An Overview of Contract Bridge

Welcome to bridge! If you enjoy a puzzle, a bit of friendly competition and good company, you’re in the right place.

Contract bridge, usually just called bridge, is a card game for four people playing as two partnerships. It is played all over the world, and in Australia about 32,000 registered players belong to more than 330 clubs affiliated with the Australian Bridge Federation (ABF).

Bridge has a reputation for being the hardest card game to master, but don’t let that put you off. The basic rules are simple and most people can learn them in an afternoon. After that, every hand is a new puzzle, and that’s what keeps players coming back for decades. It mixes a little luck with a lot of skill, memory, logic and teamwork, and it’s a great workout for the mind.

Above all, bridge is fun, and it’s a social game. You can play it face to face at a club, or online from home on a range of platforms. Both are worthwhile, but bridge is at its best when you’re sitting at a real table with real people.

This lesson is a tour of the whole game. Don’t try to remember everything on your first read. Later lessons cover each part in detail, and you’ll pick most of it up simply by playing.

A game of bridge in progress, with dummy's cards face up on the table — A hand being played. The cards laid out face up belong to “dummy”. (Image: Wikimedia Commons, Bridge-Großschlemm.JPG)

Why play bridge?

It’s a social game. You’ll most likely settle on a regular partner to play with, but a club session puts you at a table with different opponents every round. Bridge players tend to be curious, sharp and friendly people who enjoy a challenge, and many lifelong friendships start across a bridge table.
It’s never the same twice. There are more possible bridge deals than grains of sand on Earth, so you’ll never run out of new problems to solve.
It keeps your mind active. Counting, planning, remembering and reading the other players all get a regular workout.
You can play anywhere. There are clubs in most towns and suburbs, and you can also play online at any hour of the day.
Anyone can play. Bridge is played by people of all ages and backgrounds, and beginners are always welcome.

1. The game at a glance

Players	4, in two partnerships of 2
Cards	A standard 52-card deck, no jokers
Cards each	13
Seats	North, South, East and West. Partners sit opposite each other
The three stages	The auction (bidding), the play (13 tricks), then the score
The aim	Win the number of tricks your side promised in the auction, or stop the other side from winning the number they promised

Every hand follows the same pattern:

Deal. Each player gets 13 cards.
Auction. Players take turns to bid. The auction decides which side will try to win tricks, how many tricks it must win, and which suit (if any) will be trumps. The final bid is the contract.
Play. Thirteen tricks are played. One side tries to make the contract and the other side tries to stop them.
Score. Points go to the side that made its contract or to the side that defeated it.

2. Partners and seats

The four players are named after the points of the compass. North and South are partners, and so are East and West. Partners sit opposite each other, so you never sit next to your partner.

Diagram of a bridge table showing North, East, South and West — The bridge table. North–South play against East–West. (Image: Wikimedia Commons, Bridge_table.png)

Partners win or lose together. You can’t see your partner’s cards and you can’t talk about them. You “talk” only through the bids you make and the cards you play. Learning that language is a big part of learning bridge.

Most players end up with a regular partner, because the better you know each other’s style, the better you play together. Don’t worry if you don’t have one yet. Clubs are good at matching up players, and your beginner class is a great place to find someone to learn alongside.

Play always moves clockwise: North, East, South, West.

3. The cards

Ranking of cards

Within each suit the cards rank from highest to lowest:

A (Ace), K (King), Q (Queen), J (Jack), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2

The Ace is always the highest card in its suit.

Ranking of suits

In the auction the suits have a fixed order, from lowest to highest:

Rank	Suit	Type
1 (lowest)	♣ Clubs	Minor suit
2	♦ Diamonds	Minor suit
3	♥ Hearts	Major suit
4	♠ Spades	Major suit
5 (highest)	NT, No Trumps	Not a suit. It means “no trump suit”

A handy memory aid is that the suits run in alphabetical order: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades.

Hearts and spades are the major suits and score more than clubs and diamonds, the minor suits. That’s why players are usually keen to find a fit in a major suit.

