HESITATION
I have been playing bridge for 8 years and this March experienced a first.
At the end of the auction a (representative) opponent called the Director alleging a “hesitation” by me.
I was waiting for my turn to speak, when my first question was going to be “What is a hesitation ?”.
The Director spoke only to the complainant, said he would return after the play of the hand to assess the score adjustment, and turned to walk away.
I then said “Who was at fault here ? “. He said “You were.” And walked off.
I have been unable to find a definition of “hesitation” in the Rules. So I am guessing the common meaning applies and a hesitation is a pause.
I pause before every bid. If I have an easy and obvious decision I bid without unnecessary delay. If my bid requires more thought I take more time.
In the auction complained about my first two bids were obvious and my third not so obvious.
I want to understand what constitutes a “hesitation” and what should I do to avoid being at fault in future.
Obviously I could deliberately take longer on obvious first and second bids just in case I was faced with a subsequent bid requiring more thought. But if everyone did that play would be a lot slower.
When I told my peers what happened the most common response was “What is a hesitation “. None could define it.
I looked up the Laws of Bridge. They introduce the concept of tempo. In music it takes two beats to establish tempo so does this mean only third and subsequent bids can be hesitations ?
I then emailed the Director copying the others at the table and the Club VP who also edits the club newsletter :
“Hi (names of Director, others at the table, and Editor of club newsletter)
I’m copying everyone who was at the table for Board 7 on Tuesday in case my recollection is incomplete or inaccurate.
I’m also copying (name of editor) as I think this is an area where many club players (including me) would benefit from clearer guidance—perhaps even something for Finesse.( Finesse is our club newsletter.)
(Name of Director), thank you for taking the time afterwards to discuss the issue and point me to the relevant material. Having now read the Laws and guidance, I can see that hesitation/tempo situations are not straightforward to judge.
My recollection of the key point is:
• As South and dealer, my first two bids were made very quickly.
• At a later turn, in a competitive bidding scenario, I took longer before passing.
• I continued in normal tempo thereafter.
An opponent called you, suggesting that this variation in tempo constituted a hesitation.
This has left me a little unsure about how the Laws are intended to apply in practice.
My understanding is that:
• Variations in tempo may convey unauthorised information.
• But taking longer over a more difficult decision is not, in itself, an infraction.
I would appreciate some clarification on the following:
1. How is a “hesitation” (or break in tempo) determined in practice?
2. In this case, what aspect of my tempo was considered problematic?
3. More generally, what should players do to avoid creating potential issues of this kind?
My intention is to understand the correct approach and avoid similar situations in future.
Apologies if I’ve misremembered any details, and thank you in advance for any guidance.
Kind regards,
Peter Hawkes “
It is now 3 months later and no reply.
So thanks in advance for any advice/ guidance.
Latest Posts on this Thread
- Peter Hawkes08 Jul 2026 at 02:43PM
One correction : "Club VP" above should be "Club President".
- Scott Smith14 Jul 2026 at 05:20PM
Hi Peter
I'm not a director, but stumbled onto your post and it worried me that you feel the way you do, so thought I'd add two cents from an experienced player’s perspective.
What's a hesitation? The tempo of a bridge auction, if uneven, can convey information about your hand. That change in tempo (usually a hessitation, but also an unuusally fast bid) is 'unauthorised information' (UI) to your patterner (stuff they are not entitled to know), and their actions might be securitised by the director to ensure they did not take advantage of the UI.
You seem to appreciate that yourself intuitively as you explain "I pause before every bid. If I have an easy and obvious decision I bid without unnecessary delay. If my bid requires more thought I take more time. In the auction complained about my first two bids were obvious and my third not so obvious." So, in this case, your first two bid were in one 'tempo' and your third in another. That is fine. Bridge is a thinking game and if you need to think you need to think, no problem. But your partner might now know that your first two bid were obvious, but the third was not so obvious. That information is UI to them, and they cannot use that information.
UI situations like this are hard for directors. They need to decide what, if any, IU was actually transferred. Whether your partner had logical alternatives, and if so were some alternatives were suggested to be a good idea by the UI. If there is a problem, what if any damage was done. A whole raft of things I do not envy their job for having to do. But most often, you get to the end of the hand only for all the players to see that it is all irrelevant anyway. That is why directors will most often say to call them back at the end of the hand if there is an issue.
Some people like to call the director at the time of the bidding (or at its end most likely) to try and get some level of agreement that there has been a break in tempo while it is all fresh in people's minds and their recollections are not coloured by the hand's outcome. That way if at the end of the hand they want the director to look at it they can ask for that without having a debate what did or didn't happen five minutes ago. I'm not sure it is a good practice, I don't think it is as it can cause unnecessary angst at the table (as it plainly did for you) and ruin people's fun. I think it is a bad habit but I can see why they do it, and I suspect I've done it too sometimes.
