Nine out of ten redoubles, however, are bona fide, and made because the fulfilment of the contract seems assured. Even then, however, a player should not redouble unless practically positive that neither of his adversaries can get out of the redouble by making a higher bid.
The player who has been doubled and is sure of his contract is in a most enviable position; game and a handsome bonus both are his, and it would be most foolish for him to risk so much merely for the chance of the extra score. If, however, there be no escape for the doubler, the redouble is most valuable, and a real opportunity for it should never be overlooked.
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE PARTNER IS DOUBLED
The player who, whenever his partner's declaration is doubled, becomes frightened, concludes that the worst is sure to happen, and that it is his duty to come to the rescue by jumping headlong into some other declaration, even if it require an increased number of tricks, is a most dangerous vis-à-vis. A double does not justify the assumption that the Declarer is beaten, especially when the partner has any unannounced help. If the partner be weak, it is folly for him to go from bad to worse; if strong, he may enable the Declarer to make a large score. In any event, in nine cases out of ten, "standing pat" is his best policy.
VIII
LEADING
The selection of the correct lead in Auction is not attended with so many difficulties as in Whist, or even in Bridge. In Whist, the original leader is obliged to begin the play in the dark, the turn-up constituting his entire knowledge of the strength or weakness of the other players. In Bridge, the extent of his information is limited to the inferences that can be drawn from the declaration and the double, but in Auction every player has made at least one announcement which is more or less instructive.
When there has been considerable bidding it is frequently possible to accurately estimate the length and strength of the suit of each player and the trick-taking value of the balance of his hand. When only one or two declarations have been made, so much information may not be obtainable, but even then the leader, from the failure of certain players to bid, may be able to make deductions of considerable value.
The Auction leader, therefore, must remember the various declarations, draw both positive and negative inferences therefrom, and whenever it is not advisable to open his partner's suit or his own, should follow the old principle which, since the days of Pole, has been applicable to all games of the Whist family, and realize "'Tis seldom wrong to lead up to the weak and through the strong."