Card Games E-Book

Tim Ander

• Herausgeber: CRB Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Here’s How You Can Spend Your Rainy Afternoons & Midsummer Nights Playing Card Games With Your Friends! Looking for a fun and engaging way to spend quality time with your kids or friends? Want to learn how to play some of the most popular Card Games? We’ve got exactly what you need! Introducing The Ultimate Card Games Bundle – The #1 All-Inclusive Guide To The 10 Most Popular Party Card Games! Sick and tired of play charades all the time? Need another way to spend your summer nights or winter afternoons? Now you can easily and quickly learn the rules and strategies of some of the most popular and thrilling Card Games and spend endless hours of fun with your friends! 10 Different Card Game Guides For The Price Of One! By the end of this incredible card game multi-guide, you will be able to play: • Bridge • Canasta • Cribbage • Euchre • Hearts • Pinochle • Rummy • Solitaire • Spades • Whist And That’s Not All! Author Tim Ander, has included everything you might need for a fun night of cards in this all-in-one card game guide. Learn everything from rules, terminology, tips, variations, beginner’s strategies and winning strategies for ALL 10 games! Save Your Precious Time & Effort While Mastering Ultra-Fun Card Games! If you have ever tried learning the rules of card game online, then you already know how frustrating it is to constantly pause the video, write down notes and trying to figure out how to play the game. Well, the good news is that NOW YOU DON’T HAVE TO! This practical and easy-to-follow guide will offer you the opportunity to quickly and easily learn the fundamentals of each card game, understand its strategies and spend hours of fun playing with your friends or loved ones! What Are You Waiting For? Click “Buy Now” & Start Organizing Your Next Game Night!

Leseprobe

CARD GAMES

A Beginner’s Guide To The Most Popular Card Games

for 1-8 players

Tim Ander

Copyright © 2018 by Tim Ander.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission requests, please contact the publisher.

Table of Contents

Bridge

Introduction

How to Play

Basic Strategies

Conclusion

Game origin and history

How to Play Canasta: Rules

The Opening Meld: Details

Tips

American Canasta (Modern Version)

Two Players Canasta

Conclusion

Canasta

Introduction

How To Play

Beginner Strategies

The Discard

Cribbage With 3 Or More Players

Bonus: Captain’s Cribbage

The Conclusion

Introduction

How To Play Euchre

Euchre Terminology

Euchre Variations

Euchre Strategy

Conclusion

Hearts

Introduction

How To Play Hearts

Additional Rules

Hearts Strategy

Hearts Variations

Conclusion

Pinochle

Introduction

How to Play

Two & Three Player Pinochle

Pinochle Strategy

Advanced Pinochle

Conclusion

Introduction

Rummy

How to Play Rummy

How To Play Gin Rummy

Rummy & Gin Rummy Strategy

Rummy Variations

Conclusion

Solitaire

Introduction

How to Play Solitaire

Solitaire Terminology

Basic Solitaire Strategy

Solitaire Variations

Conclusion

Spades

Introduction

How to Play Spades

Additional Rules

Spades Terminology

Spades Strategy

Spades Variations

Conclusion

Whist

Introduction

How To Play Whist

Whist Terminology

Whist Variations

Whist Strategy

Conclusion

Bridge

Introduction

What is Bridge?

Bridge, or contract bridge to give it its full name, is a card game involving a standard deck of 52 cards and is played with four players. Players are sat around a table, or anything else which you can play on, and are divided into two partnerships of two, with each partnership competing to score more points than the other.

Bridge is a trick taking game with four phases each time the cards are dealt. Players study their hands and then bid the number of tricks they believe they and their partner will take in the round. Once a bid is made and cannot be bettered, the play begins. The partnership who won the bid will try to gain this number of tricks, while the other partnership will try and defend against this, hoping to take as many tricks as they can.

Scoring is tallied at the end of each round and the winner is declared when a certain number of points is reached, or when certain conditions are met.

History

The game of Bridge was derived from the game of Whist, which was a popular card game in the 1600s. Much like Bridge, Whist was a game in which four players, playing in partnerships, played to take as many tricks as they could. The main differences to the modern game of Bridge was that there was no bidding to decidewhichsuitwouldbethetrumpsuit,andtherewasadifferent way to score the game.

