Bridge is one of the most popular card games across the world. It is an advanced trick-taking type card game. In this guide, the game is covered from the basics so inexperienced players can also learn this advanced game easily. Here is the guide on How to Play Bridge.
Important Information about Bridge Card Game
What are the requirements to play Bridge?
A 52 cards standard deck and Four players are required. Also, pen and paper are required for scorekeeping.
Sitting Position in Bridge Card Game:
The players of the same team sit in front of each other.
What is the ranking order of suits in Bridge?
The ranks of the suits from highest to lowest: No Trump(Explained later in this guide), Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs.
A Trump suited card is considered higher than any card of any other suit.
The ranking order of cards in Bridge:
The Rank of The Cards from Highest to Lowest: Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
The Object in Bridge
The main object in Bridge is to score more points than the opposing team.
Determining Dealer and Dealing the Cards
The first dealer is selected randomly or any player may accept the dealership voluntarily. After selection, the dealer deals 13 cards to each player, face-down, starting from his left. After each round, the dealership transfers to the player on the left of the current dealer.
The Bidding
After the cards are dealt, each player has to make a call starting from the dealer, moving in a clockwise manner. There are four types of calls, 1) Bid, 2) Double, 3) Re-Double, 4) Pass.
1) Bid
A player can make this type of call by bidding the number of tricks that the player expects his team will win, over and above six tricks. Also, he has to specify a suit along with that number, to make that suit, the trump suit.
Example: If the player believes that his team will win 8 tricks at the end of the game and want to make Hearts, the Trump suit then he will bid by saying “Two Hearts”(That is, he expects that his team will win 2 tricks over and above 6 tricks, and he wants to make Hearts, the trump suit).
If the player doesn’t want to make any suit, the trump suit, then he may bid “One No-Trump”(That is, the player expects that, his team will win 1 trick over and above 6 tricks, and the player doesn’t want to make any suit, the trump suit).
Each player has to bid a greater number of tricks in the same suit of the last bid or the same number of tricks as in the last bid but in a higher ranking suit.
Example: If a player bids “Two Diamonds”, then the next player can bid either 3 or more tricks with the diamond suit or Two tricks with Hearts/Spades/No-Trump suit.
No-Trump outranks all other suits.
2) Double
After a player makes a Bid, If the immediate next player taking the turn(Who is the player of the opposing team) believes that, the bid made by the former player, is too high to reach then he can make a call for Double. Whenever a player makes the call for Double, the winning points and penalties of the bidder’s team are doubled.
3) Re-Double
After a player makes a call for Double, If the immediate next player taking the turn(Who is the partner of the Bidder) also believes the same as his partner that, his team can win the number of tricks mentioned in the Bid then he can make a call for Re-Double. Whenever a player makes a call for Re-Double, the winning points and penalties of the bidder’s team are multiplied by four.
4) Pass
If a player doesn’t want to make a call for Bid, Double or Re-Double, then he can simply avoid it by saying “Pass”. In the first round, if all the players say “Pass” then the next dealer grabs all the cards, shuffles, and re-deals the cards.
Rules of Bidding in Bridge
- The call for Bid, Double, Re-Double must receive 3 consecutive passes to be accepted as the contract.
- After Doubling and Re-Doubling a Bid, If a player makes a new Bid before accepting the former Bid as the contract then the Doubling and Re-Doubling are canceled.
- After a Bid is accepted as the contract, the bidder is now the “Declarer”, his partner is called “Dummy” and the opponents are “Defenders”.
- If there is any suit specified in the contract, it becomes the Trump suit.
How to Play Bridge
After completing Bidding, the player on the left side of the declarer starts and leads the trick by playing a card. The players take their turns in a clockwise manner. Each player has to follow the suit of the led card. However, if a player cannot follow the suit, he may play a card of another suit. The trick ends with the declarer’s turn.
