Auction of To-day | Page 4

From the moment the first bid is made until the last card
is played, the attention of every player should be confined to the
declaration and the play, and during that time no other idea should
enter his mind. This may seem rudimentary, but as a matter of fact, the
loss of tricks is frequently blamed upon various causes, such as "pulling
the wrong card," forgetting that a certain declaration had been made, or
that a certain card has been played, miscounting the Trumps or the suit
in question, etc., when the lack of complete concentration is the real
trouble.
Success in Auction is indeed difficult, and the player who would grasp
every situation, and capture every possible trick, must have the power
to concentrate all his faculties upon the task before him. No matter how
great his capacity, he cannot do thorough justice to any hand, if, during
the declaration or play, his mind wander. Too often do we see a player,
while the play is in progress, thinking of some such subject as how
many more tricks his partner might have made in the last hand; whether
his partner has declared in the manner which he believes to be sound
and conventional; what is going on at some other table; whether this
rubber will be over in time for him to play another, etc.

When this is the mental condition of a player, the best results cannot be
obtained. If a trick has been lost, it is gone. Thinking over it cannot
bring it back, but may very quickly give it one or more comrades. As
soon as each deal is completed, it should be erased from the mind just
as figures from a slate. In that way only can be obtained the complete
and absolute concentration which is essential to perfect play, and goes a
long way toward securing it.
Auction is beyond doubt the most scientific card game that has ever
become popular in this country. The expert has the full measure of
advantage to which his skill entitles him, and yet the game possesses
wonderful fascination for the beginner and player of average ability. It
is doubtless destined to a long term of increasing popularity, and it is,
therefore, most advisable for all who participate that they thoroughly
familiarize themselves with the conventional methods of bidding and
playing, so that they may become intelligent partners, and a real
addition to any table.

AUCTION OF TO-DAY

I
THE DECLARATION[1]
It is well to realize from the start that the declaration is the most
important department of the game, and yet the most simple to master. A
foolish bid may cost hundreds of points. The failure to make a sound
one may lose a rubber, whereas mistakes in the play, while often
expensive and irritating, are rarely attended with such disastrous
results.
[1] Also known as "the Bid" and "the Call."
Any good player who has to choose between a partner who bids well
and plays poorly, and one who is a wild or unreliable bidder, but

handles his cards with perfection, without hesitation selects the former.
To be an expert player requires natural skill, long experience, keen
intuition, deep concentration, and is an art that cannot be accurately
taught either by the instructor or by a textbook. Bidding has been
reduced to a more or less definite system, which may be learned in a
comparatively brief space of time. Consequently, any one possessed of
ordinary intelligence, regardless of sex, age, temperament, or
experience, may become an expert declarer, but of all who attempt to
play, not more than forty per cent. possess that almost indefinable
characteristic known as a "card head," without which it is impossible to
become a player of the highest class.
The average club or social game, however, produces numerous expert
players, while the sound bidder is indeed a rara avis.
The explanation of this peculiar condition is not hard to find. Most
Auction devotees began their card experience with Whist, a game in
which, beyond doubt, "The play's the thing"; then they transferred their
allegiance to Bridge, where the play was the predominant factor; and
now they fail to realize that in their new pastime the most important
part of the game is concluded before the first card leaves the leader's
hand.
It must encourage the student to know that he may surely and quickly
become a sound bidder, and that he will then be a more valued partner
than a Whist or Bridge celebrity who does not accord to the Declaration
the care it deserves and rewards.
Many methods of bidding have been suggested; some have been so
absurd that they have not warranted or received serious consideration;
others have been accorded a thorough trial, and found wanting.
The system which