Part 2 - The Cue-bid Raise

Bidding can get confusing fast. When should we bid or pass? Can we double? How do I raise properly? These are all questions that can race around a players mind while playing bridge.

In this, the second in a four-part series, we look at the cue-bid raise as one of the tools to become a tough opponent at the bridge table. Click here to read part 1.

Bidding is a difficult exercise on many deals. On deals where you have the majority of values, you not only have to determine where to play the contract, but also how high to go as well. Sometimes, in an effort to determine how high to play the contract, you’ve already brought your side too high (think of invitational hands that get declined).

The Bidding Box has a limited number of choices on any given Bridge hand already. Some of you look down at this box and see all of those bids as choices, but look again. On our “average” bridge hand, our side is going to have around half the points in the deck. On these hands, our bidding choices will max out at the 3 level (below 3NT). That means all those other bids (above 3♠) are not going to be options for our side. So, as bridge bidders we need to make the most out of the limited number of calls we are going to have on these average bridge hands. 

When the opponents are interfering with our auctions, our options are limited even further. As Tough Opponents, we will learn to use these limited number of choices in ways that can be constructive for our side and/or destructive to the other side. 

We’ve looked at the “destructive” side of things (part 1 of this series) but now it’s time to look at the most important constructive bid we will use in competitive auctions.

The Cue-bid Raise

Before we jump into our important discussion on cue-bid raises, I want to share with you what our standard raise structure should be in non-competitive auctions versus competitive auctions. 

Notice that on the non-competitive side of things, we have all of our standard methods available. We can raise to the 3 level (classic “limit” raise), we can bid Jacoby 2NT with our best hands and fits. All methods are available to us. But, when the opponents interfere, we’ve lost some of our precious bidding room already and are in danger of losing more if the opponents’ have now found a fit of their own. It is very important to establish a fit and show our values quickly in these competitive situations. The Cue-Bid is the perfect way to show our best hands with fits in partner’s suit. 

RULES: When both sides have bid a suit naturally during the auction, the cue bid of the opponent’s suit;

• Shows at least an 8 card fit in the suit that partner has shown
  • If partner has shown 5+ cards, this is a 3+ card raise. 
• Shows at least a “good” 10 or more total points
  • This can include distribution (singletons, voids)
• IS FORCING FOR ONE ROUND.

*Notice that the above parameters are both unlimited. The cue bid is 10+ points and an 8+ card fit. This cue-bid can include much stronger hands with much better fits.

The cue bid raise can be used if our side opens the bidding or if our side overcalls their opening bid;

Our side opens: 1♠ – 2♥ – 3♥ = 10+ total points & an 8+ card spade fit.

Their side opens: 1♥ – 1♠ – P – 2♥ = 10+ total points & an 8+ card spade fit.

Take another look at the chart above and think about the competitive raises side. You should see a trend. ALL of our strong raises are cue-bid raises. On a hand that we would have used Jacoby 2NT (if the opponent didn’t interfere), we now make our cue – bid raise. This is an important point to understand. Our ONLY STRONG RAISE in competition is THE CUE-BID RAISE.

So, now that we have our strong competitive raises wrapped up in one neat bid, our other raising options become simpler. Our normal one level raise stays 6 – 10 (bad tens only), but now our jump raise (used to be 10 – 12 pts.) can now be used as our preemptive raise (see part 1 of this series). This basic competitive raise structure will serve your side very well when implemented properly. Now let me cover the usual questions I hear in my classes on this subject. 

Make your call on this hand;

Hand 1

The question I get most frequently with this one is; “Why don’t we just bid 4♥ with this hand?  We know we have game and a fit!”. To be fair, this logic will serve you well most of the time but it is badly flawed. 

First, we use the 4♥ bid in competitive AND non-competitive auctions to show BAD hands (less than 10 total points) and 10 card or longer fits. This is what we call the “closeout bid” and it is an essential tool for our side to maintain. 

Second, we get the best of all worlds with our Cue-Bid Raise. We get to show 10+ total points AND we are making a FORCING bid! If partner doesn’t bid a game in response, we will carry on to game ourselves with the above hand. See the difference? We get to the same destination, but we show different types of hands with the different methods we have available. Let’s see why this matters;

Auction 1

Auction 2

If this is partner’s hand, these auctions will produce very different results. If we chose incorrectly to bid 4♥ with our strong hand (auction 1) we are going to miss a very good slam. If we go the correct route (auction 2) we will now have the correct information and plenty of room to explore our slam possibilities.

The cue-bid raise can sometimes be even better than 10+ total points. Consider this auction;

Auction:

The 3♠ bid is definitely a cue-bid raise but this one MUST show 13+ total points. The minimum option for the opening bidder is to bid 4♥ (game). So, sometimes the cue bid raise can be even bigger than our good 10+ total points. 

Let’s look at another win for the cue-bid raise with this auction;

Overcaller's Hand

The cue-bid raise will frequently allow our side to stay low when we have overcalled light at the one level.

This brings us to an important point, how do we respond when partner has made a cue bid raise? It’s simple if you think about this bid in one way;

The cue-bid raise is an INVITATIONAL BID at a minimum. So, treat it just like that; 

If you have a major suit fit and a hand would accept an invitation to game (a good 13 or 14 points minimum), you bid your game in that suit.

If you have a minor suit fit and would accept an invitation to game, you try to bid game in No-Trump if possible.

If you can NOT accept an invitation to game, then you simply bid your suit at the lowest available level. If it’s right to go to game, partner will be the one that bids it on these hands.

As with everything in the bridge world, practice makes perfect with these bids. So, get out there and play bridge and these competitive opportunities will present themselves quite often.

In part 3 of this series we will discuss how we modify our raises after the opponent makes a takeout double. See you then.

Click here to read Part 1 in the series - The Preemptive Raise

About the Author

Rob Barrington is a professional bridge player and world renowned bridge instructor. He is the founder of bridgelesson.com and teaches large online courses on that site and through his popular YouTube channel. Rob resides in West Palm Beach, Florida.