Personally, if my partner or I break tempo in a spot where it looks like it might matter, I'll often (especially against less experienced players) volunteer acceptance of that break in tempo at the end of the auctions - that way the opponents don't have to stew about that or feel obliged (which they are not) to call the director at that point. If they l;ook unhappy about it at the end of the hand I'd suggest to them "Maybe we should ask they director to have a look at that for you, its what they get paid for and makes them feel useful" or something like that. Especially on a club night, evenone needs to have fun.
I have waffled on, but the main point I wanted to make it that stopping to think about a problem you face is not itself the problem, but it can create one for your partner. It happens all the time. Don’t let it bother you. It is not a big deal. I doubt the director or your opponent intended to cause you any offence, and the directors (and the rules) are there to sort it all out for us.
Your final question is maybe the hardes bit, "More generally, what should players do to avoid creating potential issues of this kind?". Think ahead. It takes a fair amount of experience, but often you can see these bidding problemns coming and can start thinking about it before it auctaully happens. That can enable you to make some harder decisions in the same tempo as the easy ones. Take an unimaginative example, say you have a 2542 13 count and are playing a strong 1nt opening. You open 1H. What do you do now? Instead of switching off and waiting, you might already be thininking "well, if partner bid 1S am I going to rebid 1nt or 2D? I've got AQ of clubs... 1nt I think, or alternatgively weigh factors that might encourage you to bid 2D" - that way, if you can make your rebid in the same (steady) tempo that you might with an easier decision. You can use their time to make you time more steady without rushing.
But don't be embarrised about thinking - that's a good trait in a thinking game.
Regards, Scott Smith
- Scott Smith15 Jul 2026 at 08:54AM
PS: I am a completely useless typist! Sorry about that Peter.
Scott
- GILES HANCOCK02 Aug 2026 at 10:15PM
Certainly poorly handled.
A hesitation in Law is a "break in tempo". You have a standard tempo, bidding too fast or too slow is a break in tempo. Law 16B applies. You're allowed to hesitate, just that partner mustn't take advantage. So the Director should have examined later calls by your partner. If it was a competitive auction it may have been a very obvious infraction. And it could receive a Procedural Penalty.
The Director MUST NOT just make a ruling without explaining the ruling and allowing you to respond; and you have a right of appeal.
- Giles
- GILES HANCOCK02 Aug 2026 at 10:22PM
LAW 16 - AUTHORIZED AND UNAUTHORIZED INFORMATION
B. Extraneous Information from Partner
1. Any extraneous information from partner that might suggest a call or play is unauthorized. This includes remarks, questions, replies to questions, unexpected alerts or failures to alert, unmistakable hesitation, unwonted speed, special emphasis, tone, gesture, movement or mannerism.
(a) A player may not choose a call or play that is demonstrably suggested over another by unauthorized information if the other call or play is a logical alternative.
(b) A logical alternative is an action that a significant proportion of the class of players in question, using the methods of the partnership, would seriously consider, and some might select.
2. When a player considers that an opponent has made such information available and that damage could well result he may announce, unless prohibited by the Regulating Authority (which may require that the Director be called), that he reserves the right to summon the Director later (the opponents should summon the Director immediately if they dispute the fact that unauthorized information might have been conveyed).
3. When a player has substantial reason to believe that an opponent who had a logical alternative has chosen an action suggested by such information, he should summon the Director when play ends5. The Director shall assign an adjusted score (see Law 12C1) if he considers that an infraction of law has resulted in an advantage for the offender.
Footnote #5 "It is not an infracation to call the Director earlier or later.
- MALCOLM MACLEOD23 Aug 2026 at 10:50PM
Hi Peter
It is often difficult as a playing director to recall bridge law quickly and explain the logic of the law. Hesitation (when considering what to bid or whether to bid at all) is not an infraction. Unfortunately, many players suffering from the little bit of knowledge syndrome immediately call the director. Often it is from a senior player who has never read the law book. Many believe that partner must also pass if you hesitate and then pass. This is not true. If a bid is made then normally little damage is done, but if it is a pass there is a reasonable expectation that partner will assume you had some strength of hand to justify the hesitation. The correct procedure is, if opposition feels there has been unauthorised information and partner might bid using that hesitation as an indication of strength and a reason to continue bidding, then the "offended" player should state something along the lines of "I reserve the right to call the director at end of play" and give the reason for that. Please do not let such a statement affect the rest of your play, it is correct procedure. If the director does get called immediately, the ruling should be to play out the hand and the result will be reviewed at the end of the session to ascertain whether any advantage has been gained. The director will not know whether partner has continued bidding and had a reasonable logic to do so until the end of the session when then able to compare to how others bid the hand. The directors role is to restore equity and not to penalise. Often in instances when partner does continue bidding, the opposition actually get a better score and no rectification is required.
So now you know the "I reserve the right to call the director" procedure and can advise "knowledgeable" opposition should such an incident occur in the future. Cheers Malcolm
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