Whist was very popular in many parts of the world and is still played by many people today. By the late 1800s, the game of Whist was evolving and a number of offshoots were born. A number of ‘betting stake’ rules were added.

As the world tipped over into the early 20th century, two popular offshoots of the game took hold, Plafond in France and Auction Bridge in other places. Plafond added an extra element in that players would have to announce the number of tricks they would take. Auction Bridge brought the idea of bidding to decide which suit would be the trump suit.

It was in 1925 that these two offshoots of Whist merged to form the game of Bridge which is played worldwide today. It was the American, Harold Vanderbilt, who combined the two while on a long cruise. This combination brought together the unique rules of each game while adding some others to create the game we all know and love today.

A new scoring system was created. The word ‘contract’ was added to the title to signify the contract which was brokered by the two partners within the game. In the game, the players, who were in partnership together, would be entered into a contract to win the number of tricks decided in the bidding stage. A set of rewards were set up for partners who fulfilled this contract, while there were a set of penalties for those partners who did not.

It was in the early 1930s that Bridge entered the Golden Age. There were many famous matches and tournaments set up. The big game popularity of bridge faded as the 1950s were entered, but the popularity endured.

The ease with which Bridge can be played, along with its complexity,meansthatBridgehasremainedpopularovertheyears. There is also an element of socializing which players love. It is a game where study and luck combined. A game which is cheap to play. The popularity of Bridge, the world over, has continued to this day and by looking at its history, it is clear that it will continue in popularity for a very long time.

How to Play

The basics

Bridge is played with four players. The players are split into two partnerships of two and partners should sit opposite from each other at the table. Partners can be prearranged, perhaps two couples are playing and wish to stay in their couples, or can be drawn at the beginning of the game. You could draw a card each and the highest card could be paired with the lowest. How the partnerships are decided is entirely up to you.

The game is played with a standard set of cards, where the ace is high and the two is low. In Bridge, all of the suits are ranked equally, except for in the bidding stage, where certain suits rank higher than others, but we will come to that later.

Bridge is split into two main phases, bidding and play. For the purposes of this guide, we will start in reverse order and talk about the play phase first. The bidding phase can be complicated and can put off new and beginner players with its complexity. If we were to delve into the bidding without you knowing how the game is actually played, you would become lost in how to bid and why. By going through the play phase first, you can get an idea of how you should bid, based on your hand and how the game is played.

Bridge is a social game, so go get some drinks and snacks, sit down with your friends and get ready to play.

The start

To start the game, have the four players seated at the table and choose who will deal first. This can be done by drawing cards, with the highest draw or the lowest draw dealing first. The cards are dealt clockwise around the table, starting with the player to the dealers left. The cards are dealt until they are all gone, giving each player thirteen cards.

You should start by arranging the cards in your hand. Group the cards by suit and then arrange the cards within this suit from low to high (or high to low), from aces to twos. This will help you with the bidding phase and the play phase.

For now, we will skip the bidding phase, which some before the play, and concentrate on the play phase. In the play phase, the goal is to win as many tricks as you can for you and your partner.

When all of the cards have been dealt and the bidding is done, the play phase will begin until all the cards have been played. For the purposes of this guide, we will talk about section of the game, from the deal to all of the cards being played, as the ‘deal’.

The play

The play is where most of the action in the game of Bridge will take place. It is a lot less complicated than the bidding phase and the rules and conventions make it a lot easier to get to grips with as a beginner, though you will see that there is a complexity to it for the more advanced player.

The object in the play phase is to win as many tricks as possible, between your partner and yourself. There are thirteen tricks which can be won after the cards are dealt out, and a trick consists of four cards taken from each of the players, including yourself. This will make more sense as we explore how to play the game.

The first card played is called the lead and is played by the first player. For the first card of the deal, this is decided by the bidding phase. If it is your turn to lead, you can play any card you wish. Simple, right? After a card is led, the next player, clockwise around the table, has some rules to follow. The next player must play a card of the same suit if it is possible. If it is not possible, i.e. they have no cards of the same suit in their hand, then they can play any card they wish. For example, if the lead player plays the 3 of hearts, then all players around the table, one at a time in a clockwise direction, must follow this card with a heart of their own. They can play any rank of heart, but it must be a heart. If they do not have any hearts in their hands then they can play any card they wish. This would be the same is a spade, diamond or club was played.

