The Book of Card Games: The Complete Rules to the Classics, Family Favorite and Forgotten Games (8 page)

Play then proceeds around the table, and each player needs to lay down a card, following suit if he can. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card, including a trump suit. If you are the dummy in any hand, when it’s your turn to play, the declarer states which card to play and you will play it (or the declarer may just place the card himself). If the declarer only calls out a suit for you to play, you must play the lowest card in that suit. As the dummy, you are not allowed to speak or otherwise communicate with the dealer during the remainder of the hand.

The trick is won by whoever played the highest card of the suit led unless a trump was played, in which case the highest trump wins. If the dummy wins the trick, the declarer tells him which card to lead for the next trick (or plays it himself).

The following is an example in which the trump suit is hearts, North is the declarer, and East leads the first card. On the first trick, the players play the following cards:

In this first trick, each player was able to follow suit and did so. Since the highest card within the suit was the A♦, North wins the trick and leads the next card, and the other players follow.

As with the first trick, each player was able to follow suit and did so. The highest card was the A♣ that the declarer played out of the dummy’s hand, so the declarer won a second trick. He must now lead out of the dummy’s hand.

In this third trick, East wins the trick because he played a trump card and beat the other cards in the hand. If the hand had been bid no trump, then East would not have been able to win the hand with a card from any of the suits other than diamonds.

You win Bridge by winning two out of three games (known as a rubber). The first team to score 100 points wins each game. Once you have won a game, you are considered vulnerable and are subject to higher bonuses and penalties in the second game than your opponents, who are not vulnerable.

The scorekeeper keeps score on a piece of paper divided into two columns and two rows (imagine a plus sign drawn through the paper). The columns are separated into each team marked “we” and “they.” The rows are separated into the scores won for contracts and the scores obtained for bonuses and/or penalties. The contract points go on the bottom half of the page (below the line), and the bonus/penalty points go on the top half of the page (above the line).

If the declarer completes the contract, he receives a score for each trick in excess of six tricks. The tricks receive points based on the trump suit that was declared. If the trump suit is clubs or diamonds, each trick bid receives twenty points. If the trump suit is hearts or spades, each trick bid receives thirty points. If there are no trumps, the trick receives forty points for the first trick and thirty points for each trick thereafter.

If the contract was doubled, then the above scores double. If the contract was redoubled, then the scores quadruple. If the declarer wins a doubled contract, he receives an extra 50 points. If he wins a redoubled contract, he receives an extra 100 points.

If the contract was to win twelve tricks, this is known as a small slam and is worth extra points if achieved. If you complete a small slam while your team is vulnerable (having won one game in the rubber), you receive 750 bonus points. If your team is not vulnerable, you receive 500 bonus points.

If the contract was to win thirteen tricks, this is known as a grand slam and is worth extra points if achieved. If your team is vulnerable, you receive 1,500 bonus points. If your team is not vulnerable, you receive 1,000 bonus points.

The top five cards in the trump suit (ace, king, queen, jack, and ten) are called the honors. If you hold all five honors in your cards alone, you receive 150 bonus points. If you hold four honors in your cards alone, you receive 100 bonus points. If the contract is no trump and one player holds all four aces, he receives 150 bonus points.

If your team wins more tricks than you originally bid in your contract, each trick over the bid is called an overtrick. If the bid was not doubled or redoubled, your team receives the same number of points for each overtrick as for each regular trick as above. If the bid was doubled, your team receives 100 points for each overtrick if you were not vulnerable, or 200 points for each overtrick if you were vulnerable. If the bid was redoubled, your team receives 200 points for each overtrick if you were not vulnerable, or 400 points for each overtrick if you were vulnerable.

If your team does not win the number of tricks originally bid in your contract, neither side scores any points for the contract. Your opponents do receive a score based on the amount of tricks that were under your bid. If the bid was not doubled or redoubled, your opponents receive a score of fifty points for each undertrick (each trick less than what your contract was) if you were not vulnerable, or 100 points for each undertrick if you were vulnerable. If the bid was doubled and you were not vulnerable, your opponents receive a score of 100 points for the first undertrick, 200 points each for the second and third undertrick, and 300 points each for any further undertricks. If the bid was doubled and you were vulnerable, your opponents receive a score of 200 points for the first undertrick and 300 points each for any further undertricks. If the bid was redoubled, the points are double the doubled undertricks.

If you score 100 points or more below the line through winning contracts, you win that game. A new line is placed under these scores, and both teams start from zero. Any points that the losing team had below the line do not count toward the next game.

If your team wins the rubber, you receive a bonus of 700 points if you won two games in a row without your opponents winning any games. If your opponents win one of the games, and you win the rubber, your team only receives a bonus of 500 points. Now both columns are totaled and the team with the most points wins. The winning team subtracts the loser’s score from their total score and divides by 100 to receive their “back door” score. Round up or down to get a whole number. The “back door” indicates the team’s overall standing.

If you are unable to finish a rubber due to time constraints, and only one side has a game, that side scores 300 bonus points. If only one side has a part score, that side earns 100 bonus points.

Scoring is even more complicated than bidding in bridge. The following is an illustration of scoring in contract bridge, with letters to annotate what each number means.

(a)
In the first hand of game one, We win the bid and have a contract of three hearts. We actually win ten tricks, completing the contract with one overtrick. We receive thirty points for each trick bid because the trump suit was hearts—thus receiving ninety points. This score is written below the line in the “We” column. We also receive thirty points for the overtrick, and this score is placed above the line in the “We” column. Because the total below the line is not 100 or more, a second hand is played.

(b)
In the second hand, They win the bid with a contract of four clubs. They win only nine tricks and do not complete the contract. They receive no points, and We receive fifty points above the line for the one undertrick.

(c)
In the third hand, They win the bid with a contract of three diamonds, and the bid is doubled. They win the nine tricks and complete the contract. They receive forty points for each trick bid because the trump suit is diamonds (twenty points) and the bid was doubled—thus receiving 120 points. They also win a bonus of fifty points above the line for fulfilling the doubled contract. They win this game and become vulnerable. A line is drawn beneath the scores to show the end of the first game, and a second game is played.