A 4 player trick-taking card game where opposing partners try to either take the number of tricks they bid or prevent their opponents from doing so.
29
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8answers
1k views
Why is the strong 1NT so prevalent in Bridge?
Bridge is widely considered to be the queen of card games on both sides of the Atlantic. However, there's one huge difference between the way that (most) Americans and (most) Britons play. In ...
15
votes
5answers
752 views
Is bidding in contract bridge just a matter of applying a set of rules?
Some years ago I tried to learn to play contract bridge with some friends and I never really understood the philosophy (for want of a better word) of bidding. It seemed as if we just had to learn a ...
12
votes
3answers
622 views
Why are beginning to intermediate bridge players told to delay learning how to bid certain types of unusual hands?
When learning modern bidding (Standard American 5 card majors in my case), I noticed that the system's bidding techniques and common conventions described good ways of getting to a reasonable contract ...
12
votes
2answers
139 views
Hesitating as bluff
The contracting player leads a trump. As the next player I make an obvious hesitation before playing my singleton 10 of trumps. At the end of the hand my opponent, who did not call the director, ...
11
votes
3answers
952 views
Why is there a bonus for holding honors in bridge? Isn't having 4-5 of the highest trumps privileges enough?
After I read about honors in bridge, I quickly started wondering why they were added to the scoring system. Its obviously a privilege to be holding the cards required, so I can see why the scoring ...
10
votes
2answers
324 views
9
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3answers
422 views
Response to “convenient” minor bid.
My partner opened 1 Club. I held Spade J732, Diamond Axxxx, Club QJxx, Heart VOID. She was upset that I bid two clubs rather than 1 Spade. I did not think the Spade suit was good enough to bid. What ...
9
votes
2answers
182 views
In Bridge Play, What is Meant by “Combining Your Chances?”
I was in a NT contract. After the initial rounds of play, the last few (visible) cards were something like these in two suits (call them spades and hearts):
dummy:
spades KJx
Hearts xxx
Me:
Spades ...
9
votes
2answers
120 views
Can't understand the meaning of 'heart finesse'
What does the phrase heart finesse mean? It appears to be a card term:
http://www.confsudbridge.org/hits/brbm0014i.aspx
Think about it a little: if the heart finesse was necessary to the
...
8
votes
5answers
702 views
When will playing Rubber Bridge vs. Duplicate Bridge affect your decisions?
In Rubber Bridge, you are trying to get more points than your opponents. In Duplicate Bridge, you are trying to get more points than the other people playing the same hand later on do. For a while I ...
8
votes
2answers
114 views
Question on ethics or rules
I would very much like to know the correct ethical procedure for the following play. Hearts are trump.
West led a small club
North played a small club
East played a small spade
I as South played a ...
8
votes
2answers
154 views
In bridge, what are some exceptions to “second hand low?”
Most beginners are taught to play "second hand low." That is, play a low card if one is led to them, to give the partner a chance to take the trick. This is particularly to avoid situations where ...
8
votes
2answers
275 views
What is the Purpose of a “Ducking” Play In Bridge?
Sometimes I will have Axx in a key suit, opposite dummy's holdings of Kxxxx. In such situations, I was taught to make a "ducking" play by playing a low card from both sides, instead of playing an A or ...
8
votes
2answers
284 views
Bridge - Counting and Visualising
Been playing Bridge for a couple of years now. Have improved in bidding, strategy and other stuff. But one place where there is no improvement is counting and visualising.
At best, I can keep track ...
8
votes
2answers
326 views
Online resources for learning/practicing bridge
Are there any good online resources to learn the game. By learn, I mean learn attain the knowledge that one would by buying/reading a good book.
For example, are there any "puzzles" that are well ...
8
votes
1answer
293 views
Is there a good casual online place to practice/learn bridge?
I know that Pogo.com (which powers Yahoo Games) has a long running online bridge game and that there are a handful of places for serious tournament/MasterPoint level bridge players online (though most ...
7
votes
8answers
969 views
Getting started with trick-taking games (whist, euchre, bridge, pinochle, etc.) [closed]
I've heard there are a lot of different trick-taking games out there, such as whist, bridge, euchre, pinochle, oh hell, hearts etc. I've heard a lot of good things about these games, but have very ...
