Opening bids

Generally, bidding should be opened with 12+ points, or with a 6-11 points plus a long suit. Not making an opening bid thus denies 12 points.

Bid	Points	Cards	Features / Remarks
1C	12-21	2+	Denies 4 diamonds and 5-card major
1D	12-21	4+	Denies 5-card major
1H 1S	12-21	5+	-- With 5-5 or better in the majors, open the longer major. -- In case of equal length, open 1S.
1NT	15-17	balanced*	Could have 5-card major or 6-card minor
2C	22+	---	Any shape
2D 2H 2S	usu. 6-10	6+ (usu. 6)	Usually most HCPs are in the opening suit
2NT	20-21	balanced*	Could have 5-card major or 6-card minor
3X	usu. 7-10	7+ (usu. 7)	Usually most HCPs are in the opening suit
3NT	25-27	balanced*	Denies 5-card major, could have 6-card minor
4C (!!)	28+	balanced*	Requests immediate Gerber response
4D 4H 4S	usu. 8-11	8+

* Usually 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, 5-3-3-2 or 5-4-2-2. Occasionally 6-3-2-2 with 6 in minor.

A balanced hand with point ranges outside those of 1NT, 2NT, 3NT and 4C opening can be shown as follows:

Point range	Bidding sequence
12-14	1X > 1Y > 1NT
18-19	1X > 1Y > 2NT
22-24	2C > 2Y > 2NT