Bidding and conventions
Drury
Drury is a 2♣ response by a passed hand to partner's third- or fourth-seat major opening, showing a limit raise. It lets the partnership find out whether the opening was light before the auction goes past two of the major.
Why third-seat openings are light
If two players have passed before you, game is unlikely, because partner has already denied an opening hand.
So in third seat you open mainly to interfere: take away the opponents' one-level bidding room, suggest a lead to partner, and make their own fit harder to find.
So many players open in third seat on hands they would pass in first seat: 10 or 11 points with a good five-card major is a normal third-seat 1♠.
11 points. Pass in first seat, and open 1♠ in third.
Light openings give responder a problem, and Drury is built for it.
The problem
You passed in first seat with 11 points. Partner opens 1♠ in third seat. You hold three-card spade support and a hand worth a limit raise.
11 points and three spades. A limit raise, but is partner's opening real?
Without Drury you must bid 3♠, the standard limit raise. That's fine if partner has a real opening.
If partner has the 11-count above, your side has bid to the three level with a combined 22 points and may go down where 2♠ would have made.
The alternative, bidding only 2♠ to be safe, loses the games you should reach when partner opened normally. You need a bid that asks before committing.
How it works
2♣ is that bid. It keeps the auction below 2♠, and it lets the opener, who knows whether the opening was real, decide.
| West | North | East | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass | Pass | 1♠ | Pass |
| 2♣ | Pass | 2♠ | Pass |
| Pass | Pass |
Opener's rebids:
- Two of the major: a light opening. This is the signoff, and it's the bid that gives Reverse Drury its name: in the original version this rebid showed a real opening, and modern practice reversed it so the weak hand can stop lowest.
- 2♦: a real opening, artificial, asking responder to describe further.
- Any other new suit: a real opening with a real second suit, and game interest.
- Game in the major: a full opening, happy to play game.
What you need to bid Drury
- You must be a passed hand. In first or second seat, 2♣ is natural.
- Partner must have opened a major. Drury doesn't apply over a minor.
- Three or more trumps and about 10–12 support points.
- Third or fourth seat only, which follows from you having passed.
What it costs
You give up the natural 2♣ response as a passed hand. A hand that wanted to bid it can bid 1NT and then clubs, or pass.
In return you reach the right games, and you stop in two of the major when partner opened light.
The other cost is remembering it. Drury comes up only when you've passed and partner opens a major, perhaps one deal in twenty. That's rare enough to forget, so write it on your convention card.
A note on fourth seat
Fourth seat is different. With everyone else having passed, open only if you expect to make something.
The usual guide is the rule of 15: add your high card points to your number of spades, and open only at 15 or more. Spades count because the side that holds them can outbid the other side at the same level.
Drury is usually played in fourth seat as well, though it comes up less often there. One rule ("passed hand, partner opens a major") is easier to remember than two.