I play Bridge for fun, and I have never played in a tournament or duplicate bridge. If you play Hearts, Bridge is easy to learn. You have to learn how to bid to win what will be the trump suit.
What You Should Know
Four people play this game, and you have a partner. We never let the husbands plays with their wives, because you can just imagine the yelling and the screaming, and then it’s not fun any more.
We play Bridge with two sets of cards, (we don’t use the joker), because while your partner is dealing you get to shuffle.
Spades are the highest, then hearts, diamonds and clubs. We pick who will deal first buy who picks up a card closest to the ace of spades.
Honor cards are the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and ten and score 30 points. All the other cards score 20 points.
That person is ’north’ and their partner is ’south’. The opponents are ’east’ and ’west’. North deals first, and all 52 cards are used.
The Game
Everyone looks at their 13 cards and arranges them into suits. North bids first, (if they want to or they can pass), and then the person to the left bids next. Each bid must be higher than the last one. The highest bid wins and what suit they bid becomes the trump cards.
There are a lot of signals sent to your partner and please don’t kick the persons foot because everyone can feel the table shake. My husband likes to bid and he will bid even if he has no high cards in his hand. That often is a good strategy because he and his partner often win the game.
If everyone passes all the hands are thrown into the center of the table, and the person to the left deals the next hand. If I have a great hand I often open one club to keep the game going. This is also a signal that I have honor cards in every suit and if they have a nice hand they should bid their best suit.
A player can also bid ’one no trump. This tells their partner they have an excellent hand, and they don’t need just need their partner to tell them what is their longest suit. This is another example of how you signal your partner.
When the bidding is over the person who has bid the highest will begin to play, after their partner lays down their hand, (they become the dummy). The dummpy lays down their had in rows or the suites, (higest to lowest), with the high card on the top. The winner plays both hands and the dummy can’t talk or move a card. It’s time for them to go get something to drink!!!
If one of the opponents think they can win they can say ’I double you’. The winner can redouble them.
After the first four cards are played, the person with the highest card wins that round. This continues until there are no more cards to play.
Scoring The Points
One person who knows how to count records the score. If the bidding team wins they get 20 points for the minor suit tricks, 30 for the major suit tricks and 40 point for the first trick, in a ’no trump bid’ and 30 points for all the other cards.
If the winner was ’doubled’ they receive double the points’ and 50 points for being insulted. If they redoubled the double they get 4 times the points they won.
Grand Slams are when you win every hand and you earn 1000 points and if you win all of the tricks but one, (a small slam), you earn 500 points.
A team is venerable if they won the last game. If they make a grand slam they earn 1500 points and 750 points for a small slam.
If a team wins more tricks than they bid they win 30 points, (in a major suite or no trump), and 20 in a minor suit. Once again there are more points if you were double and you redoubled.
The top five trumps (A K Q J 10) are called honors. If one player holds all five of these cards, that player’s side scores a bonus of 150 above the line. Four honors in one hand score 100. If there are no trumps, and a player holds four aces, that player’s side scores 150 for honors.
Not vulnerable wills 100 point if they were double and 200 if they redoubled.
If the team was vulnerable they win 200 points if they were doubled and 400 if they redoubles.
Now if the bidder lost and doesn’t win enough tricks, they are given a penalty.
The Penalties: Not Vulnerable Vulnerable
Not doubled: each undertrick: 50 100
Doubled: first undertrick: 100 200
Doubled: 2nd & 3rd undertrick: 200 300
Doubled: subsequent undertricks: 300 300
The Rubber
The first side that wins two games in a row wins the rubber and get a 700 point bonus or 500 if the opposition wins one game. This makes them vulnerable during the next games.
The games is over when one team wins 1500 points.
I’m Sure
This was as clear as mud to you so I’ll refer you to two sites:
https://firesides.net/wardrule.htm
https://retirementwithapurpose.com/bridge.html
Most newpapers have a hand of bridge, in them. I suggest you look at it to see how the hand is played.
My Final Thoughts
Once you learn to play Bridge you’ll become addicted to it. We play twice a week.
Thanks for reading my review.
©LL2005