When all four cards, one from each player, have been played, the highest card wins the trick and the player who played that card scoops up all four cards and places them in a pile by themselves, so that the tricks can easily be counted at the end of the deal. In this way, we can see that thirteen tricks can be won on each deal, this there is a maximum of thirteen tricks possible per deal. The player who wins the trick will lead next until the last four cards are played.

This sounds simple enough so far, so let’s add an extra layer of complexity. During the bidding round, there will be a trump suit selected. A trump suit beats any other suit, but playing conventions must still be followed. If the trump suit happens to be spades, then spades become stronger than any other suit. Let’s take a look at how this comes into play during the play phase.

If the trump suit is spades and the first player leads with a heart, then every player must follow with hearts if they can. If all players play hearts, then the highest heart wins and that player takes the trick.

If the first player leads with a spade (the trump suit), then all players must follow with a spade, if they can. If all players play a spade, then the player with the highest card wins the trick.

If the first player leads with a spade (the trump suit(, then all players must follow with a spade, if they can. If one of the other players does not have a spade in their hand, then they can play any other card. It does not matter which card they play as no other suit can beat the trump suit, so the highest spade would still win the trick.

If the first player plays a card which is not of the trump suit, say clubs, then the other players must follow this suit. If one of the players has no clubs in their hand then they can play any card they wish. This can include a card from the trump suit. If the other three players play a card from the club suit and the fourth player plays a card from the trump suit, it does not matter the rank of the cards, the card from the trump suit will always beat the cards which are not of the trump suit. In this situation, a 2 of spades would beat an ace from any other suit.

I a situation where the trump suit is led, or another suit is led, but multiple trump suit cards are played after, the player who played the highest trump card will win the trick.

Once all of the cards have been played, you can tally up how many tricks each partnership has won and score the deal. If the partnership has reached a certain goal then the game is over and they have won, if not then deal the cards out again and repeat the process. Before we look at scoring, we will take an in-depth look at the bidding phase.

Bidding

The bidding phase is the most complicated part of Bridge and can often put off newer players with its complexities. Here we will talk about how to bid as a beginner and some things you can look at which will help you to get an idea of how and what to bid.

After each player has picked up and sorted their hands, it will be time to bid. The dealer will have the chance to bid first, this bid is known as the opening bid. They also have the option to pass and decline the chance to make a bid. All subsequent players must bid higher or decline to bid. If it so happens that all four players decline the opportunity tomato a bid, then the cards are reshuffled and dealt by the same person and the bidding process starts again.

When you bid, you are making a statement of intent which includes two things, the number of tricks that you believe your partner and yourself will win, and the trump suit. There are thirteen tricks to be won on the deal and the bidding always starts with six tricks, with you bidding the number of tricks higher than this. For example, if you bid 1, then you are bidding that you will win 7 tricks (1 above 6). When you bid, you will state this number (from 1 to 7) and the suit (either hearts, spades, clubs or diamonds). This suit will become the trump suit. You can also bid ‘no trump’, if you wish there to be no trump.

With al of this information in mind, a bid of 3 spades would be a bid to win 9 tricks (3 more than 6) and the trump suit would be spades. A bid of 5 no trump would be a bid to win 11 tricks (5 more than 6) and there would be no trump suit.

In the bidding phase the suits are ranked (they are not in the play phase). Spades are highest ranked, followed by hearts, diamonds and then clubs.

When bidding in Bridge, you are required to bid higher than the previous player or pass the bid. If you pass then you are out of the bidding. There are two ways to bid higher than the previous bid. The first is to bid with a higher number, i.e. the previous player bid ‘4 hearts’, you could bid ‘5 spades’, or any number higher than 4 (but not higher than 7 as that is the highest bid possible. The other way to bid higher than the previous bid, is to bid the same number, but with a higher suit, i.e. the previous bid is ‘3 clubs’, you could bid ‘3 diamonds’. Diamonds are ranked higher than clubs. In bidding, no trump is considered to be ranked higher than all the suits.