Honour cards and high card points

The Ace, King, Queen and Jack are the honours. To judge how strong a hand is, players count High Card Points (HCP):

Card	Points
Ace	4
King	3
Queen	2
Jack	1
10 down to 2	0

There are 10 points in each suit, so 40 in the whole pack. An average hand holds 10 points. Many players also add a point or two for long suits.

As a rough guide used by most beginner systems:

12–13 or more HCP: usually enough to open the bidding.
About 25–26 HCP between the partnership: usually enough for a game contract.
About 33 or more HCP between the partnership: usually enough for a small slam.

4. Tricks

A trick is one card from each player, played in clockwise order.

Four overlapping playing cards, as in a trick — A trick is four cards, one from each player. (Image: Wikimedia Commons, Four_overlapping_playing_cards.jpg)

The rules of a trick:

One player leads, which means playing the first card.
Each other player must follow suit, playing a card of the same suit as the lead, if they can.
If you can’t follow suit, you may play any card: either a trump or a discard of another suit.
The trick is won by the highest trump played. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.
Whoever wins a trick leads to the next one.

There are always 13 tricks in a hand, because each player has 13 cards.

Revoke. Failing to follow suit when you could have is called a revoke. It is against the Laws and may cost your side tricks. If you notice your own mistake, say so straight away and the Director will sort it out.

What are trumps?

The auction can make one suit trumps. A trump beats any card of the other three suits, even an Ace. You can play a trump only when you can’t follow suit (or when trumps are led). If the contract is in No Trumps, there’s no trump suit and the highest card of the suit led always wins.

5. The auction (bidding)

The auction decides the contract. The dealer speaks first, and then each player in turn, going clockwise, makes a call.

What a bid means

A bid has two parts: a number from 1 to 7 and a suit (or No Trumps).

The number is how many tricks above six your side promises to win. The first six tricks are called the book, so you add 6 to the number:

Bid	Tricks needed
1♠	6 + 1 = 7
2♥	6 + 2 = 8
3NT	6 + 3 = 9
4♠	6 + 4 = 10
5♦	6 + 5 = 11
6♣	6 + 6 = 12 (a small slam)
7NT	6 + 7 = 13 (a grand slam)

The calls you can make

A bid, such as 1♥. Each bid must be higher than the last one, either a higher number or the same number in a higher-ranking suit. For example, 1♠ can follow 1♥, but 1♦ can’t. After 1♠ you must bid at the 2 level or higher.
Pass. You don’t want to bid this turn. Passing once doesn’t stop you from bidding later.
Double. You may double an opponent’s bid. It means “I don’t think you can make that”. It raises the score for both sides, so they gain more if they make it and lose more if they fail.
Redouble. After an opponent has doubled your side’s bid, you may redouble. It means “Yes we can” and raises the stakes again.

How the auction ends

The auction ends when three players in a row pass after a bid. The last bid becomes the contract. If all four players pass at their first turn, the hand is passed out and no one scores.

Bidding is a conversation

The main purpose of bidding is to exchange information with your partner. You tell each other how strong your hands are and which suits you hold, so that together you can choose the best contract.

The set of agreements a partnership uses is its bidding system. Systems differ around the world. Standard American is common in North America, and Acol is traditional in the UK.

The Bridge Centre teaches Standard American, based on the Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC). It’s simple, natural and played everywhere online, so you can practise between lessons. Its main features are:

Five-card majors. An opening bid of 1♥ or 1♠ promises at least five cards in that suit.
1NT shows a balanced hand of 15–17 HCP.
2♣ is the opening bid for very strong hands.

You’ll learn the details step by step in the six-week beginner course. If you play with a new partner, agree on your system before you start.

How bidding works at an Australian club

At most clubs and every congress, you don’t speak your bids aloud. You use a bidding box and place a card on the table showing your call. Some events use written bidding slips instead.

A bidding box with cards for each bid, pass, double and redouble — A bidding box. Each card shows one bid, so the auction is silent and everyone can see it. (Image: Wikimedia Commons, Bidding_box.png)

Some calls must be alerted to the opponents, because they mean something they might not expect. Your teacher will cover alerts in a later lesson.

An example auction

West	North	East	South
			1♥
Pass	3♥	Pass	4♥
Pass	Pass	Pass

South opened 1♥ and North showed support with 3♥. South then bid game in hearts. The contract is 4♥ and North–South must win 10 tricks with hearts as trumps.

