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January 25th - 2024
I've added a strategy option for the bidding in modern belote, called Bid a suit with a Jack in the hope of reaching All Trumps. In fact, machine players were already making these weak openings in order to help partner bid All Trumps, but some users did not understand this tactic, and criticized their partner, in case of failure, for "bidding with nothing!". Let them not worry, the option is now unchecked by default, except for players in Foolhardy mode.
Because to appreciate these weak openings, you must first understand that All-Trumps contracts often bring in 2 to 4 times more than suit contracts, and that you can therefore go down from time to time, while being a winner in the long term thanks to AT contracts. If you accept this principle, check the option in the rule preferences on the Bidding strategy / Modern Belote page. You can also study some examples on deals N°6 to 11 of the last corrections file (accessible via the Examples menu).
To be a winner despite these openings with sometimes a singleton Jack, you have to know how to play weak contracts well, often without leading a trump even once! And you also have to succeed as much as possible with AT contracts, because when they go down, they cost a lot. See deal N°12 of the corrections, where I try to improve the opening lead at AT. But I still have a lot of progress to make.
The Blocking double option for contract belote (which prevents bidding once a contract has been doubled) had existed for a long time, but as it was checked by default, I had not yet taken the time to work on it without its checkmark. Now, some players play with the rule indicating that a doubled contract can be changed. So I've slightly improved certain decisions after a double, but it's only a first approach. Do not hesitate to send me the deals where a machine player does not make the right choice.
For level 4 of the card play, I found that too often my machine players would go up with an Ace and give away the contract. So I'm going to try to improve this point without leading to too many capots. See my first attempts on deals N°1 to 4 of the latest corrections.
I've added the possibility of changing the color of the border which surrounds a bid on the table, when it wins the game. In the bidding box, I also asked for a small colored bar to be displayed in front of the first bidding height that could win the game. In the image below, we see that from 100, any successful contract will win the game for North-South. The player must therefore expect a strong reaction from opponents, especially if they make sacrifice bids or end-of-game doubles. Caution may sometimes be necessary.
Note that this display is only applied if the dedicated option is checked in the general preferences on the Play page. It is also reserved for games won on a total of points. It does not appear in tournament-style games, with a fixed number of deals. This limitation is, however, under study. I wait for your opinions.
With a little experience, we end up having a pretty good appreciation of the chances we have of cashing an Ace without being ruffed, or of benefiting from a favorable suit break. But it is not bad to have confirmation of this by some precise calculations of probability. In the Help menu, I've therefore added the Probabilities submenu, which opens a page that may interest you. This is a first draft. Other pages will follow if you request them.
A cautious beginner will never play an Ace in a 6-card suit, because he will be so afraid of being ruffed. And yet, if he knew that he had a 23.19% chance of making a trick with his Ace (nearly one chance in 4!), he would perhaps play it, if it were his only possibility of avoiding a capot or beating the contract...
Thanks to all those who proposed these enhancements.
Best wishes
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Improvements in the playing level