7
votes
3answers
331 views
In Bridge, Which Forms of Deception Are Ethical? Does This Include “Moodying?”
Playing in a casual game of bridge, holding JTx of trumps, I "falsecarded" on the second trump lead with the J. Believing that he had drawn them, declarer stopped leading trumps. Later, I trumped one ...
7
votes
4answers
660 views
What happens when a deal is passed out in Duplicate Bridge Tournaments?
I understand how duplicate bridge works, but I'm still missing one small conceptual part of the scoring, being the outcome when a deal is passed out. Is the score for that hand just assumed to be 0 ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views
Do good bridge players memorize all cards played?
Certainly, they track the quantity of each suit and the high value cards, but I'm curious if good bridge players also remember, say, whether someone ducked the ace using a 7 of spades vs a 6 of ...
7
votes
3answers
222 views
What is the purpose of “underruffing” in bridge?
Sometimes declarer will lead a long suit from one hand, for a "ruffing finesse" in order to ruff with a void in the other. If the intervening opponent ruffs with say, the 9, the declarer might ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the penalty for failing to follow suit?
Assume the mistake is unintentional, what course of action should be taken when this occurs and is discovered?
If the person discovers themselves that they earlier made the mistake, is the penalty ...
7
votes
3answers
562 views
Is it better to learn to play bridge by reading about it, or just playing?
I'm an avid card player, and I have a particular love for trick-taking games (above all, Hearts and Spades). I've wanted to learn to play bridge for a long time, and I've bought two different books on ...
7
votes
2answers
119 views
Can one ask for a “time out” to study the hand in bridge?
"West" (the opening leader) has to lead before seeing the dummy. Both declarer (South) and partner (East) ought to study the dummy before playing. But often they do not.
Suppose South wins the trick, ...
7
votes
4answers
347 views
Making 6H (declarer: 54, AKQJTx, -, 98765)
Apparently 6H (small slam with hearts as trump) can be made on this hand, irrespective of the distribution of opposing cards.
How?
You are south (holding 54, AKQJTx, -, 98765) . Dummy is north, the ...
7
votes
1answer
213 views
In Bridge, Does It Make Sense to Pre-empt in Fourth Seat?
In one of my games, there were three passes. Fourth seat elected to "pre-empt," three hearts with something like the following:
♠xx ♥KQJxxxx ♦Jxx ♣x
One of the opponents doubled (for penalties), ...
6
votes
3answers
171 views
In bridge, can “good” players get away with bidding “light”?
The conventional wisdom is that it takes 26 points to make a game. But authors such as Terence Reese have written compendiums of how they made games with 23-25 points by "outplaying" the defense; ...
6
votes
2answers
128 views
In bridge, how can you “see” (locate) most of 52 cards halfway into the play?
Author Terence Reese wrote that the difference between amateurs and professional was that the former could "see" (locate) only 26 cards, while professionals could "see" 52 before the hand was over. ...
6
votes
4answers
157 views
How can I practice my opening leads in bridge?
After playing bridge for several months, I feel my declarer play and bidding have improved to a beginner-intermediate level. However, I think my skill at making an opening lead is that of a novice at ...
6
votes
2answers
106 views
Doubleton Negating High-Card Points
I play bridge casually and mostly have learned from other players (and occasionally from online resources). While playing recently another player suggested that I was counting my hand's points ...
6
votes
1answer
146 views
Is it legitimate/ethical to treat the same bid from different people in different ways?
I play in a bridge "round robin" using Chicago scoring, with three other people. Call them, A, B, and C, with three different styles.
A will open, say one spade with as few as ten high card points ...
6
votes
2answers
171 views
How do you find not-quite-club level human opponents to regularly play bridge with?
What's a good way to to go about finding human bridge players (kids or adults) that is less intense than what you find at duplicate bridge clubs, but more competitive and learning oriented than ...
6
votes
3answers
85 views
What is the point in disclosure of the bidding system to opponents?
I fully understand and agree with the rule "do not communicate in illegal ways" (pose, tone of voice, etc), but I don't quite understand the point in requiring the disclosure of one's bidding system ...
6
votes
1answer
172 views
How do I Detect/Defend Against an Endplay In Bridge?
When I see declarer draw trumps, and then start to "eliminate" (ruff out) one or more plain suits, my biggest fear as a defender is of an end play. That is, the declarer will put me on lead because ...
