Following the Law the Total Tricks Sequel

Rating:
Summary: To Bid or Not to Bid: New and Improved
Review: If you have read Cohen's first total tricks effort, understood it, and incorporated the principles of the Law of Total Tricks into your competitive bidding, you do not need this book. If the Law of Total Tricks does not inform your competitive bidding decisions, buy this book or the original. The second effort has a cleaner presentation including a thorough description of the wonderful DONT convention for competing over natural adverse notrump bids. If you take your bidding seriously, you owe yourself a solid understanding of Cohen's total tricks principles.

Rating:
Summary: cashing their tricks
Review: The Law. It's not perfect by any means, but understanding it can improve the game of nearly any player of intermediate or better strength. (Rubber bridge players can get by without it, though advanced players ought not; matchpoint duplicate players can't survive without it.) Larry Cohen's first book on the subject, To Bid or Not To Bid, is a fabulously valuable explication of the principle.

Unfortunately, the Law is fairly simple and can be presented, as it is, in one not-lengthy book. Why is that unfortunate? Because Cohen didn't stop at one. The sequel, Following the Law, wasn't necessary, and it doesn't even manage to be valuable. Well over half the book is presentations of deals on which the Law was applied, or could have been. Golly, ya think it worked in those cases? Little is gained from these examples, and they serve only to justify a book that otherwise could have run around thirty pages.

Cohen also includes some tips on adjustments, but there's far too little of this, the most difficult aspect of applying the Law for most players. He also discusses the DONT convention in detail, but there are better explications elsewhere. The rest is little more than a rehash of what was clearly stated before.

If you haven't read the first book, do so. If you have, skip this one.

Rating:
Summary: How to use the LAW well? Read this book.
Review: Though I have read the book 'To Bid or not to bid', I have found that I often count it wrongly. This book tells me how to use it a real situation. It is very helpful.