6. Declarer, dummy and the defenders

When the auction ends, each player takes on a role:

Declarer. Of the two players on the side that won the contract, the declarer is the one who first bid the suit (or No Trumps) of the final contract. In the example above, South bid hearts first, so South is declarer.
Dummy. Declarer’s partner. In the example, that’s North.
The defenders. The other two players, whose job is to stop declarer from making the contract.

The play begins

The defender on declarer’s left makes the opening lead, placing the first card face up on the table.
Only then does dummy lay their whole hand face up on the table, sorted into suits with trumps on dummy’s right.
From then on, declarer plays both hands: their own and dummy’s. Dummy takes no further part in the play and must not make suggestions.

Seeing dummy’s 13 cards is what makes bridge so interesting. Everyone can see half of declarer’s side, and both sides use that information to plan.

7. Scoring

Scoring can look complicated, but the main idea is simple:

If declarer makes the contract, their side scores points.
If declarer fails, the defenders score points for each trick declarer was short. These are called undertricks.

Extra tricks beyond the contract are overtricks and earn a little more.

Points for each trick in the contract

Only tricks above the book of six count.

Contract in…	Points per trick
♣ Clubs or ♦ Diamonds (minors)	20
♥ Hearts or ♠ Spades (majors)	30
No Trumps	40 for the first trick, then 30 for each one after

Game, part-score and slam

If the trick points in your contract add up to 100 or more, you have bid a game. The usual game contracts are:

Game contract	Tricks needed	Trick points
3NT	9	40 + 30 + 30 = 100
4♥ or 4♠	10	4 × 30 = 120
5♣ or 5♦	11	5 × 20 = 100

A contract below game is a part-score. Bidding and making 12 tricks is a small slam, and all 13 tricks is a grand slam. Both earn large bonuses.

Vulnerability

A side may be vulnerable or not vulnerable. When vulnerable, bonuses for making a game or slam are larger, and so are the penalties for failing. At club duplicate, the vulnerability for each deal is printed on the board.

Duplicate bonuses

	Not vulnerable	Vulnerable
Making a part-score	+50	+50
Making a game	+300	+500
Making a small slam (on top of the game bonus)	+500	+750
Making a grand slam (on top of the game bonus)	+1000	+1500
Each undertrick (contract not doubled)	50	100

Example. You bid 4♠ not vulnerable and win 10 tricks. You score 120 (trick points) + 300 (game bonus) = 420.

Doubled and redoubled contracts score more in both directions. You don’t need to memorise the scoring to start playing, because electronic scorers such as Bridgemate at the table work it out for you.

8. Two ways to play: rubber and duplicate

Rubber bridge

Rubber bridge is the casual game played at home. Each hand is freshly dealt and scores add up until one side wins two games, which completes a rubber. Good cards matter a lot, so luck plays a big part.

Duplicate bridge

Duplicate bridge is the form played at clubs and tournaments in Australia, and it is what The Bridge Centre teaches. Each deal is kept in a board, a tray with four pockets, so that the same cards are replayed at every table.

Your score is compared with the scores of everyone else who held the same cards. If you hold bad cards, you can still win the board by doing better with them than the other pairs did. This takes out most of the luck of the deal and rewards skill.

There are two main ways to compare scores: - Matchpoints (pairs events). You earn points for each pair you beat on the same board. Every board counts the same. - IMPs (teams events). The size of the difference is converted into International Match Points.

The Bridge Centre covers pairs and teams in more detail in a later lesson.

9. Where to play: face to face and online

Face to face at a club

This is bridge as it’s meant to be played, and it’s where you’ll get the most out of the game. At a club session you sit at a real table, shuffle real cards (or take them from a board), use a bidding box, and play against a new pair of opponents every few boards.

