Bridge, Out Ahead - Classic Custom Deal Menu Cookbook

Recipes for making deals based on the Custom Deal Menu of the original Bridge, Out Ahead deal generator

Each recipe is just one example of how to create a type of deal. It is up to you to vary the recipe to get the exact kind of deal you want.

Each recipe has links to relevant blog posts, deal recipes, and deals. I provide blog posts only for recipes that require a bit of explanation. You can find all blog posts for this cookbook here.

Please note that whether you would actually bid any of these hands as described is totally up to you and your partner. The characterization of a deal as any type of opener was done years ago in the original Custom Deal Menu, but now I know that this can vary widely. That said, the bidding is "correct" based on my interpretation of the beginning bridge book on which the original deals were based.

Also, the old Custom Deal Menu described some deals, and even whole categories of deals, as taking high card points into account only for the opening bidder. That is not the case with the latest version of the generator. When generating a deal from a Deal Shaper, point ranges for all hands must be specified and those ranges are used by the generator. The old generator restricted point specifications for some deals because it did not have any built-in way to prevent the user from specifying impossible point distributions, which would have made the generator run in an endless loop.

1-Level Major Openers

1 of a major Blog Recipe Deal
1 of a major, Partner 6+ cards any suit Blog Recipe Deal
1S, Partner 3+ S Blog Recipe Deal
1S, Partner balanced, 2 spades Blog Recipe Deal
1S, Partner balanced, 2 spades, stoppers in unbid suits Blog Recipe Deal
1S, Partner balanced, 2 spades, 4 hearts Blog Recipe Deal
1S, Partner balanced, 2 spades, 4 hearts, stoppers in unbid suits Blog Recipe Deal
1S, Partner 5+ H, H > S Blog Recipe Deal
1S, Partner 4+ D, D > or = C Blog Recipe Deal
1S, Partner 4+ C Blog Recipe Deal
1H, Partner 3+ H Blog Recipe Deal
1H, Partner balanced, 2 hearts Blog Recipe Deal
1H, Partner balanced, 2 hearts, stoppers in unbid suits Blog Recipe Deal
1H, Partner balanced, 2 hearts, 4 spades Blog Recipe Deal
1H, Partner balanced, 2 hearts, 4 spades, stoppers in unbid suits Blog Recipe Deal
1H, Partner 4+ S Blog Recipe Deal
1H, Partner 4+ D, D > or = C Blog Recipe Deal
1H, Partner 4+ C Blog Recipe Deal


1-Level Minor Openers

1 of a minor Blog Recipe Deal
1 of a minor, Partner 6+ cards any suit Blog Recipe Deal
1m with 3D/2C Blog Recipe Deal
1m with 4D/5C, bid diamonds Blog Recipe Deal
1m with 4D/5C, bid clubs Blog Recipe Deal
1m with 5D/6C Blog Recipe Deal
1m, Partner 4H, H > or = S Blog Recipe Deal
1m, Partner 5+ H, H > S Blog Recipe Deal
1m, Partner 4+ S, S > H Blog Recipe Deal
1D, Partner balanced, < 5D, < 4M Blog Recipe Deal
1D, Partner balanced, < 5D, < 4M, stoppers in unbid suits Blog Recipe Deal
1D, Partner 5+ D, < 4M Blog Recipe Deal
1D, Partner 5+ C, < 4M Blog Recipe Deal
1C, Partner balanced, < 5C, < 4M Blog Recipe Deal
1C, Partner balanced, < 5C, < 4M, stoppers in unbid suits Blog Recipe Deal
1C, Partner 5+ C, < 4M Blog Recipe Deal
1C, Partner 4+ D, < 4M Blog Recipe Deal


1NT Openers

1NT Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner < 4M Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 4H, < 4S Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 4S, < 4H Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 4H, 4S Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 5H, < 5S Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 5S, < 5H Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 5H, 5S Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 6H, < 6S Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 6S, < 6H Blog Recipe Deal
1NT, Partner 6H, 6S Blog Recipe Deal


Strong Openers

Unbalanced, 22-32 points (2C bid) Blog Recipe Deal
Balanced, 20-21 points (2NT bid) Blog Recipe Deal
Balanced, 20-22 points (2NT bid) (not in the original menu; added by special request) Blog Recipe Deal
Balanced, 22-23 points (2C bid) Blog Recipe Deal
Balanced, 22-24 points (2C bid) Blog Recipe Deal
Balanced, 24+ points (bid varies by points and honors) Blog Recipe Deal
Balanced, 25-27 points (3NT bid) Blog Recipe Deal
Balanced, 28-30 points (2C bid) Blog Recipe Deal
Balanced, 31-32 points (2C bid) Blog Recipe Deal
33+ points (2C bid) Blog Recipe Deal


Weak Openers

11 Points, 6-card suit Blog Recipe Deal
11 Points, 2 good 5-card suits Blog Recipe Deal
Rule of 20 + 2 Blog Recipe Deal
Rule of 20 Blog Recipe Deal
5-level preempt Blog Recipe Deal
4-level preempt Blog Recipe Deal
3-level preempt Blog Recipe Deal
2-level preempt Blog Recipe Deal


HCP Ranges and Shapes

These are trivial with the new deal generator, and are included only for the sake of completeness. They were necessary as separate Custom Deals in the old version of the generator because that version did not allow the user to specify the dealer/opening bidder point range--it was assumed for other categories based on the opening type! Now, of course, you can use Deal Shapers to specify the HCP of every hand, and you can describe the few card distributions in this category with Deal Recipes.

Random (Partner/LHO/RHO point ranges apply) Blog Recipe Deal
0-4 points Blog Recipe Deal
0-4 points (Partner/LHO/RHO point ranges apply) Blog Recipe Deal
Seats 1-2 low, seat 3 Rule of 15 (spades) Blog Recipe Deal
Seats 1-3 low, seat 4 Rule of 15 (spades) Blog Recipe Deal
0-11 points Blog Recipe Deal
5-10 points Blog Recipe Deal
10 points Blog Recipe Deal
10-11 points Blog Recipe Deal
12-14 points Blog Recipe Deal
12-21 points Blog Recipe Deal
15-17 points Blog Recipe Deal
17-18 points Blog Recipe Deal
18-19 points Blog Recipe Deal
19+ points Blog Recipe Deal
20-21 points Blog Recipe Deal
22+ points Blog Recipe Deal
22-24 points Blog Recipe Deal
25-27 points Blog Recipe Deal
28-30 points Blog Recipe Deal
31-32 points (may take a while) Blog Recipe Deal
Any points, 4441 shape Blog Recipe Deal


Bidding Scenarios

This was possibly the most ambitious--and probably most subject to different interpretations based on partnership agreement--set of Custom Deals. It presumes to predict not just the opening bid, but the first three bids or calls in the auction.

Dealer opens 1M or 1m; LHO has overcall length. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1M or 1m; RHO has overcall length. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1M or 1m; LHO has TOX shape. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1M or 1m; RHO has TOX shape. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1M or 1m; LHO has 1NT overcall shape. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1M or 1m; RHO has 1NT overcall shape. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens preempt; LHO has overcall length. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens preempt; RHO has overcall length. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1M; LHO overcall length; Partner negative double shape. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1m; LHO overcall length; Partner negative double shape. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1M or 1m; LHO overcall length; Partner cuebid (limit raise) shape. Blog Recipe Deal
Dealer opens 1M or 1m; LHO overcall length; Advancer (Dealer's RHO) cuebid (limit raise) shape. Blog Recipe Deal