Lesson 3.1: Bidding
When you actually play bridge, the bidding comes before the
play of the hand. This is what I'll show you now.
Because each player has 13 cards, each hand which is dealt out will have exactly 13 tricks. When you play "contract" bridge, you make a contract (with your partner and your opponents) that you will take a certain number of tricks.
Since the total number of tricks is 13, half of this would be 6 1/2, but we round it off to 6. This is called the "book". (Don't ask me why! This is just what they call it!)
You can contract to take 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 tricks over and above the book. Thus, if you agree that hearts will be trump, and you and your partner contract to take 2 tricks above book, your bid is "Two hearts!", but you are actually contracting to take (6 + 2 = ) 8 tricks.
You can also play a hand with no suit declared as trump, for example, "Three no trump!".
O.K. Here are a couple of examples to help you practice. Just click on the button that you think is correct, and you'll find out if you're right or not.
Example 1: Assume that the contract is 4S.
Example 2: Assume that the contract is 6NT.
Lesson 3.2: How do I bid?
You decide who will deal out the cards (usually all 4 players pick a card at random from the deck and whoever has the highest card deals first). When the dealer has dealt out all the cards, the dealer gets to bid first.How do you decide whether or not you want to bid? There is no point in bidding unless you think that you and your partner can get at least 7 of the 13 tricks. Remember that 7 tricks is equivalent to bidding one of a suit, and "one", of course, is the lowest possible bid.
If you and your partner make a contract for a certain number of tricks, and fail to get that many tricks, your opponents ("THEY"!) will get points, and you and your partner get zip!
So how do you decide whether or not to bid? Typically you use a point system. The very simplest point system counts face cards. There are more complex systems, which are probably more accurate, but this one will do for a start.
Point system: For each ace, count
4 points
For each king, count 3 points.
For each queen, count 2 points,
For each jack, count 1 point.
Here is an example of a hand, showing how many points there
are in each suit:
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The total number of points for this hand is: 10.
Here is another example:
| S: NONE | H: Q 6 3 | C: Q J 9 7 4 3 2 | D: 10 7 6 |
Here is another example:
| S: K J 10 9 4 | H: A K J 10 4 | C: 6 | D: A 5 |
Now that you know how to count points, you're ready for Lesson 3.3.
Lesson 3.3: What do I bid?
Normally you don't start bidding unless you have at least 13 points in your hand.Bidding also depends on how many cards you have in each suit. If you have 3 or 4 cards in each suit, the hand is said to have an even distribution.
If you have an uneven distribution, you typically have only one or no cards in a suit. An uneven distribution can be an advantage if you wish to name a trump suit. To play NT (no trump), an even distribution is usually best.
I suggest that you print out the next three tables, and keep them handy when you are bidding. Remembering all of this could be confusing. Just keep these tables next to you when you are bidding, and eventually all of this will become second nature.
Remember that no one will care that you are using
a "cheat sheet". All that bridge players care about is that you make a
bid, and get on with the game!
If you want to start (i.e. "open") the bidding:
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Lesson 3.4: What do I respond to my partner's bid?
Say your partner has just bid 1H. The next person passes, and now
it's your turn. What do you say?
Remember that you and your partner are a team. By bidding, you are
actually trying to figure out how many tricks your side might win (but
without being so crude as to actually look at each other's cards!).
O.K., you want to respond to your partner's bid. What do you do? You
print out the next table and do what it says! Isn't that easy?!
Responding to a partner's opening bid:
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but PASS on the next round of bidding |
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if your longest suit is the same as the suit your partner opened, bid 2 of that suit; on the next round of bidding PASS |
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on the next round bid 2 of your longest suit |
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if your longest suit is the same as the suit your partner opened, bid 2 of that suit; on the next round bid 2 of your next-longest suit |
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unless you are a real coward, try to end up at 3NT, 4H or 4S. |
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unless you are a real coward, try to end up at 3NT, 4H or 4S. |
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(but make sure you have at least one face card in each suit) |
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unless you are a real coward, try to end up at 3NT, 4H or 4S |
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Every once in a while your partner will have a terrific hand (22 or more points) and, so, will open 2 of something. If your own hand is halfway decent, your side should try to bid up to the game level. (A "game" is described in more detail in Lesson 4.3.)
This means that if you have at least 8 points,
you and your partner should try to end up in 3NT, 4H, or 4S. (5D or 5C
is also "game", but probably shouldn't be played by novices!) If you partner
does start the bidding at the 2 level, this is what your first response
should be:
Responding to an opening bid at the 2 level:
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Lesson 3.5: Length vs. Strength.
