Source: http://www.omahabridge.org
What are Odd/Even (O/E) discards? Also called Roman Discards, they are a discarding method whereby the first card that you discard is an attempt to signal partner as to which suit you’d like led. Are they more advantageous to the defense or to the declarer……that is the question?
First let’s define some terms. To Discard means to fail to follow to the suit that declarer had led thus playing a card from another suit but not a trump.
Discarding as the term also applies not only to the order in which you play other suits when failing to follow suit but also to which cards are kept for later play. The art of Discarding is a fundamental aspect of the game.
Signaling is an attempt to communicate with partner when defending by (1) the order in which you play your cards when following suit, and (2) the cards you play as well as the order in which you play them when not following suit (or discarding).
There are several methods of signaling, but the ACBL does not allow dual-message carding except on defender’s first discard. Thus O/E signals (as opposed to O/E discards) and encrypted signals are prohibited….. the reasoning being that they are inconsistent with playing in tempo.
O/E or Roman Discards work like this; at your first opportunity to discard, the card you play sends one of the following messages:
(1) an odd discard encourages the suit being discarded
(2) an even discard discourages the suit being discarded
(3) a high even card ….Click here to continue reading