Once the bid has been made and the other three players have passed,thebidiswonandtheplayingphasecancommence.Before we go any further we should talk about the bidding conventions and ethics. With Bridge, it is important to follow this rule for bidding. When you bid, you should state the number and the trump, i.e. ‘3 clubs’, and nothing more. You should not add any additional words to your bid. For example, do not say ‘I will bid 3 clubs’ and please do not lengthen your bid to ‘You know what, I am feeling lucky. Perhaps I will have clubs as trump and my bid will be 3’. In Bridge, this is improper and unethical. Stick to the conventions, please.

Bidding continued

You have encountered the basics of bidding and are probably feeling pretty pleased with yourself, so let us continue on and add some more information about bidding. We are going to talk about doubling and redoubling, part of which will make sense and part of which will not make as much sense, until we talk about the scoring.

Whenyouareinthebiddingphase,youcandoubletheprevious bid if it was made by one of your opponents. By doing this you will bid the same bid, but all points at the end of the play phase will be doubled, both the rewards and the penalties.

If your team has bid and one of your opponents doubles, then you can redouble. This will have the same effect as doubling, you will assume the bid, but the points will now be worth four times as much.

If the bidding is continued and someone bids higher than the double, or redouble, bid, then the points are set back to their original values. As with the bids, if you want to double or redouble, you should follow the conventions of Bridge. If you wish to double, then you only need to say the word ‘double’. Similarly, if you wish to redouble, then you only need to say the word ‘redouble’. There is no need for extra words in your proclamation.

At any time during the bidding process, you can ask to have the previous calls repeated, though yo should try to pay attention to the bids so you do not need to have this happen. One player should repeat all of the bids so far. If you are paying attention to the bids then you can try to figure out which player may have which cards, and if you miss a bid, or forget, then having the bids repeated can help you with this. This can be valuable when moving from beginner play to more intermediate.

Once the bid has been passed by the other three players, the bid is won. You now know how many tricks the attacking team needs to take to make their bid, and you also know which suit is trump (if any). And once again we add in some more details which may add confusion at first but add some more complexity to the game and strategy.

Declarer and Dummy

Once the bid has been won, it is time to figure out who is the declarer and who is the dummy. The partnership who won the bid will be the attackers, but the cards will be played slightly differently that we have described above.

To find out which player becomes which, let’s look at the bid. If the winning bid is ‘5 hearts’ then the declarer would be the player who first made a bid with hearts. One of the players may have bid ‘5 hearts’, but there may have been an earlier bid by the other player of ‘3 hearts’. If this was the first ‘heart’ bid, then they would become the declarer and their partner would become the dummy.

Take the winning bid. Take the trump (or no trump). Whichever of the two partners first bid the trump (or no trump) will become the declarer and their partner will become the dummy. This becomes important in the play phase.

Play continued

We talked already about how to play Bridge in the play phase, but this was before we had talked about the declarer and dummy. With these new terms, the play in Bridge is changed slightly. When the declarer and dummy have been figured out, it will be the player to the left of the declarer (one of the defenders), who will play first.

Once this player has led with a card, the dummy will place their hand, face up, on the table for everyone to see. This sounds weird to most beginner players, but it is about to get weirder (also this is one of the most popular games in the world so they must be onto something). From this point on, the declarer will play cards from the dummy’s hand on the dummy’s turn. This can be done in two ways. Either the declarer can play the card, or they can instruct the dummy on which card to play.

Play resumes clockwise as before, but with the declarer playing the dummy’s cards on the dummy’s turn. This would suggest that in the play phase, the attacking partners are not playing together to win, which to an extent is true. This shows how important the bidding phase is and how important it is to convey information during this phase.

In essence, when we get to the play stage, there will be one player playing against two, but playing two hands against the hands of the two defenders. All four players at the table are responsible for ensuring that the declarer plays legal cards from the hand of the dummy.

Scoring

When we talk about the scoring in Bridge, we will talk about games and matches. Players are competing to win the match and each match is split into a maximum of three games, with each team trying to win two games. Games can involve any number of deals.

