Balancing: Any time someone is in the passout seat and has to decide to take action.
Cover Cards: A corollary of the Losing Trick Count that says to evaluate the number of losers you can reasonably cover in partner's hand with your cards in conjunction with the LTC (not always easy to do).
Flower Bids: Bids that show a suit in addition to a fit for partner in other words fit showing.
Intermediate Jump Overcall: Single suited hand with the values to bid to the 3 level in competition characterized by a good suit with generally about a six loser hand.
Jacoby Raise: A conventional raise showing a forcing hand with 4 or more card trump support for partner asking for greater description.
Law of Total Tricks: A bidding theory that attempts to explain how many tricks are available to be taken on any given hand depending on the number of available trumps. For general purposes, assume that you can compete to an equal level to the number of trumps held between two hands.
Lebensohl: A conventional understanding that characterizes the use of a no trump bid as a puppet rather than natural in order to delineate certain hand strengths.
Losing Trick Count: A hand evaluation theory or formula that states when a trump fit has been located to add the number of losers of your hand and your partners hand together and subtract that number from 24 to find the number of tricks available ( [your losers + partner's losers] - 24 = number of tricks).
Mini-Splinter: A bid showing shortness in a suit with support for partner that gives your hand limit raise values.
NAMYATS: A conventional bid showing a major suit preempt with about 8 to 8.5 tricks made by bidding four of corresponding minor while a direct bid shows less than that.
1NT for Takeout: A conventional call that shows a three suited takeout at the one level rather than making a takeout double.
Par Spot: A theoretical spot to be reached on a given hand assuming that both sides take proper action and that the par spot thereby will be reached.
Power Double: A defensive double that shows 15+ HCP and tends to be balanced like a strong no trump overcall and tends to show two or more cards of the bid suit.
Psychic bid: Any bid made that is deceptive in nature and does not describe the hand actually held.
Roman Jump Overcall: A jump overcall that shows the suit bid and the higher touching suit.
Simple Overcall: A natural overcall made at the cheapest possible level without jumping.
South African Transfer: A jump transfer that allows partner to super accept or not super accept.
Support Doubles and Redoubles: A conventional bid that allows one to make a raise showing an exact number of cards, usually three while a direct raise shows four or more.
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