3 Ways To Play Bridge

For purposes of notation, each side of the table is given the name of a cardinal direction. Thus, the players in a bridge game are commonly referred to as North, South, East, and West. North and South play on a team against East and West. [2] X Research source

Scoring systems vary from style to style and group to group. Players typically take turns in a clockwise fashion. This means that actions alternate evenly between the two teams.

The more cards in a suit you have, and the higher the value of those cards, the better luck you are likely to have with them. Keep this in mind as bidding begins.

A minimum of 7 tricks are required to win each deal. (This is because there are 13 tricks per deal, and a majority must be won to win the deal. ) Bridge players therefore traditionally count bids starting from the seventh trick, referring to the first 6 tricks collectively as “the book. ” If your team wants to bid 7 tricks (saying that you expect to win 7 of the 13 tricks for the current deal), you would announce a bid of 1, and so on up to a bid of 7 for winning all 13 tricks. You can remember this easily by adding 6 to whatever number is bid to get the actual number of tricks that must be won to “make” (complete) the contract. You can’t ever bid to win less than 7 tricks (a bid of 1). Suits are important during bidding. The power of the suit you bid will determine how many other cards will be able to outbid it. The suits are ranked from most powerful to least powerful as follows: spades, then hearts (these are known as the “major” suits), then diamonds, and finally clubs (the “minor” suits). Each new bid must be more “valuable” than the last bid before it, so if the person before you bid 1 in hearts, you must either bid 1 in spades or 2 (or more) in any other suit to beat it. It is often advisable to bid on the most common suit in your hand, even if it is relatively weak. For example, if your hand has six cards with the diamond suit, you might lean towards bidding for diamonds to become the trump suit. Pay attention to the bids your partner makes to get an idea of what he or she is holding as well. No trump bids: In addition to bidding for a trump suit, you can declare a bid of “no trump” (sometimes condensed as “notrump,” and abbreviated NT), which indicates you are only bidding a number, not a suit. If you win a no trump bid, tricks are played without a trump suit, meaning only the highest ranked card in each trick can win it. This is riskier than naming a trump suit, but making (completing) a no trump contract will score your team more points than a regular contract. For bidding purposes, NT is considered the highest “suit;” therefore, the highest possible bid is 7NT. Beware of overreaching on your bid. If your team wins a bid and is subsequently unable to make that number of tricks by the end of the deal, you must pay the opposing team a number of points from your own total, which can quickly change the balance of power. You do not have to bid. You can pass a bid to the next person instead. If three players pass in a row, the last bid wins the contract and determines the trump suit; if all four players pass without any bids at all, the deck is reshuffled and the hands dealt out a second time. There are special terms for each player once a contract has been awarded. The person who made the winning bid is called the “declarer,” and his partner is called the “dummy. ” The other team are collectively calle the “defenders. ” Knowing these terms makes it easier to keep track of the flow of the game. [5] X Research source

Each new bid must be more “valuable” than the last bid before it, so if the person before you bid 1 in hearts, you must either bid 1 in spades or 2 (or more) in any other suit to beat it. It is often advisable to bid on the most common suit in your hand, even if it is relatively weak. For example, if your hand has six cards with the diamond suit, you might lean towards bidding for diamonds to become the trump suit. Pay attention to the bids your partner makes to get an idea of what he or she is holding as well. No trump bids: In addition to bidding for a trump suit, you can declare a bid of “no trump” (sometimes condensed as “notrump,” and abbreviated NT), which indicates you are only bidding a number, not a suit. If you win a no trump bid, tricks are played without a trump suit, meaning only the highest ranked card in each trick can win it. This is riskier than naming a trump suit, but making (completing) a no trump contract will score your team more points than a regular contract. For bidding purposes, NT is considered the highest “suit;” therefore, the highest possible bid is 7NT.

For bidding purposes, NT is considered the highest “suit;” therefore, the highest possible bid is 7NT.

The other two suits don’t count during this trick. Once the trick has been led, the dummy spreads his or her entire hand out on the table, usually in four columns organized by suit. The dummy’s hand is played by the declarer for the rest of the deal. Defenders play normally. The dummy has an unusual role. The dummy cannot comment on the strategic decisions of the declarer, but is allowed to point out when the declarer would accidentally violate a rule of the game. Otherwise, he or she leaves the decisions to the declarer for the duration of the deal. [6] X Research source Lead suit cards must be played if possible. For example, if the suit of the lead card is clubs, and you have a club in your hand, you must play it rather than any other card. If you don’t have any cards in the leading suit, you may “ruff” (play a trump suit card, assuming it is different from the lead suit) or “sluff” (play a card from one of the two remaining suits). A ruff is likely to win the trick, as any card from a trump suit beats every card of every other suit. A sluff is functionally the same as a pass, and cannot ever win the trick.

The dummy has an unusual role. The dummy cannot comment on the strategic decisions of the declarer, but is allowed to point out when the declarer would accidentally violate a rule of the game. Otherwise, he or she leaves the decisions to the declarer for the duration of the deal. [6] X Research source

A ruff is likely to win the trick, as any card from a trump suit beats every card of every other suit. A sluff is functionally the same as a pass, and cannot ever win the trick.

Whoever wins a trick leads the next trick. There is no set leading pattern after the first trick.

To play a relatively quick game, play until one team has won a specified number of deals (for instance, 2 out of 3) instead of counting points.

Your partner can support your bid by bidding a higher number in the same suit as your bid (signaling that he or she is also happy with the suit), or suggest a different approach by bidding a different suit. No trump bids often indicate that a person has a hand full of face cards and aces that are likely to win a lot of tricks based solely on rank.

The points are assigned as follows: Aces are worth 4 points. Kings are worth 3 points. Queens are worth 2 points. Jacks/knaves are worth 1 point. If your hand has 12 or 13 points or more, it is probably a very strong hand. With practice, this system can help you decide where to place your opening bids to guide the final bid to an advantageous result.

Playing the highest card in the trick. Beating an opponent’s high card with a trump card.

Since you won the trick, you will lead the next trick as well. Repeat the pattern until you have played out all your sure tricks. Remember, you only need to make your contract to win the deal. Get as many sure tricks as you can to easily boost your total.