Bridge card game rules

General rules of bridge

1. Bridge is a card game played with 4 players.
2. The game is played with all 52 playing cards from a standard deck, excluding the jokers. Each player receives 13 cards.
3. Players are designated by card directions: North, East, South and West. Bridge is played in pairs. North and South form a pair, and East and West form a pair. Players who form a pair thus sit opposite each other.
4. The lowest card is a 2 and the highest is an ace.
5. After dealing, the bidding round starts. The highest bid, called the final contract, is the bid that is played. The partnership trying to succeed the final contract is called the declaring side. The opposing partnership is called the defenders.
6. Bidding begins with the dealer and proceeds clockwise.
7. The goal of the game is for the declaring side to achieve the contract. The goal of the other pair is to prevent this from happening.
8. The player with the highest card wins the trick. If a trump card is played, the player with the highest trump card wins the trick.
9. The winner of the trick gets to lead the next trick. This is called leading.
10. Players must follow suit at all times if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, he or she may play another card of their choice.
11. After all 13 tricks have been played, the score is calculated.

Dealing in bridge

• Each player receives 13 cards.
• The cards are dealt one at a time to the players.

Bidding round of bridge

After dealing, the bidding round begins.

• Bidding starts with the dealer.
• Bidding takes place by placing a card from the bidding box, passing or (re)doubling.
• A bid consists of a number (minimum 1 and maximum 7) and suit. The suit is one of the four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts or spades) or no trump (NT).
• The suits have an order from low to high: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, NT.
• The number represents the number of tricks that must be obtained over 6 tricks. Thus, a bid consists of a minimum of 7 tricks and a maximum of 13 tricks.
• A bid can only be followed by a higher bid, double (X) or pass (P). Thus, a player making a bid must make a higher bid than the previous bid.
• A double can only be called on an opponent’s bid. A double means that a player thinks the bid cannot be met.
• A redouble (XX) can only be called on an opponent’s double. A redouble means that the party of the original bid thinks that they are going to meet the bid, even if the other party does not think so.
• A double or redouble is lifted with a new, higher bid.
• A player who has passed can still bid a round later.
• The bidding round ends when 3 players pass in succession. The exception is the first bidding round. If 3 passes in the first bidding round, the fourth player is allowed to bid.
• The winning bid is called the final contract.

Bridge game play

The player who made the winning bid is called the leader. The leader’s partner is called dummy. The opponents are called the defense.

• The player to the left of the leader may lead first. This is called the opening lead.
• After the opening lead, the dummy puts his 13 cards face up on the table.
• The leader plays his own cards as well as the dummy’s cards during the round.
• The player who plays the highest card of the suit played wins the trick. In a trump contract, if a player has no cards of the suit being played, he may trump. In this case, the player who plays the highest trump card wins the trick.
• After a trick, players keep the cards in sight by placing them close in front of them. If a pair wins the trick, the cards are placed vertically. If a pair loses the trick, the cards are placed horizontally.
• The player who wins the trick must lead the next trick.
• At the end of the game, the number of tricks per pair is counted. Has the partnership that won the final contract achieved this final contract? Then it wins the round and a number of points. Did the defense win by preventing the final contract from being achieved? Then the defense earns points.

Bridge scoring

The scoring in bridge is complex. The score depends on the contract played, whether there was (re)doubling, the vulnerability of the game and the number of tricks earned.

In bridge, the vulnerability of pairs is determined by the progress of the game. When a partnership is vulnerable, the rewards for achieving certain contracts are higher, but the penalties for not achieving the contracts are also higher. Vulnerability adds an additional tactical element to bridge.

The following scoring table is used internationally for competitive bridge.

Tricks points (basic points awarded for the number of tricks in a given contract.

Scored by the partnership of the leader if the final contract is achieved.

Scored by the partnership of the leader if the final contract is achieved.

Bonus scored by the partnership of the leader.

Bonus overtricks (tricks achieved above the contract).

If the contract value is less than 100 then the contract is called a partial score. If the contract value is at least 100 points, then the contract is called a manche. The premiums for a manche are higher than for a partial score.

Bonuses for game, part-score and achieving contract

Penalty Points for Undertricks

When the declaring side fails to fulfill their contract, the defending side scores penalty points based on the number of undertricks, the vulnerability status, and whether the contract was doubled or redoubled.

If all players pass during the bidding phase, the board is considered a pass-out, and no score is recorded for any player.