Better Than 50% Bridge is your step-by-step guide to becoming a consistent winner at the table. Designed for intermediate players who want to raise their results above 50%, this book gives you a complete, practical bidding system that takes the guesswork out of auctions. Author Ruth Derrow—an experienced ACBL accredited teacher, mentor, and Silver Life Master—shares the same strategies and agreements that helped her climb the Life Master ladder and win more often with confidence. You’ll discover how to reduce confusion with clear partnership communication, apply conventions the right way, and avoid the costly mistakes that hold so many players back. Packed with insights, real examples, and an easy-to-follow roadmap, Better Than 50% Bridge will give you the clarity, structure, and confidence to play your best bridge—and finally see your scores reflect the player you know you can be. Thus far, Ruth, I have read through the publication (I'll call it a manual), and plan to go back and study various sections. I like the premise of the manual since it exactly suits the stage of duplicate bridge I am in. I like that you have distilled the subject matter from your prolonged study and play, offering your take on important aspects of the game for purposes of competitive play. Lastly, I like the manual's organization and would welcome a follow up manual on defensive play. S. Gold f you're reading this, chances are you already know how to play bridge — but your results don't always reflect what you know. That was my experience for a long time as well. Like many players, I learned the conventions, read books, and took lessons, yet still found myself guessing too often at the table. What finally changed my results wasn't learning more conventions — it was learning how to organize what I already knew into a clear, reliable system. I wrote Better Than 50% Bridge for players who want fewer guesses, clearer auctions, and more consistent results. This book shares the same structured approach I used to improve my own game and climb the Life Master ladder, focusing on partnership communication, disciplined decision-making, and practical agreements that work under real playing conditions. My hope is that this book helps you play with greater confidence — and finally see your scores reflect the player you know you can be. — Ruth Derrow Every intermediate bridge player knows the frustration: you've mastered the basics but remain stuck while others win masterpoints. Better Than 50% Bridge provides the proven roadmap that transforms competent players into consistent winners. The strategic mindset that creates consistent winners: Read what opponents are really communicating during the bidding The systematic approach to building a winning convention card Why some players advance to Life Master while others plateau Proven techniques for commanding table respect and partner trust The mental framework that turns close decisions into masterpoint victories Ruth Derrow is an ACBL-accredited bridge teacher, mentor, and Silver Life Master with a passion for helping players improve through clarity and structure rather than complexity. Before retiring, Ruth spent 13 years as a high school teacher , followed by a career as a programmer and business consultant . Those experiences shaped her teaching philosophy: complex ideas are best mastered through clear frameworks, logical progression, and practical application. Ruth discovered bridge in her thirties—famously trading tennis lessons for bridge lessons—and although career and life temporarily pulled her away from competitive play, the game never left her. Upon retirement, she returned to contract bridge with renewed focus and has spent the past 12 years immersed as a student, teacher, and director of the game. She is the author of Better Than 50% Bridge and the founder of the Better Than 50% Bridge community , where bridge improvement is approached like a gym workout for your bridge muscles — focused, structured, and rewarding.