Slam-seeking conventions Slam-seeking conventions Slam-seeking conventions are codified artificial bids used in the card game contract bridge. Bidding and making a small slam (12 tricks) or grand slam (13 tricks) yields high bonuses ranging from 500 to 1500 points. However, the risk is also high as failure to fulfill the slam contract also means failure to score the bonus points for a game (300-500). Conventions have been devised to maximise the opportunity for success whilst minimising the risk of failure. Contract bridge bidding systems are mainly "natural" (most bids have an obvious meaning) or "artificial" (many bids have a meaning unrelated to
Design for Bidding Design for Bidding Design for Bidding is a book by the Russian-born English bridge player S. J. "Skid" Simon, published posthumously in 1949. It is about the theory of bidding in contract bridge, particularly in the context of the Acol system of which Simon was one of the co-developers. It was the first, and , remains one of the few, studies of the thought processes involved in designing a bidding system, rather than simply setting out the author's conclusions. "Design for Bidding" is described as "the best thing he [Simon] has done on bridge", lofty praise considering the recognition given