Playing in person gives you things a screen can’t:

The people. You’ll chat between rounds, share a cup of tea afterwards, and get to know a whole community of people who enjoy the same challenge you do.
Learning from others. It’s normal to talk over an interesting hand with your partner and opponents once it’s finished. Experienced players are usually happy to share a tip, and that’s one of the fastest ways to improve.
Help when you need it. A Director is on hand to sort out any mistakes, and beginner and supervised sessions have teachers in the room to answer questions as you play.
Table manners and the Laws. Things like using a bidding box, putting dummy down and calling the Director are much easier to learn by doing them in person.

We strongly encourage every new player to play face to face as often as they can, especially while learning. Even if you also play online, make the club your home base.

Online

Bridge also has a big online scene, which is handy when you can’t get to the club, want extra practice, or feel like a few hands late at night. Popular platforms include:

Bridge Base Online (BBO). The largest online bridge site. You can play casual games, practise against robots, watch top players, and join online club games.
RealBridge. Used by many Australian clubs and by the ABF for online events. It has video and audio, so you can see and talk to the people at your table, which is the closest thing online to a real club session.
Funbridge and other apps. Play against computer opponents on your phone or tablet, at your own pace.

Online play is a great supplement to the club, especially for practising bidding and card play between lessons. But it’s a different experience. You miss the conversation, the friendships and the feel of a real table, so we recommend using it as well as face-to-face bridge, not instead of it.

10. A short history

Whist. Bridge grew out of whist, a trick-taking game popular in Britain from the 1700s.
“Biritch, or Russian Whist” (1886). This pamphlet is the earliest known description of a bridge-like game.
Auction bridge (about 1904). Players began bidding for the right to choose trumps.
Contract bridge (1925). The American Harold Stirling Vanderbilt changed the scoring so that only tricks you contracted for count towards game. That made the bidding far more important and gave us the modern game.
Since then bridge has become a worldwide game. It is governed internationally by the World Bridge Federation and in Australia by the Australian Bridge Federation.

Cover of "Biritch, or Russian Whist" by John Collinson, 1886 — The 1886 pamphlet “Biritch, or Russian Whist”. (Image: Wikimedia Commons, Biritch, or Russian Whist by John Collinson 1886.png)

11. Words you will hear at the table

Term	Meaning
Auction	The bidding stage, which decides the contract
Board	A tray holding one pre-dealt hand in duplicate
Book	The first six tricks, which don’t count towards the contract
Call	Any bid, pass, double or redouble
Contract	The final bid. It sets the number of tricks to win and the trump suit
Declarer	The player who plays both their own hand and dummy’s
Defenders	The two players trying to defeat the contract
Director	The official who runs the session and rules on irregularities. Call “Director, please” if something goes wrong
Dummy	Declarer’s partner, whose cards are laid face up
Fit	Eight or more cards in one suit between you and your partner, which makes a good trump suit
Game	A contract worth 100 or more trick points (3NT, 4♥, 4♠, 5♣ or 5♦)
HCP	High Card Points: A = 4, K = 3, Q = 2, J = 1
Lead	The first card played to a trick
Major / Minor	Hearts and spades are majors. Clubs and diamonds are minors
No Trumps (NT)	A contract with no trump suit
Opening bid	The first bid of the auction
Overtrick	A trick won beyond the number contracted for
Part-score	A contract below game
Revoke	Failing to follow suit when you could have
Slam	A contract for 12 tricks (small slam) or 13 tricks (grand slam)
Trick	Four cards, one from each player
Trumps	The suit chosen in the auction that beats all other suits
Undertrick	Each trick by which declarer falls short of the contract
Vulnerable	A state in which bonuses and penalties are larger

12. What next?

Come and play in person. Find a club near you on our Find somewhere to play page. Most clubs run beginner lessons and supervised play, and they’ll make you very welcome. Turning up to the club is the single best thing you can do to learn the game and enjoy it.
Find a partner. Team up with someone from your class, or ask the club to help match you with a partner. Playing regularly with the same person helps you both improve faster.
Learn the club’s bidding system. Each lesson builds on the last.
Play little and often. Supervised sessions are the friendliest way to practise. Between sessions, a few hands online on BBO, RealBridge or Funbridge can help things sink in.
Don’t worry about mistakes. Everyone revokes and misbids when starting out, and experienced players were beginners once.
Enjoy the company. Stay for a chat after the session. The people you meet are a big part of what makes bridge so rewarding.