As soon as the first trick is led, the dummy has to reveal all the 13 cards he has. After revealing the cards, the dummy does not participate actively in the game. The declarer plays Dummy’s turn as well as his own turn in a proper manner.
Winning the Trick
The player who has played the highest-ranking card of the suit led wins the trick. During the trick, if a Trump-suited card is played then the player who played the highest-ranking Trump-suited card wins the trick.
After winning the trick, the winner places the cards of a trick in a pile face-down on a side of the table in a proper way. This is necessary in order to trace total tricks won by a team at the end of the game.
Score Keeping in Bridge
When the 13th trick or say the last trick is completed, the scores of both teams are counted. First of all, draw a format shown in the following image on paper or print the image.
The area above the Horizontal line is for noting the Bonus scores. The area below the Horizontal line is for noting the trick score. After noting the scores, the points are totaled and the team with the highest points wins the game.
Score Guide
Trick Score
Each trick won over and above six tricks by a team, scores them several points. These points are noted below the Horizontal line in the respective column of the team. It depends on the Trump suit.
| Trump Suit | Contract | Doubled | Re-Doubled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamonds/Clubs | 20 Points | 40 Points | 80 Points |
| Spades/Hearts | 30 Points | 60 Points | 120 Points |
| No Trump (For the first trick won over and above 6 tricks) | 40 Points | 80 Points | 160 Points |
| No Trump (For additional tricks won) | 30 Points | 60 Points | 120 Points |
Overtrick Bonus
Tricks won by the declarer’s team over and above the number of tricks mentioned in the contract is called Overtrick. The declarer’s team scores bonus points for the Overtricks won in addition to the Trick score. The Overtrick Bonus is noted above the Horizontal line.
| Trump Suit | Each Overtrick Bonus | Doubled | Re-Doubled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamonds/Clubs | 20 Points | 40 Points | 80 Points |
| Spades/Hearts | 30 Points | 60 Points | 120 Points |
| No Trump | 30 Points | 60 Points | 120 Points |
Undertrick Penalties
When the declarer’s team fails to win the total number of tricks mentioned in the contract, it is called Undertrick. The declarer’s team gets a penalty for each Undertrick. This penalty is noted in the opposing team’s column above the Horizontal line.
| Undertrick | Penalty | Doubled | Re-Doubled |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Undertrick | 50 Points | 100 Points | 200 Points |
| Additional Undertricks | 100 Points | 200 Points | 400 Points |
Slam Bonus
If a team Bids or Wins six tricks over and above six tricks(12 tricks out of 13), it is called “Slam”. The team doing this wins a bonus of 100 points. If a team Bids or Wins seven tricks over and above six tricks(13 tricks out of 13), it is called “Grand Slam”. The team making the “Grand Slam” wins a bonus of 150 points.
The slam bonus and grand slam bonus are noted above the Horizontal line in the respective team’s column. Slam bonus cannot be Doubled or Re-Doubled. It is fixed.
Honors Bonus
When the Trump suit is selected, Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), and 10 of the trump suit are called “Honors”. In the end, if a team has four of them then it wins a bonus of 100 points and if the team has all five of them then it wins a bonus of 150 points.
If there is no Trump suit selected then Aces (A) are “Honors”. The team having all the four Aces (A) in the end, wins a bonus of 150 points. Honors bonus is noted above the Horizontal line in the respective team’s column.
Like slam bonus, Honors bonus also cannot be Doubled or Re-Doubled.
Winning
Whenever the score of any team below the Horizontal line reaches 100 points, the game comes to an end. After that, all the points in each team’s column are totaled and the team with the highest total wins the game.
Vulnerability
This concept applies when the players want to play more than one game. The team winning the last game becomes vulnerable. The vulnerable team’s winning points, bonuses, and penalties are doubled. For the Vulnerable team, just multiply the above figures with 2. In the end, the team with the highest points wins the game.
This is How to Play Bridge. Play with your friends and family and enjoy!
Also, check-out some other card games like Spoons and Euchre.
Thank you.