| 
     
    Rule of 12 - Similar to the Rule of 10, the Rule of 12 provides a 
    secondary criteria to consider a penalty double when holding a sufficient 
    number of low-level holdings in opponents' trump suit: 
    
      
        | 1. | 
        
         Your combined partnership 
        HCP is 20+  | 
       
      
        | 2. | 
        
         You have a misfit with 
        partner  | 
       
      
        | 3. | 
        
         Your trump cards (any) 
        plus opponent's bidding level is 12+  | 
       
     
    
    Example: Assuming partnership holds 20+ HCP and no partnership fit, you do 
    not hold honors in opponents' suit yet have length in their suit, say 4 of 
    their agreed suit. 
    
    The opponents' 3 level bid promises 9 tricks.  Adding our 4 trumps to 
    the opponents' bidding level, the calculation is: 9 + 4 = 12 
    
    According to the Rule of 12, a penalty double is warranted since the number 
    12 has been reached. 
    
      
        | 
         Opponents' Bidding Level  | 
        
         Tricks 
        Required  | 
        
         Number of nondescript 
        Trump required to Double 
        (assuming partnership misfit)  | 
       
      
        | 2 | 
        
         6 + 2 = 8  | 
        
        12 - 8 = 4 | 
       
      
        | 3 | 
        
         6 + 3 = 9  | 
        
        12 - 9 = 3 | 
       
      
        | 4 | 
        
         6 + 4 = 10  | 
        
        12 - 10 = 2 | 
       
     
    
    Also see Environmental Factors 
     |