Contract Bridge

• Players: 4, playing in partnerships
• Equipment: Standard deck, jokers removed
• The team with the highest score at the end of a rubber (first to two wins) wins overall

Setup

Partners sit across from each other, and each player is traditionally referred to with the cardinal direction of their seat (North, South, East, West). The first dealer gives each player thirteen cards, dealing out the entire deck. Players keep their hands concealed, even from their partner.

Bidding

Before play can begin, the trump suit needs to be decided. A bid in bridge consists of two parts: the requested trump suit, and the number of tricks that team is contracted to take. A player can choose any suit as well as declaring no trump, and then must give the number of tricks beyond six that their partnership will take. For example, if North bids 2♥, then hearts are trump and North-South must take 8 tricks between them. The player to the left of the dealer begins the auction. Bidders may pass, and may rejoin the bidding any round they please. Each bid must have a higher number of tricks than the last, or if it has the same number of tricks, a higher-ranked suit. The suit ranking is clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, low to high. After three consecutive passes, the highest bid wins the auction. The player that won is known as the declarer.

Instead of bidding or passing, a player can choose to "double" on their turn of the auction. This increases the risk/reward for the previous bid, and as such is often used if a player thinks an opponent has bid too high. The double is erased upon the next bid. If the double is still in effect, the next player can choose to "redouble," which increases the scoring effects even more.

Gameplay

The declarer's partner is known as the "dummy." The dummy lays their hand down on the table for all to see, and throughout the round the declarer plays both for themselves and for the dummy. This enables the declarer to know exactly which cards the opposing team possesses. The player to the left of the declarer leads the first trick. In a trick, each player (including the declarer playing on behalf of the dummy) lays down one card. The highest-ranking trump card wins the trick. If there are no trumps present, the highest-ranking card of the leading suit wins. Players must follow the leading suit if they are able. The player that won the last trick leads the next.

Scoring

Draw a vertical line through the scorecard, with one side for each partnership. Draw a horizontal line through the middle of the scorecard, which will separate contract points from bonus points.

If the declaring team did not make their bid, then the other team gains the corresponding amount of points as a bonus (above the line).

If the declaring team did make their bid, then give them points as shown below according to the trump suit below the line. This table shows the value of each trick, so multiply the value to include all tricks bid (for no trump, the first trick has a different value than additional tricks). Score overtricks using the same table, but above the line.

Any tricks scored beyond the bid are known as overtricks. Take the following score for each overtrick:

If the declaring team successfully made a doubled or redoubled contract, they score a 5-point bonus above the line.

A "small slam" is when the declarers make a bid of 6 tricks, and a "grand slam" is when the declarers make a bid of 7 tricks. Bonus scores are given for this feat, as shown below.

Once a team has won two games, the rubber is over. Whichever team won two games gets a "rubber bonus" added above the line, 70 points if only two games were played, while 50 if three games were played. The team with the highest total score, of all points above and below the line, wins the rubber. This is usually, but not always, the team that won the most games.