Learn to Play Bridge the Easy Way: Lesson3.html

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.

Now that you have the basics of what the bid names mean, let's move on to Lesson 3.2.

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:

Hand: S: 8 7 2 H: 8 5 C: A K 10 D: Q J 9 8 4

Points in each suit: 0 0 7 3

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:

Total number of points in your hand:	How the cards are distributed:	What your opening bid is:
10 or less	evenly	PASS
10 or less	one single suit has 8 or more cards	3 of the long suit
13 or more	evenly or unevely	1 of your longest suit
16 - 18	evenly	1NT
22 or more	unevenly	2 of your longest suit
24 or more	evenly	2NT

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:

What your partner opened	Total no. of points in your hand	How the cards are distributed	Your response
1 of a suit or 1NT	5 or less		PASS
1 of a suit	6 - 9	evenly	1NT, but PASS on the next round of bidding
1 of a suit	6 - 9	unevenly	1 of your longest suit; 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
1 of a suit	10 - 13	evenly	1NT; on the next round bid 2 of your longest suit
1 of a suit	10 - 13	unevenly	1 of your longest suit; 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
1 of a suit	14 or more	evenly	2NT; unless you are a real coward, try to end up at 3NT, 4H or 4S.
1 of a suit	14 or more	unevenly	3 of your longest suit; unless you are a real coward, try to end up at 3NT, 4H or 4S.
1NT	6 - 9	evenly or unevenly	PASS
1NT	10 - 13	evenly	2NT
1NT	10 - 13	unevenly	2 of your longest suit
1NT	14 or more	evenly	3NT (but make sure you have at least one face card in each suit)
1NT	14 or more	unevenly	3 of your longest suit; unless you are a real coward, try to end up at 3NT, 4H or 4S
3 of a suit	13 or less		PASS
3 of a suit	14 or more		3 or 4 of your longest suit

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:

What your partner opened	Total no. of points in your hand	How the cards are distributed	Your response
2 of a suit	0 - 13	evenly	2NT
2 of a suit	0 - 13	unevenly	2 of your longest suit (but: you may have to bid 3, because of suit ranking)
2 of a suit	14 or more	evenly	3NT
2 of a suit	14 or more	unevenly	3 or 4 of your longest suit
2NT	0 - 13	evenly	3NT
2NT	0 - 13	unevenly	3 of your longest suit
2NT	14 or more	evenly	4NT
2NT	14 or more	unevenly	3 or 4 of your longest suit

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.

Unless you have a very, very good reason not to, always bid your longest suit first.

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? Let me give you an example. Say that (your opponent) East has opened 1H. You are South, you have 15 points, and your hearts look like this: Q J 9 8 5

Rather than bidding 2H, which would raise the bidding very quickly, you may decide to say: "Double!". Normally, this bid tells your partner that you, also, have very good hearts.

(Why is this bid called "Double" instead of "Me too"? If your opponents persist, 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?)

"Double" is typically used when you think your opponents have overreached themselves in their bidding, and you think they will probably not make their contract.

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 to Lesson 4.1. Enjoy!

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

Hand:	S: 8 7 2	H: 8 5	C: A K 10	D: Q J 9 8 4
Points in each suit:	0	0	7	3