There are many elements to scoring in bridge and it can seem daunting to beginners, but if we take them one at a time then we can begin to understand how to score games. An important point to start with is that you will need a writing implement and some paper to record the scores on. On the paper, you should make two columns, one for you and your partner, and one for your opponents. Write names at the top of each column so you know which score belongs to which team. Now, halfway down the column, draw a horizontal line to cut the two columns in half. You will now have space to add scores above this line and below this line. This is important.

In bridge scoring, the scores below the line help you keep track of who has won a game. The scores above the line are added to the below line scores at the end of the match to determine who has won. This will make more sense when we begin to discuss the scoring system. It is only important to keep in mind, that the below line scores keep track of who has won games.

Now that you have your scoresheet set up, we can begin to talk about how to score a game. Matches in Bridge are usually played until one team has won two games. To win a game, a team needs to have a below line score of 100 points. These 100 points are accumulated by contract points, which is the first scoring points we will talk about.

Contract points:

When you bid in Bridge, you are stating how many tricks above six you are going to win, thus a bid of 2 is a bid to win 8 tricks (2 above 6). When you play out the deal, if you gain the number of tricks you bid (or more than the number of tricks yo have bid), you will be awarded contract points.

Contract points are only awarded for the tricks you bid and are determined by the suit in which you bid. If you bid ‘3 Hearts’ and won 12 tricks, then you would be awarded contract points for the 3 tricks you bid and not for any over the three. Diamonds and clubs are considered minor suits. Hearts and Spades are considered major suits. The contract points are scored as follows:

For a bid of no trump, you gain 40 points for the first trick won and 30 points for each subsequent trick (up to your tricks bid).

For major suits, you gain 30 points per trick bid.

For minor suits, you gain 20 points per trick.

If a bid has been doubled, then all points would be doubled.

If a bid has been redoubled, then all points would be quadrupled.

Contract points are scored below the line and the points which will count towards winning a game. To win a game, you need to score 100 points below the line. After the deal is played out and the contract points have been counted (if a team has made their bid), then the contract points scored are written beneath the line. If the score is below 100, then the game is not yet won and play continues with another deal. The next time that points are counted, they are added to this score beneath the line, until the score reaches 100 or more.

When the score reaches 100 or more, then the game is over. When this happens, a line is drawn under the score to signify that the game is won. When this happens the game is over and another can be started. When one team has won two games, the match is over and the scores are counted. When this happens, draw a double line under the scores and then tally all of the points, above and below the line.

The scoring below the line is used solely to track how many games have been won by each team. The remainder of the scoring we will talk about will go above the line. These points will not affect the individual games, but will contribute to the overall score at the end of the match.

Overtrick points

Overtricks are tricks won above the tricks bid. For example, if you bid ‘2 Clubs’ and won 11 tricks, then you will have won your 2 contracted bids and you will also have won 2 overtricks. Overtricks are tricks which are won above your bid tricks.

Before we talk about overtricks, we need to talk about vulnerability. When a team (or both teams) has won a game, they become vulnerable. If a team is vulnerable then they gain more points above the line, but the penalties (points which are awarded to the other team) re higher too.

The scoring for overtricks is as follows:

30 points for every overtrick with no trump.

30 points for every overtrick with a major suit.

20 points for every overtrick with a minor suit.

200 points for every overtrick when the bid is

doubled

and you are vulnerable (irrelevant of suit).

100 points for every overtrick when the bid is

doubled

and you are

not

vulnerable (irrelevant of suit).

400 points for every overtrick when the bid is

redoubled

and you are vulnerable (irrelevant of suit).

200 points for every overtrick when the bid is

redoubled

and you are

not

vulnerable (irrelevant of suit).

When scoring overtricks, the score is written above the line and is counted at the end of the match.

Slam bonus

A small slam is when you bid and win ‘6’ (12 tricks). If you are successful in this then you would be awarded with a bonus of 500 points if you are not vulnerable and 750 points if you are vulnerable.

A grand slam is when you bid and win ‘7’ (all 13 tricks). If you are successful in this then you would be awarded with a bonus of 1000 points if you are not vulnerable and 1500 points if you are vulnerable.

Slam bonus points are scored above the line.

