How to play bridge
Bridge is a game for 4 players. It is played with a standard deck of cards.
Players play as two pairs or partners, generally referred to as North and South and East and West. The partners sit opposite each other.
At the beginning of a game, all the cards are dealt, so that each player has 13 cards. Then each player sorts their cards into the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs). The cards are valued in descending order, with Ace high.
Each player counts the total number of “high card points” in his hand. Count 4 points for each ace, 3 points for each king, 2 points for each queen, and 1 point for each jack. There are a total of 40 points.
Example: You receive: A, 10,7,6 of spades, K, 3, 2 of hearts, J, 8,6 of diamonds, 9,5,4 clubs. Add up your points, counting four for the ace of spades, 3 for the hearts type, and 1 for the jack of diamonds. A total of 8 points.
Starting with the player to the dealer’s left, each person in turn decides if they have enough points to “open” the auction. The general rule of thumb is that you must have at least 12 points to open the tender. If you have less than 12 points, just say “approved.”
Move counterclockwise around the table until one player has enough points to open the auction. If all four players pass, the cards are shuffled and dealt again.
When a player has opened the auction, the next player has the option to bid or pass. The decision is based not only on the number of points, but also on the composition of your hand. They could decide to pass, even if they have more than 12 points, and wait to see how the auction unfolds.
The opening offer can be one of two basic things. A suit offer (spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs) or a non-trump offer. The exact offer (for example, 1 spade, 2 diamonds, 1 no trumps) will depend on the number of points in the hand and the distribution of the cards.
The opening partner (the responder) makes his offer based on the number of points in his hand, the distribution of cards in his hand, and the offer made by his opening partner.
One of the main purposes of the tender is to interact with your partner and tell each other about the contents of your hands to see if you can agree on the contract. The contract is the final offer.
A 1 NT or 1 of a suit contract means you think you can win 7 tricks. (6 tricks plus the number of your offer). A contract of, say, 3 No Trumps or 3 Hearts means you think you can win 9 of the 13 available tricks.
The person who first presented the suit (or NT) that ends when the contract becomes declarer. Declarer’s partner becomes “dummy” and no longer participates in the play. Dummy’s hand is placed on the table and declarer plays both his own hand and dummy’s.
Each round begins with one player leading a card. Each player should do the same if they can. The winning pair wins the trick (each round of 4 cards is called a trick) and the winning player takes the first card to the next trick. If the game is played in a trump suit and a player has no cards in the suit that has been led, he can trump (or ruff) the trick by playing a trump suit card. If the game is played on No Trumps, then there is no chance of winning a trick by missing.
When all 13 tricks have been played, the declaring side has won the contract if it makes or exceeds the number of tricks that its offer said it should take. The declaring side loses the contract if it does fewer tricks.