 6-5 and I was bidding first, I would bid 36 and lead the daring the opponents to go higher but hopefully not a two-mark bid.
Jody Badum
20 October 2010