5
votes
4answers
759 views
In Bridge, Why Do People Use “Transfer Bids” Over 1 NT?
Over 1NT, some people bid two diamonds to say they have five hearts, and two hearts to say they have five spades. The 1NT person bids the desired suit, completing the transfer.
Apparently the idea is ...
5
votes
2answers
203 views
In bridge, what are the proper followups to a Jacoby transfer?
In bridge, over a 1 NT opening, a responder might bid 2D with five hearts asking the opener to "transfer" to 2H, or bid 2H with five spades, asking for a transfer to 2S. The idea is to try to find an ...
5
votes
5answers
162 views
What are some good introductory rules to bridge?
I've tried to learn how to play bridge before, but there are so many variations (even on the Wikipedia page) that it's hard to keep track of everything and pin down exactly one way of playing it that ...
5
votes
4answers
828 views
What Crazy Bridge Bidding Systems Actually Work In Practice?
There's been a lot of talk about bridge bidding in these parts lately. A lot of people like to play "straight down the line", to the point where they're mortally offended when you suggest something ...
5
votes
1answer
200 views
In Bridge, What Is “Playing the Card You Are Known to Hold?”
If you're a declarer, and West leads the queen of spades, with dummy showing the Kx of the suit, while you have Axx in the closed hand, you might take the trick with the K from the dummy, thereby not ...
5
votes
3answers
255 views
In contract bridge, what are bonus points for?
I am a beginner and could not find out the application or the use of those bonus points above the line in contract(rubber) bridge. If the winner in a contract bridge is the pair that first achieves 2 ...
5
votes
2answers
212 views
In Bridge, Is “ruffing” a good enough reason to postpone drawing trumps?
Most bridge teachers (and books) teach players to draw trumps at the first possible opportunity. The reason is that you don't want your opponents to take tricks with low trumps. (If they have the A, ...
5
votes
1answer
202 views
What is “Playing For Top or Bottom” In Bridge?
Apparently it relates to duplicate bridge. Initially, I thought it meant playing the hand in a risky way to score overtricks, and taking the chance of sacrificing a potential game. But then someone ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
What Are The Key Features Of The “Fantunes” Bidding System?
Zia Mahmood's Bridge column for the Guardian newspaper today tells of two players with world titles to their names, Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes, who apparently have an intriguing bidding system:
...
5
votes
2answers
131 views
In Bridge, what is the punishment for misclaiming tricks?
Down to the last two rounds in rubber bridge. Declarer claims remaining tricks only to discover that he has miscounted. He claims the two tricks with Q-10; however, opponent holds the J and ...
4
votes
5answers
630 views
How should hands that are EXTREMELY strong in one suit (10+ cards) be bid?
I'm a bit of a bridge noob, but I'm kind of puzzled about this. Say I have a hand that is ridiculously strong in one suit, say at least 10 cards with all 4 honors (I'll use spades for the example ...
4
votes
5answers
109 views
Simplest bidding system for introduction into bridge
What is the best bidding system which can be used for teaching beginners (who never played bridge before)?
I suspect that showing any complicated system, or asking to learn some long manual would ...
4
votes
3answers
348 views
In Bridge, Can I Ask About Previously Played Cards to the Current Trick?
In Bridge, one is allowed to look at the four cards played to the last trick (if the next round hasn't started).
Can I similarly ask about cards played to the current trick?
I was sitting at East, ...
4
votes
4answers
207 views
In bridge, are there some 13 point hands that should not be opened?
Suppose you have: (s) Jx (h)KQxx (d) KJxx (c) Kxx.
That's 13 points, by the usual count. But I can think of at least two things wrong with it.
First, there are no aces, meaning that the hand has ...
4
votes
3answers
200 views
What Is a “Reverse” In Bridge?
Partner opened one diamond. I responded 1 NT with the following hand.
♠Txxx ♥Axx ♦Txxx ♣Ax
Partner then rebid two spades. I raised to four spades, reading my partner for 17 points or so. We went ...
4
votes
2answers
290 views
In Bridge, When and Why Do People Sacrifice Overtricks to Be Sure of Making Game?
Most players I've seen will often sacrifice potential overtricks in "rubber" bridge to be sure of making game. Apparently, that's not the case in "duplicate." Why is that?
