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Getting started

Start a new game or join an open game of a fellow player. If you start a new game you decide who is allowed at the table and how high the stakes are.

At the right side of the table you can see which player's turn it is as well as your stakes and credit. Next to the player names the bids made as well as the number of tricks already taken by a player are displayed. You can also communicate with players using the chat function.

Gameplay

Bridge is a game for 4 players in 2 teams and is played with a card deck containing 52 cards (French deck without joker). The ranking of the cards is: Ace, king, queen, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The 4 suits in Bridge are called spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The suits are also ranked with spades as the highest and clubs as the lowest suit. Spades and hearts are called major suits, diamonds and clubs are minor suits. Ace, king, queen and jack are called face cards or honors.

Each player is dealt 13 cards and the bidding takes place clockwise. After a team has contracted to make the highest number of tricks in the trump suit the cards are being played. The declarer's team has to win the announced number of tricks while the opposing team should prevent this by taking tricks themselves.

Bidding

The bidding is the first phase of the game. During bidding teams determine the number of tricks they have to take, whether there is a trump suit and if so which suit is trump. In the bidding phase players make calls clockwise. Players can either bid, pass, double the last bid of the opponent or redouble an opponent's double. If the bidding continues the double lapses. The bidding ends when 3 players have passed in succession.

The ranking of suits during bidding is in ascending order: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades and NT (no trump). If the number of tricks exceeds 6 they count as points. This means that for example 7 tricks score 1 point and 13 tricks score 7 points. Whoever makes a bid has to take more tricks than the opposing team.

Table of potential bids and number of tricks to be taken:

The game

The player to the left of the winner of the bidding plays the first card. He teams up with his counterpart. The declarer plays solo. His partner's cards are placed face up on the table and the solo player plays with his partner's cards which are called dummy. You have to follow suit.

End of the game

A game is played "best of 3". A round is won if more than 100 points have been taken with tricks (not with overtricks or undertricks). If required cards can be dealt several times. A team is vulnerable if it has already won a round. If it hasn't won a round yet it is not vulnerable.

Points scored with tricks are entered below the line. Bonus points are entered above the line. Both will be added up for the final scores.

If the declarer fulfills his bid he is awarded points for every announcement in excess of 6 tricks. For clubs and diamonds as trump suits this is 20 points per odd trick, for hearts or spades 30 points and if a game is played with no trump it is 40 points.

When the declarer makes a doubled contract, a bonus of 50 points is awarded. For a redoubled contract 100 points are awarded. This is called for the insult.

If 12 tricks are won this is called small slam. 13 tricks is called a grand slam.

• Vulnerable: Small slam – 500, grand slam – 1000
• Not vulnerable: Small slam – 500, grand slam – 1000

If more tricks are taken than have been announced a bonus is awarded. This is called overtrick.

Points per overtrick:

• Vulnerable: Double – 100, redouble – 200
• Not vulnerable: Double  – 200, redouble – 400

If less tricks are taken than have been announced the difference is credited to the opponents as an undertrick.

Penalty per undertrick:

Per undertrick

• Vulnerable: 100
• Not vulnerable: 50

Double first undertrick

• Vulnerable: 200
• Not vulnerable: 100

Double second and third undertrick

• Vulnerable: 300
• Not vulnerable: 200

Every further undertrick

• Vulnerable: 300
• Not vulnerable: 200

For redouble all values are doubled.

If a party wins with 2:0 games, this party is awarded 700 points. If a game ends 2:1, this party receives 500 points.

An example for a bid: A bid of hearts means that the bidder believes to win at least 7 tricks (1 over 6), whereby hearts is the trump suit.

In other words this bid means:

• Tricks over 6 - trump
• 1 hearts - at least 7 tricks trump hearts
• 4 diamonds – at least 10 tricks trump diamonds