If anyone would like to play Bridge I think we could have a really fun time of it.
Bridge is a 4 player game of 2 partnerships. A full game is roughly 15-20 minutes.
Mark availability (I am "zen") and maybe we can choose our partners before we play:
https://www.when2meet.com/?37383019-UXRah
Please reply if you sign up here!
Tl;DR: each partnership takes turns bidding how many tricks they can win from 7/13 until 13/13, optionally bidding on a trump suit. Then regular trick-taking play follows as such:
When a trick opens, have to follow suit if possible. High card wins the trick. If you can't follow suit, and there is a trump (special suit), and you play a trump card, highest trump wins. Trick winner leads next trick. Tricks continue until all cards are consumed, then the round is scored.
A unique aspect of bridge: the team that wins the bid becomes the attacking team. The member of the partnership that won the bid , who did not place the bid, becomes the "dummy" -- his hand is placed face up on the table for all to see, with the member of the partnership who placed the bid controlling his hand.
The two defenders try to block the attacker team from winning but cannot see each others hands or discuss what their hands are like.
The most complicated part of the game is the bidding but it's also pretty easy to understand when you actually play. I'll try to overexplain it but learning from playing, proper websites, or youtube will help you a lot more:
The trick is not overbidding because the penalties are quite severe. When in doubt, just pass.bidding 101 wrote:If the attackers make or exceed their bid, they get "game points". Reaching 100 game points wins a game, which increases bonuses and penalties. Game points reset after a game is won. Winning two games finishes the bridge match and brings a huge bonus. After that, bonuses are summed.
Game points are proportional to bid: bidding "1" (6+1 /13) is worth 20 (clubs/diamonds) or 30 (hearts/spades) or 40 ("notrump") game points; bidding "2" (6+2 / 13) is worth 40 or 60 or 70 game points; bidding "3" is worth 60 or 90 or 100 game points; bidding "4" is worth 80 or 120 or 130 game points... going over your bid (eg, you predict you'll get 8 tricks but win 10) gives you bonus points but does not increase game score past your bid.
Another way to explain it: if you have a bunch of strong cards and hearts, bid "1 heart" (7/13 tricks with heart as trump). If your partner also has strong cards and hearts he should answer "2 heart" to communicate that he is in a similar boat. If you have a bunch of strong cards and clubs, bid "1 club" (7/13 tricks) and if your partner has a bunch of strong cards and hearts, he can answer "1 hearts" and you can respond with "pass" or "2 hearts" if you also have a good number of hearts.
If you have a lot of strong cards all around, you should bid "1 NT" to signal you have an overall collection of strong cards and your partner can answer with a pass or "2" of a suit they hold a lot of cards in, knowing your hand will help them beat tricks in the other suits.
If the attackers fail to make their bid, no one scores any game points, but the defenders win a bunch of bonus points, scaling with how many tricks the attackers failed to secure.
Deal rotates clockwise after a hand, with dealer opening bidding. you can pass instead of increasing stakes.
Part of what makes Bridge such an enduring game, aside from the fun of fighting over tricks, is that partners can develop secret codes together, both when in the auction mode between hands, and when defending together. Although cards are distributed randomly and the only form of communication permitted is in-game actions (placing bids, playing specific cards) the team that is better at intuiting the hands of others and hinting via in-game actions will consistently beat the other team.
WALL OF TEXT OVER
The actual gameplay itself is quite simple and you'll understand how to play within about 3 minutes of playing. Don't let the wall of text scare you. Metagame thinking, statistical analysis, memory, and skill in reading other people is what turns it from a game of luck to a game of skill. This is why Bridge is recognized by the Olympics as a mind sport.
