Bridge Bidding Explained

Every bridge hand starts with an auction. Beginning with the dealer and moving clockwise, each player either passes or bids, and the last bid standing becomes the contract — the number of tricks one partnership promises to win, and the suit (if any) that will be trump. A bid has two parts: a level from 1 to 7 and a strain. The strains rank from clubs (lowest) through diamonds, hearts, and spades up to notrump, so 1 diamond outbids 1 club, and 1NT outbids any suit bid at the one level. Each new bid must outrank the one before it — either a higher strain at the same level, or any strain at a higher level. The level promises six tricks plus the number bid: 1NT promises seven tricks, 4 spades promises ten, and a level-seven contract claims all thirteen. The auction ends when a bid is followed by three passes in a row; that bid becomes the final contract, and the side that made it must deliver.

Before you bid, count your high-card points: four for each ace, three for each king, two for each queen, and one for each jack. The deck holds 40 points in total, so an average hand has ten. Most beginner bidding decisions flow from this count — roughly 12 or more points to open the bidding, and about 25 combined partnership points to attempt a game contract. High cards are not the whole story, because long suits win tricks that the point count misses. The usual adjustment is to add one point for each card beyond the fourth in any suit. A hand with seven spades can score tricks with small cards once everyone else runs out of spades — something a flat hand with the same honors can never do. Count points first, then look at shape; together they tell you whether to open and what to say.

With about 12 or more points, open the bidding. In beginner-level Standard American the choices are mercifully few. Open one of your longest suit: 1 heart or 1 spade promises at least a five-card suit, so with no five-card major you open your longer minor, 1 club or 1 diamond, even if it is only three cards long. With a balanced hand — no void, no singleton, at most one doubleton — and 15 to 17 points, open 1NT instead. It is the most descriptive opening in the game, pinning down both strength and shape in a single bid, which is why so much beginner theory is built around it. The one opening that shows a monster is 2 clubs. It is artificial — it says nothing about clubs — and announces roughly 22 or more points, or a hand close to making game on its own. Partner must respond and keep the auction alive until the partnership reaches at least game territory. Everything below opening strength simply passes and waits.

When partner opens, your first job is to look for a fit: eight or more cards in one suit between the two hands. With three-card or longer support for partner's major and 6 to 9 points, raise one level — 1 spade becomes 2 spades. A raise is the most useful response in bridge, because it sets trump and describes your strength in one breath. Without support, bid your own longest suit at the one level if you have at least 6 points. A new suit from responder shows four or more cards and asks opener to keep describing their hand. With 6 to 9 points, no fit, and no suit you can show at the one level, respond 1NT as the catch-all. With fewer than 6 points, pass. It feels unhelpful, but bidding with nothing misleads the only person at the table on your side. Stronger responding hands — about 10 points and up — do more: jump raises with support, new suits at the two level, and moves toward game.

Conventions sound intimidating, but they are simply agreements partners make about what certain bids mean. Two of them cover most of what a new player needs after a 1NT opening. Stayman: when partner opens 1NT, a response of 2 clubs does not show clubs. It asks a question — "do you have a four-card major?" Opener bids 2 hearts or 2 spades with one, or 2 diamonds with neither. Because 1NT openers often conceal a four-card major, Stayman finds the 4-4 heart or spade fits that would otherwise stay hidden in notrump. Jacoby transfers: over the same 1NT opening, 2 diamonds shows five or more hearts and 2 hearts shows five or more spades. Opener completes the transfer by bidding responder's real suit, so the strong balanced hand stays concealed as declarer while the weak hand becomes dummy. Agree on both with any regular partner — and even though the auction in this online game stays simple, they are good habits to recognize from your first hands.