Learn to Play Bridge the Easy Way: Lesson1.html

Lesson 1.1: Introduction

This web site is designed to teach you how to play bridge. I've purposely designed it to be as simple and painless as possible!

The most common type of bridge is called contract bridge. That is what this web site is designed to teach you.

It's also designed to teach only the basics. If you want to learn some advanced techniques, there are a lot of bridge books and bridge tutorials available. This site is only for complete and total novices!

If you know absolutely NOTHING about playing cards, please go on to Lesson 1.2. Otherwise, skip to Lesson 1.3.

Lesson 1.2: Not a card player?

If you know absolutely nothing about cards, here are the basics:

The names of the suits:

There are four suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades.

Clubs: Diamonds: Hearts: Spades:

The names of the cards:

The face cards are the ace, king, queen, and jack (sometimes called the knave):

Ace: King: Queen: Jack:

What's a trump?

Any one of the four suits can be named the trump suit during the bidding (we'll get to how you bid in Lesson 3.1). For now, just assume that if, for example, spades is named as trump, then any spade will beat a card of any other suit.

Example: Assume that spades is trump. If someone leads the ace of hearts, and you put the 2 of spades on it, you (and your partner) win that trick.

Lesson 1.3: The basics of bridge

you always have 4 players
you play partners (2 vs. 2)
you use all 52 cards (but no jokers!)

Each player is dealt 13 cards (these can be difficult to hold!). To clearly see what you have, it's a good idea to arrange your cards in order. For example, all your spades, starting with the highest card, then, all your hearts, etc.

An unsorted hand: A sorted hand:

Notice that I've separated the black suits from the red ones. This gives you an extra visual cue; it helps you to see exactly what you have in each suit.

Lesson 1.4: Terminology

Just glance over the following terms. Don't try to learn them all. Some you may already know. I suggest that you print out this page to look at as a reference. Keep it by you to look at for the lessons that follow.

board The table on which you are playing.

book The first 6 tricks which you win, if you have won the bid. For example: if you bid 2H, when you have won 6 of the 8 tricks you contracted to win, someone may say: "Great! You've got your book now."

dummy The hand which is laid down on the "board" (table) for all players to see. It is played by the person who first bid the contract suit.

face card An ace, king, queen, or jack.

game When any side has gained a 100 points, they are said to have reached "game". More about this in the lesson on scoring.

hand When all the cards have been dealt out, each player holds a handful of cards. This is referred to as your "hand"; i.e. "Did you get a good hand?"
The term "hand" can also be used to refer to each deal. In other words, when all the players have played all of the cards that they held, they have just finished playing a "hand"; i.e. "That hand was fun wasn't it?"

high card The card that wins the trick. This is the highest-rated card of the 4 cards that make up a particular trick.

length Refers to how many cards you have in a suit. A long suit is one which has more than 4 cards in it.

rubber When one side has won 2 games, they are said to have won the rubber. When you've finished a rubber, this is a good time to have some tea and sandwiches.

side Because you play partners, you have 2 sides. Traditionally the 2 sides are referred to as "we" and "they". Pretty simple isn't it?

strength Refers to how many high/winning cards your hand contains (i.e. lots of aces and/or kings is very strong).

trick When each player has put a card on the table, the group of cards (4 in the case of bridge) is called a trick. The highest card takes the trick.

trump card A card which belongs to a trump suit. A trump suit will win over any other suit.

void No cards. For example, if your hand doesn't have any diamonds, you have a void in diamonds.

O.K. You are now ready to go to Lesson 2.1!

Page created and maintained by A. Steinbergs. Last revised April19, 2001.

board	The table on which you are playing.
book	The first 6 tricks which you win, if you have won the bid. For example: if you bid 2H, when you have won 6 of the 8 tricks you contracted to win, someone may say: "Great! You've got your book now."
dummy	The hand which is laid down on the "board" (table) for all players to see. It is played by the person who first bid the contract suit.
face card	An ace, king, queen, or jack.
game	When any side has gained a 100 points, they are said to have reached "game". More about this in the lesson on scoring.
hand	When all the cards have been dealt out, each player holds a handful of cards. This is referred to as your "hand"; i.e. "Did you get a good hand?" The term "hand" can also be used to refer to each deal. In other words, when all the players have played all of the cards that they held, they have just finished playing a "hand"; i.e. "That hand was fun wasn't it?"
high card	The card that wins the trick. This is the highest-rated card of the 4 cards that make up a particular trick.
length	Refers to how many cards you have in a suit. A long suit is one which has more than 4 cards in it.
rubber	When one side has won 2 games, they are said to have won the rubber. When you've finished a rubber, this is a good time to have some tea and sandwiches.
side	Because you play partners, you have 2 sides. Traditionally the 2 sides are referred to as "we" and "they". Pretty simple isn't it?
strength	Refers to how many high/winning cards your hand contains (i.e. lots of aces and/or kings is very strong).
trick	When each player has put a card on the table, the group of cards (4 in the case of bridge) is called a trick. The highest card takes the trick.
trump card	A card which belongs to a trump suit. A trump suit will win over any other suit.
void	No cards. For example, if your hand doesn't have any diamonds, you have a void in diamonds.