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Bridge

The deepest partnership trick-taking game, built on an auction.

4 playersHardStandard 52-card
trick-takingpartnershipclassic

Bridge is the most demanding game in this collection, and the one with the most to give back. Each hand has two phases: an auction where partners exchange coded information about their cards and commit to winning a number of tricks, then the play where they try to deliver on it. This page will get you playing a hand; bidding systems take much longer to learn.

What You Need

  • Players: Exactly 4, in two partnerships sitting across from each other. Seats are named North, East, South, and West.
  • Deck: One standard 52-card deck. Aces are high, 2s are low.
  • Extras: Pen and paper. Many groups use a printed score sheet.

Key Terms

  • Trick: One round where every player plays a single card. The best card wins all four.
  • Trump: The suit that beats all other suits. The auction decides it, or decides there is none ("no trump").
  • Bid: A promise to win a number of tricks over six. A bid of "3 hearts" promises 9 tricks with hearts as trump.
  • Contract: The final, highest bid of the auction. The pair that made it has to deliver.
  • Declarer: The player on the winning side who first named the contract's suit. They play both hands.
  • Dummy: Declarer's partner. Their cards go face up on the table and declarer plays them.
  • Game: A contract worth 100+ trick points, the main scoring target.

Setup

  1. Sit so partners are opposite each other.
  2. Choose a dealer at random; the deal then rotates clockwise each hand.
  3. Deal the entire deck clockwise, one card at a time, so everyone has 13 cards.
  4. Sort your hand by suit before the auction starts.

How to Play

The auction

  1. Starting with the dealer and going clockwise, each player either bids, passes, doubles, or redoubles.
  2. Bids run from 1 to 7 and name a suit or no trump. Each bid must outrank the last: at the same level the order is clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, no trump.
  3. Double increases the penalty if you think the opponents will fail; redouble answers it.
  4. Three passes in a row end the auction. The last bid becomes the contract.
  5. If all four players pass immediately, the hand is thrown in and redealt.

The play

  1. The player to declarer's left makes the opening lead, face down at first if your group uses that convention, then face up.
  2. Dummy lays their 13 cards face up on the table, sorted by suit. Declarer plays cards from both their own hand and dummy's.
  3. Everyone must follow suit if they can. If you cannot, you may play any card, including a trump.
  4. The highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the led suit if nobody trumped. The winner leads the next trick.
  5. Play all 13 tricks, then count how many the declaring side won.

Scoring & Winning

  • Declarer needs 6 tricks plus the number bid. A contract of 4♠ needs 10 tricks.
  • Trick points for a made contract: 20 per bid trick in clubs or diamonds, 30 per bid trick in hearts or spades, and 40 for the first no-trump trick plus 30 for each one after.
  • Reaching 100 trick points in a hand scores a game. Two games win the rubber, which pays a large bonus.
  • Failing the contract gives the defenders 50 points per trick short, or considerably more if the contract was doubled.
  • Bonuses exist for slams (bidding and making 12 or 13 tricks) and for holding top trumps.

Example

The contract is 4♥ by South, so South must win 10 tricks with hearts as trump. West leads, North's hand goes face up as dummy, and South plays both hands against East and West.

Variations

  • Rubber bridge: the classic home game, scored in rubbers as described above.
  • Duplicate bridge: the tournament format, where every table plays the same deals and you are scored against other pairs rather than on luck of the deal.
  • Chicago: four hands with fixed vulnerability, popular when you want a fixed-length session.

Tips for New Players

  • Count your hand before bidding using high card points: ace 4, king 3, queen 2, jack 1. About 12 points is the usual minimum to open the bidding.
  • An eight-card fit between you and your partner in one suit is what you are hunting for in the auction. It is usually worth more than a higher-scoring suit you do not both hold.
  • As declarer, plan the whole hand before you play to the first trick - count your certain winners and work out where the extra ones will come from.
  • If Bridge appeals, learn a simple system such as Standard American or Acol next. The bidding is the real game.