Doubled/Redoubled bonus

When a bid is doubled or redoubled and the bid is successfully made then a bonus is given. If a contract is doubled and the contract is successful, then the successful team are awarded 50 points.

If a contract is redoubled and the contact is successful, then the successful team are awarded 200 points. A doubled or redoubled bonus is scored above the line.

Penalties

When a bid is made and the bid is not successful (the partnership do not make the number of tricks they bid) then the bid is defeated and penalties are awarded in the form of points to the opposing team. When a bid is unsuccessful then points are awarded to the opposing team for every trick the attacking team fell short of their bid. The points awarded to the opposing team vary, based on if the bid is doubled or redoubled, and if the bidding team are vulnerable or not. The scoring is as follows:

If the bidding team is

not vulnerable

(have not yet won a game) and the bid is not met, then the opposing team is awarded 50 points for every undertrick (every trick that was not made, under the bid).

If the bidding team is

vulnerable

and the bid is not met, then the opposing team is awarded 100 points for every undertrick.

If the bidding team is

not vulnerable

, but the bid has been

doubled

, then the opposing team is awarded 100 points for the first undertrick, 200 for the second and third, and 300 for the fourth and subsequent undertricks.

If the bidding team is

vulnerable

, but the bid has been

doubled

,

then

the

opposing

team

is

awarded

200

points

for

the first undertrick, 300 for the second and third, and 300 for the fourth and subsequent undertricks.

If the bidding team is

not vulnerable

, but the bid has been

redoubled

, then the opposing team is awarded 200 points for the first undertrick, 400 for the second and third, and 600 for the fourth and subsequent undertricks.

If the bidding team is

vulnerable

, but the bid has been r

edoubled

, then the opposing team is awarded 400 points for the first undertrick, 600 for the second and third, and 600 for the fourth and subsequent undertricks.

All penalty points are scored above the line.

Rubber bonus

The game of Bridge is said to be played in rubber matches, that is matches which are the best of three games. The rubber bonus is awarded when the match is completed, when one of the teams reaches 2 games. When this happens there are score bonuses for the winning team and they are as follows:

If you have won 2 games and your opponents have won no games, then you are awarded a bonus of 700 points.

If you have won 2 games and your opponents have won 1, then you are awarded a bonus of 500 points.

Rubber bonus points are scored above the line.

Honour bonus

In Bridge, there are also bonuses awarded for holding certain cards. These points are awarded more for luck than for skill. In Bridge, the ace, king, queen, jack and ten are considered the honor cards. You can be awarded honor points for holding different combination of these cards as follows:

If you are holding any four of the above five cards, of the trump suit, then you are awarded 100 points.

If you are holding all five of the honor cards, of the trump suit, then you are awarded 150 points.

If you are holding all four aces and the winning bid is for no trumps, then you are awarded 150 points.

These points can be declared at any time, but doing so at the start of a deal can indicate to your opponents which cards you have in your hand. It is more common for a player to declare these points at the end of a deal, when all of the cards have been played.

Scoring

Once two games have been won by any partnership, the rubber is over and the points can be tallied. Be sure to add any rubber bonuses and the tally all points above and below the line. The partnership with the most points, once all points have been counted, wins the match and is awarded a score which is the difference between their point score and their opponents. This can translate to an accumulation of points over many rubbers, or there could be an agreed upon conversion of points to monetary value for the winners, if gambling is involved.

Basic Strategies

Now that you have learned a little about the game, it is time to arm yourself with some basic tips and strategies to better understand the game and to allow you to be competitive with other players. As you are just beginning your Bridge journey, you do not need to know the in-depth Bridge strategies which the professional players use, instead, we will discuss some basic principles which will make your game more enjoyable (and help you to win too).

Point Count

You have your hand in front of you, you have arranged the cards by suit and they are arranged, within the suits, from low to high. You know who your partner is and you are ready to begin bidding. Even after playing a few hands of Bridge, you are still unsure as to how strong your hand is. Well, do not worry for you are not alone. Experts and advanced players can see at a glance how strong their hand is, and by communication through bidding they can gain some insight into how strong their partner's hand is. For the beginner this is impossible. Thankfully there is a way to gauge how strong any hand is.