Length is VERY important. It's much more important than strength. Say you have the following hand:| S: A | H: K Q | C: Q 10 6 2 | D: Q J 10 7 4 2 |
Which of these 4 suits should you bid?
- Not spades, because you would only get one trick from it.
- Not hearts. You only have 2 hearts. If your opponents have the ace, you may very well get only one trick, from your king.
- Not clubs. If your opponents have the ace and king, you would get only 1 certain trick. You might get a second trick with your 10, but only if your opponent who has the jack has 3 or fewer clubs.
- You bid 1D. Why? If your opponents have the ace and king, you are still certain to get a trick with the queen, jack, and ten, and by this time you'll probably even get a trick with the seven. That's 3 or 4 sure tricks. So bid your diamonds.
Lesson 3.6: The ranking of the suits
Unfortunately you can't just bid whatever
you feel you can win. Bidding proceeds in a rigid order. For example, if
East bids 1H, South cannot bid 1C. This is because the suits are ranked,
as follows:
Highest-> NT - S - H - D - C <- Lowest
Fortunately, this is fairly easy to remember, because the names of the suits are ranked in reverse alphabetical order (except for NT, which has the highest ranking).
Thus, if East bids 1H, the next player (South) can bid 1S or 1NT, but if South wants to bid clubs or diamonds, South must now bid 2C or 2D.
Example: Your partner (South) opens 1D, West bids 1S, your own hand
looks like this:
| S: Q J 3 2 | H: K J 10 8 6 | C: A 5 4 | D: 2 |
Lesson 3.7: What about "double"?
"Double!" is also a possible bid. When do you use it? Here's an example: say that after a couple of rounds of bidding (your opponent) East bids 4H. You are South, you have 10 points, and your hand looks like this:
| S: 7 3 2 | H: Q J 10 8 5 | C: A | D: K 7 4 3 |
Their bid of 4H means that your opponents contract to win 10 of the 13 tricks. This means they can lose a maximum of 3 tricks without going down ("go down" = "don't make their contract"). If you think they have over-reached themselves, and that you and your partner are likely to get 4 or more tricks (and, thus, you will put them down), you then bid "Double!"
With the hand I've shown above, you are very likely to put them down: your ace of clubs will almost certainly take one trick, and your king of diamonds will probably also take a trick (since there are smaller diamond cards which can fall to an opponent's ace). Your hearts may take 3 tricks: since your 8 and 5 of hearts can be thrown away on the opponents' ace and king, your queen, jack, and ten will probably be good. That's a total of 5 tricks for your side!
But, why is this bid called "double" instead of "I don't believe you!" or "You're screwed!"? Because of the points involved: if your opponents persist, and declare hearts as trump, but fail to make their contract, then you get double the points you would have gotten if you hadn't said "Double." Double the points. Pretty good, eh?
This is called a "penalty double", because your opponents' penalty is doubled. Makes sense, right? Remember that this kind of "double" is typically used towards the end of the bidding, when you think your opponents have overreached themselves in their bidding, and that they will probably not make their contract.
There is another use of "double" which can occur at the beginning of the bidding, and which is called a "take-out double". Here's a typical scenario:
South has opened the bidding by saying "One spade!". You (West) have the following hand:
| S: 9 | H: A Q J 9 8 | C: K 8 7 | D: K 9 6 4 |
You have 13 points and five hearts, but, rather than bidding 2H, which would raise the bidding very quickly, you may decide to say: "Double!".
Normally, one doesn't say "double" as a penalty this early in the bidding. In fact, it is quite likely that your opponent would make one spade. So, saying "double" at this stage of the bidding has a different purpose.
In effect, it tells your partner that you have opening points (13 or more). This bid invites your partner to name their best suit. If your partner responds with a bid and your opponent's partner doesn't, you have, in effect, taken your opponents out of the bidding. Thus, this is called a "take-out double". Makes sense, doesn't it?
Remember that the "take-out double" must be used after an opponent's bid &mdash you can't use "double" as the first bid! It is typically used in the first round of bidding, indicates opening points, and asks partner to tell you their suite preference.
O.K. you now know the basics of bidding. At this point you can quit this site and start playing bridge like mad!
I've also located a few other internet links that may help you. They are on the page I've called Bridge Links. Have a look at them; you'll see just a small sample of what's available for you on the internet.
Or, if you also want to learn how to score, go on to Lesson 4.1. Enjoy!