Contract bridge is a card game for four players that can be played at any level from casual to professional tournaments.Since its creation, Bridge's popularity has waned, but it remains one of the most popular four player card games in the world.The steps below will teach you the basics of the game.
Step 1: Three friendly co-players can be found.
Bridge is a four-player game played in teams of two players each, so your significant other and another couple are a good potential choice.The teams are sitting around a table.Each side of the table has a name for a direction.The players in a bridge game are referred to as North, South, East, and West.North and South play against East and West.
Step 2: You can learn the structure of the game.
Bridge is played with a standard deck of 52 cards in deals of 13 cards per player, so that the entire deck is dealt out each hand.Players make bids after the deck is dealt.The goal for each deal as well as the importance of each suit are determined by the final bid.The goal of the game is to win 7 or more tricks on each deal in order to score points.Deals continue until one team has a certain number of points.There are different scoring systems for style and group.In a clockwise fashion, players take turns.The actions alternate between the two teams.
Step 3: Get the cards.
The entire deck is used when the dealer gives 13 cards to each player.Give players time to sort their cards.The number of cards from 9 to 2 are found in the middle of the bridge.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.As bidding begins, keep this in mind.
Step 4: Make bids to win the contract.
Teams bid numbers and suits, which represent the number of tricks they believe they can win on the deal if the suit attached to that number becomes more valuable than the other 3 suits during tricks.Whoever deals get to bid first, and bidding rotates clockwise from the dealer around the table, continuing for as many rounds as is necessary to settle on a final bid.The team with the highest number wins the right to name the suit.The basics of a friendly game are covered in this guide, as there are many rules and special terms governing the bidding phase.Each deal requires a minimum of 7 tricks.A majority must be won to win the deal, because there are 13 tricks per deal.If your team wants to bid 7 tricks and you expect to win 7 of the 13 tricks for the current deal, you would announce a bid of 1, and so on.Adding 6 to any number is enough to get the number of tricks that must be won to complete the contract.You can't win less than 7 tricks.During bidding, suits are important.How many other cards will be able to outbid you depends on the power of the suit you bid on.The suits are ranked from the most powerful to the least powerful.You must either bid 1 in spades or 2 in any other suit if you want to beat the last bid.Even if the suit is weak, it is still advisable to bid on it.If you have six cards with the diamond suit, you might want to bid for diamonds to become the trump suit.Pay attention to the bids your partner makes to find out what he or she is holding.In addition to bidding for a trump suit, you can also declare a bid, which indicates you are only bidding a number, not a suit.The highest ranked card in each trick can win it if you win a no trump bid.If you make a no trump contract, your team will score more points than a regular contract.NT is considered the highest suit for bidding purposes.You should beware of overreaching.If your team is unable to make a number of tricks by the end of the deal, you must pay the opposing team points from your own total, which can change the balance of power.You don't have to.It is possible to pass a bid to the next person.If three players pass in a row, the last bid wins the contract and determines the trump suit, if all four pass without any bids at all the deck is shuffled and the hands dealt out a second time.Once a contract has been awarded, there are special terms for each player.Knowing these terms makes it easier to keep track of the game.
Step 5: The first trick should be started.
The tricks begin now that a trump suit has been established for the deal.The defender is to the left of the declarer.The defender puts a card face up on the table.The trick can only be won with a card of that suit, or a trump suit card, which is the suit of this card.The other two suits don't count.The dummy is usually spread out on the table in four columns.The declarer plays the dummy's hand for the rest of the deal.Defenders play.There is an unusual role for the dummy.The dummy can point out when a rule of the game would be violated by the declarer.The decisions are left to the declarer for the duration of the deal.If possible, lead suit cards must be played.If the suit of the lead card is clubs, and you have a club in your hand, you must play it.If you don't have any cards in the lead suit, you can play a trump suit card or 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 pass is functionally the same as a sluff.
Step 6: The trick should be finished and the next one started.
The declarer plays a card from the dummy's hand.After that, the second defender and the declarer play a card.Whoever played the most valuable card won the trick and kept all four cards for later.The person who wins a trick leads the next trick.There is no pattern after the first trick.
Step 7: End the agreement.
Add up the number of tricks each team won.The defending team will win the deal if the declaring team makes the contract.You can award points based on your system.Extra points should be given for making a no trump contract.
Step 8: The next deal should be started.
Put the cards back together in a deck and give each player 13 cards.This is the second deal.Deals continue until one team earns enough points to win the game.If you want to play a relatively quick game, play until one team has won a specified number of deals.
Step 9: Play a lot.
There is always more to learn.Practice is the best way to improve your game.Books and guides can help a lot, but at the end of the day, you have to develop a sense of when to do what in the game.
Step 10: It's a good idea to read your partner.
It's not possible to directly communicate with your partner during bidding, but there are ways to let them know what you want out of a contract.The opening round of bids is used to find out what your strongest suit is, rather than making a serious bid.Your partner can support your bid by bidding a higher number in the same suit as yours, or suggest a different approach if he or she is also happy with the suit.No trump bids indicate that a person has a hand full of cards that are likely to be used in a lot of tricks.
Step 11: To determine hand strength, try card scoring.
If you're having trouble estimating the strength of your hand, there is a way to score the cards in it in order to assess it more accurately.The deck has 40 points.The points are assigned based on the value of the ace.The Kings are worth 3 points.They are worth 2 points.Jacks are worth a point.It is a very strong hand if it has 12 or 13 points.With practice, this system can help you decide where to place your opening bids.
Step 12: First, keep your strategy simple.
The two easiest ways to win a trick are easy to adopt into your strategy.The other two methods rely on indirectly controlling the way your opponents play their hands by keeping track of the cards they have already played and are likely to play in the future.You can improve your chances of making the contract or successfully defending against it by anticipating which of these two techniques to use.The highest card is played in the trick.A trump card is used to beat an opponent's high card.
Step 13: Make contracts with your dummy's hand.
If you and your dummy control the highest cards in the trump suit between your two hands, you can be sure that each trick leading from that suit will be yours.These are known as sure tricks and are a simple way to increase your trick count.The next highest card from the dummy's hand should be used to lock in the victory.You will lead the next trick if you won the trick.When you have played out all your tricks, repeat the pattern.You don't need to make a contract to win the deal.You can easily boost your total by getting as many sure tricks as you can.