You open 1♠ and partner raises to 2♠. Game might be there, but adding the points again won't tell you whether partner can help with your ♥ losers. A help suit game try asks about those ♥. A spiral raise answers a different question: how much trump support did partner promise?
A simple raise leaves room for a question
Two hands can have the same point count and fit opener very differently. An honor in opener's problem suit may prevent a loser. Shortness may let dummy ruff. Honors in a suit opener already controls may contribute less to the particular problem.
That doesn't make points useless. They help establish the rough level of the hand. But once you know there's a fit, the location of the useful cards matters. These two asking methods turn a vague invitation into a more specific conversation.
All auctions here assume the opponents pass. Competitive auctions need their own agreements; don't transfer these meanings automatically into a contested sequence.
The help suit game try: opener asks
Consider 1♠ - 2♠ - 3♥. Playing help suit game tries, 3♥ names opener's problem suit. It asks whether responder can help with the ♥ losers. It isn't a proposal to abandon the ♠ fit and play in ♥.
Responder's usual choice is 4♠ to accept or 3♠ to decline. Declining means returning to the agreed major, not passing the try. Pass leaves the partnership in the suit opener was worried about.
Opener should ask only with a genuine game decision. A minimum can pass 2♠. A hand that knows it belongs in game can bid 4♠. The try is useful when partner's answer can change what you do.
Answer with the cards that help
Look first at the suit named. In Tracey's teaching, a singleton or void is powerful help because it offers ruffing potential. An ace or king is useful; a doubleton can help too. Three small cards provide no immediate answer to opener's losers.
A queen is a judgment case. Don't settle it by saying “I'm maximum” and pushing to game. Look at the rest of the hand: trump length, other shortness and how many losers remain. A flat hand with poor working cards may disappoint partner despite having the top of the point range.
That's how a lower-point hand can accept while a higher-point hand declines. You aren't grading the hand in isolation. You're answering the question opener asked.
Leave room to say no
With ♥ agreed, the ♠ try is 1♥ - 2♥ - 2♠. It stays below 3♥, so responder can decline in 3♥. Jumping to 3♠ would take away that stopping place.
Before making any try, name your decline bid to yourself. If your proposed auction has already passed it, reconsider. It is a small check that catches a costly level mistake.
The spiral raise: responder asks
Now reverse the roles. The auction begins 1♣ - 1♠ - 2♠. Opener has raised responder's major. If your partnership permits that raise on three-card support, responder may need to know whether the fit contains seven, eight or nine trumps.
The Basic Spiral method taught in this workshop uses an artificial 2NT ask. Opener answers both length and strength:
| Answer | Support | Strength within the raise |
|---|---|---|
| 3♣ | Three cards | Minimum |
| 3♦ | Three cards | Maximum |
| 3♥ | Four cards | Minimum |
| 3♠ | Four cards | Maximum |
This is a specific partnership agreement, not the meaning of every 2NT bid after a raise. It also uses the space where a natural 2NT invitation might otherwise live. Both partners need to know the trade.
Count your own trumps before interpreting the answer
If responder has four ♠, opener's three-card answer gives the partnership seven trumps. If responder has five ♠, the same answer gives eight. The response doesn't choose the contract for you; it supplies information you were missing.
For example, after 1♣ - 1♠ - 2♠ - 2NT - 3♦, you know opener has three-card support and a maximum within the simple raise. With only four ♠ yourself, don't treat that as confirmation of an eight-card fit. Consider the notrump prospects, including stoppers, instead of bidding 4♠ by reflex.
With a much stronger hand, the ask can also help judge slam prospects. The next conversation then concerns controls and tricks, as discussed in the Blackwood and slam-bidding guide.
Two useful notes for your partnership
Agree whether a new suit after a simple major raise is a help suit try, and record exactly when your spiral structure applies. Write the answers on your convention card. A convention remembered by one partner can be more troublesome than no convention at all.
Watch the decision, then make it yourself
The Help Suit Game Tries and Spiral Raises Workshop pairs the lesson replay with Play of the Hand on September 8, 2026, from 8 to 10 AM Pacific. That practice session is still upcoming.
The $25 package includes about 4 to 5 hours of video once both sessions are recorded, a 30 to 50 page workbook, a two-page cheatsheet and PBN practice hands. Use them in BridgeChamp or another PBN-compatible platform; for BBO, convert them to LIN if its import tool requires that format. The play-of-the-hand guide gives you a way to plan before you play the first card.