In Bridge, you can gauge the strength of your hand by counting your High Card Points (HCP). When you look at your hand there are two things that you should count. The first is the honor cards, and the second is your distribution. The honor cards are easy to count and you are awarded points as follows:

4 points for any ace in your hand (4 points for one ace, 8 points for two aces, etc).

3 points for any king in your hand.

2 points for any queen in your hand.

1 point for any jack in your hand.

Once you have added up your points for honor cards, you should add points for distribution. Distribution points are scored as follows:

3 points for a void (If you have zero cards in a certain suit, then you gain 3 points. For example, you have no hearts in your hand).

2 points for a singleton (You have only one card in a certain suit. For example, you only have one club).

1 point for a doubleton (You only have two cards in a certain suit. For example, you have two diamond cards).

This count is not foolproof, and experience will dictate how strong your hand truly is, but it does give you an initial idea as to how strong a particular hand is. Now that you have evaluated your hand, you can make a bid. You could be the opening bidder, so you will need to perform this evaluation so that you can set an initial bid. You could be following a bid and this count will allow you to see if you have a strong enough hand to up the bid, or a hand so weak that you can pass easily.

If you are the opening bidder, then it is common for you to open with a bid if your point count is above 13. If it is lower than this then you should pass and allow someone else to bid. If you do bid when your point count is below this and everyone else passes then it will become difficult for you to take any number of tricks.

Now you need to decide what to bid. The most common opening bid from beginners will be ‘1’. This is a great starting point and subsequent bids can give you an idea of the strength of your opponent’s hands, and the strength of your partner’s hand. The next step is to decide which suit you are going to choose as trump (if any).

If your hand is balanced, if you have an equal distribution of suits among your cards, then it may be a good idea to bid no trump, when your HCP is above 16. Let’s talk about this some more. When we are talking about distribution of suits, we are saying that you have 3-4 cards in each suit, you have no singletons and you have, at most, one doubleton. If your cards are spread evenly through the suits like this, then count your HCP. When you have counted your HCP (your points for aces, kings, queens, and jacks), if you have more than 16 points, then a bid of no trump would be a good bid. Your suits are spread, so it will make it difficult to gain a lot of tricks though a trump suit, but your HCP is high, so you will have a good chance of taking tricks though high cards alone.

Now, if your hand is not distributed evenly (like we discussed above), then it is time to consider bidding with a trump suit. If you do not have even distribution, but your point total is higher than 13, then it is time to place an opening bid with a trump suit. It is generally recommended to choose your trump suit based on your longest suit. If you had a hand which had 6 hearts and you did not have as many cards in each of the other suits, then you would typically choose hearts as trump. When you have two suits with an equal number of cards, then bid with the suit which has higher HCP.

Of course, there may be times when it is obviously not a great choice to bid with the longest suit and you must take this into account. You could have a hand which has 5 hearts, but the highest card is a 10. You could also have 4 clubs, but they are the ace, king, queen, and jack. It would make more sense to bid with clubs.

The tips on opening bids above will guide you in most situations, but you should also be aware that they are not strict rules and you will find yourself working around them at times. With experience, you will be able to use these guides as just that, guides.

Playing as the Declarer

You and your partner have won the bid. You opened with the bidding and have become the declarer, it is now up to you to play your opponent’s and your own hand. So where do you start?

The first place to start is to evaluate both hands together and countyourtoptricks.Thesearethetrickswhichyouareguaranteed to win when played. If you have an ace, then that cannot be beaten, unless trumped by the trump suit. An ace of any suit would be classed as a guaranteed trick. Now if you have an ace, king, and queen of the same suit, either in your hand, your opponents, or a combination between the two, then that would be guaranteed three tricks. Now that you have counted your guaranteed tricks, you can see how close you are to winning the number of tricks needed to fulfill your bid.

There are some ways in which you can play to take tricks when it is not guaranteed. Perhaps you have a hand which has a king, queen, and jack of a certain suit. These are all strong cards, but none of them are a guaranteed trick (they can all be beaten by an ace). To get around this, you can promote these cards. You can play one of these cards, or lower, and try to force out the ace. If you had those three cards, and the ace was played to beat one of them, then you now have two guaranteed tricks.

