How to play mini bridge (lesson 2)

At the end of lesson 1 on mini bridge, the person with the most points in their hand became the declarer.

The declarer's partner becomes the dummy and lays their cards on the table so that everyone can see them

Declarer now starts the bidding.  Thanks to Leigh Harding for writing this lesson on bidding for this blog.  As she says, you need to read pages 4 and 5 of her beginner's bridge leaflet.  Just sign up for the mailing list on the right of this blog and you can download the leaflet for FREE. 

(Note:  this post may not display the hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades symbols correctly if you don't have the original font installed on your computer!  I've annotated the first occurence of each symbol so you can see which symbol your computer does display for each of the suits.)

FIRST CHOOSE TRUMPS OR NO TRUMPS 

You have 8 (or more) cards in hearts or spades: 

1.  If you have an ‘8 card fit’ (this means at least 8 cards between your hand and dummy) in hearts or spades.  Choose that suit as trumps. 
(ª (hearts) or « (spades) scores 30 points per trick) 

You DON’T have 8 (or more cards in hearts or spades):

2.  Usually choose No Trumps

(NT scores 40 for the first trick and 30 for subsequent tricks)

3.  If you have an 8 card fit in clubs or diamonds, choose clubs or diamonds as trumps only as a last resort.   It is normally better to play in No Trumps with an 8 card fit in clubs or diamonds unless you have a serious weakness in one of the other suits (i.e. the opponents could get a lot of tricks)

      (¨ (clubs) or © (diamonds) score only 20 per trick)

THEN CHOOSE GAME OR PART SCORE

See page 4 and 5 of the booklet about scoring. (Join the mailing list to download the FREE booklet)

Basically: 

If your points add up to 25 or more your targets will be: 

      No Trump        9 tricks  (3NT)

      ª or «             10 tricks (4ª/4«)

      ¨ or ©             11 tricks (5¨/5¨) note because you have to make 11 tricks you really need more like 27+ points

(these are called ‘game’ contracts) 

If your points don’t add up to 25 your targets will be: 

      No Trump   7 tricks 1NT

      ª or «         7 tricks (1ª/1«)

      ¨ or ©        7 tricks (1¨/1©)

(these are called ‘part score’ contracts)

How to Play Mini Bridge (lesson 1)

Mini bridge is a fun game for four players.  Anyone can play and it is a good game for children as it involves counting and adding up.  If you have never played bridge but want to learn, Mini Bridge is a good way to start.

The players sit around a table. There are two pairs of players, known as partners.  Each player sits opposite their partner.  For ease of reference the four players are called by the points of the compass, North, South, East and West.  North and South are partners and sit opposite each other, similarly for East and West. 

Deal all the cards - each player should have 13 cards in their hands.  Each player sorts their cards into suits (hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs).  To make it easy to read the cards, sort them into a red suit, then a black suit, then a red suit, then a black suit.

Next add up the points value of your hand.  4 points for each ace, 3 points for each king, 2 points for each queen and 1 point for each jack.  Starting with the dealer, and working clockwise around the table, each player announces the number of points in their hand.  The total should add up to fourty.  If it doesn't - count again!!

Now add the value of your hand to that of your partner.  The pair with the highest point score becomes the declaring side.  If both pairs have a total of 20 points then deal the cards again.

The person with the most points in the declaring side becomes the declarer and their partner becomes the dummy.  (If both partners have the same number of points, then the person who announced their score first becomes the declarer.)

If you can't wait for lesson 2 - sign up to the mailing list on the right of this blog and download  the FREE beginner's bridge notes, which contain instructions for playing mini bridge.