You can also ‘ruff’ if you are playing with a trump suit. If you play your cards right (excuse the pun), then you can leave yourself with a void in places. You can leave yourself with no cards of a certain suit. This is a key point of the game which will allow you to play a trump card and win a trick, no matter how high your opponent's card is. This is known as ‘ruffing’ and can help to promote your cards as we discussed above, but without you having to sacrifice a card to do so.

Defensive Play

It is fun to bid and play towards the points up for grabs, but fifty percent of the time (on average) you will be playing as a defender. This is as important for winning games as you can gain a lo of penalty points if you can block the attacking team from winning the tricks that they need. You will be at a disadvantage as the declarer can see both hands and play from both. You will only be able to see your hand and will rely on your partner to play appropriatecardsfromtheirhand,whileyouplayappropriatecards from your hand.

There is one rule which is generally followed when you are leading the play as a defender and that is, if your partner has bid a suit at some point in the bidding phase, to lead with that suit. You should avoid leading with one of the suits that your opponents have bid in. As we have talked about before, this is not a strict rule and will guide your play more than anything else.

If the bid is no trump and you are leading the play, then you should lead with your longest suit, forcing your opponent to win their tricks early in that suit and giving yourself a chance to win tricks in that suit should you regain the play later in the deal. This is a good way to play if you have five or more cards in a suit.

If there is a trump suit then you will have to play a little differently. You could lead with an ace, allowing you to see the dummy hand and most likely win the first trick before deciding which card to lead with next. Another good strategy is to work on your ruffing. This only works if you have a lot of trump cards and a void in your hand, or if you are able to create a void early on.

Additional Bridge Tips

Always try to remember that you are playing with a partner and you should be working with them to win tricks, either towards a bid or to block your opponent’s bid. One thing to keep in mind is that only you can see your hand, so you have access to information which your partner does not. You are also playing in a different position from you partner, so try to see the play from their point of view too.

Pay attention. The bidding will give you a lot of clues as to how strong your opponent’s hands are when trying to win tricks, or defend. Pay attention to how your opponents and partner are playing. What signals are they giving by their play? Pay attention to

the

cards

being

played.

Has

one

of

your

cards

been

promoted by another player playing a higher card? What cards have ben played so far? Can you remember how many trumps are out there? There is a lot of information to be gained from paying attention.

Look for any hesitation during the bidding or the play. This can give you clues as to how strong an opponent’s hand really is and you may be able to deduce why they are hesitating. The usual reason for hesitating when playing is when someone is trying to decide between two cards. If you have watched what has been played so far then you may be able to deduce which cards a player is trying to choose between.

Be nice to your partner. Getting angry at them and insulting them is not going to make them play better, nor is it going to motivate them to help you win. A kind word and a smile will help to solidify your partnership. We are all friend after all.

Do not be disheartened by an error, you can still win a deal when an error has occurred, but if you let it get to you then you will likely make more errors.

When arranging your cards, it is sometimes beneficial to change your organizational style. Players can watch as you play and learn where you arrange individual suits and how your cards are organized. A great player can deduce which cards are left in your hand by how you have played your cards and from where in your hand.

Conclusion

By now you should have a good knowledge of how to play Bridge. There are a lot of confusing elements, so it may be beneficial to go back and read about some of the more puzzling elements, like the bidding phase. The guide has been purposely written out of order, the elements of the game of bridge have been presented in such a way that the basic information has been presented first to give you a better chance to understand the more complex information. The play phase was described before as the bidding phase.

The actual playing of Bridge is very easy, you lead with the card which you believe will give you, or your partner, the best chance of winning a tick. You follow suit (where you can) if you are not the leader. The highest card wins (generally). The simplicity of the play is given added complexity with the bidding. The play is easy, the bidding has a little more difficulty to it and is something which will be improved upon by playing the game more and more. The scoring can seem daunting, but when you break it down and take your time with it, it follows rules which have no room for misinterpretation.

As with all games, the key to learning and improving on your game is to play the game as much as you can. You can only learn so much from this book and other resources. You have the knowledge you need to begin, but the real journey starts now. Go find another three people, a deck of card, some refreshments, and a quiet place to play. Choose your partner and deal the cards.

Good luck and may your day be full of tricks and won bids!

Canasta