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Bridge For Beginners

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  1. 001 - Introduction
  2. 015 - Bridge Game - An Overview
  3. 017 - Play Your Second Bridge Game With Us
  4. 018 - How to Place a Bid
  5. 016 - Features in Our Bridge Lessons
  6. 002 - Definition of Terms
  7. 003 - Tricks To Make Your Bid
  8. 004 - High Card Points
  9. 005 - Long Suit Distribution Points
  10. 006 - Short Suit Distribution Points
  11. 007 - Total Points (TP)
  12. 008 - Trump Suits
  13. 009 - No Trumps
  14. 010 - The Ranking of Bridge Bids
  15. 011 - The Major Suits
  16. 012 - The Minor Suits
  17. 013 - Playing Bridge On Our Computer Game
  18. 014 - Quiz 1 Hand Evaluation
  19. 019 - The 'Play' Phase of a Bridge Game
Bridge For Beginners 005 – Long Suit Distribution Points
Lesson 9 of 19
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005 – Long Suit Distribution Points

005

Long Suit Distribution Points (LSDP)

The contract you can bid up to is decided by the points you and your partner hold. There are two different techniques used for counting your distribution points. The first you use when you have no idea what your partner’s hand contains is using extra length over and above 4 cards in a suit. It is called ‘Long Suits distribution points’ (LSDP for short) to calculate distribution points (LSDP’s).
Bridge Hand Evaluation – <span class="glossary-tooltip glossary-term-27022" tabindex="0"><span class="glossary-link"><a href="https://members.60secondbridge.com/glossary/distribution/" class="glossary-only-link">Distribution</a></span><span class="hidden glossary-tooltip-content clearfix"><span class="glossary-tooltip-text">This refers to how cards in a suit are shared between the four players in a bridge game. <a href="https://members.60secondbridge.com/glossary/distribution/">More</a></span></span></span> Ponts (DP)
 In Lesson 4 we counted your HCP.  Now we use the number of cards above and beyond a 4 card holding in each suit to give you extra points. These are called distribution points (DP for short).
When you are in this situation it is known as ‘without a fit’ – if you have more than four cards in a suit you give yourself 1 point for each card over and above the first 4 in any suit holding in your hand.

How to count your Long Suit distribution points.

To calculate your DP’s you must add an additional 1 point for each 5-card suit and an extra 1 point for each additional card in the same suit. Distribution points are added to your HCP.

NB: In the next lesson we introduce ‘short suit distribution points.
Long and short suit points cannot be combined together at the same time, use only one or the other when evaluating your hand.


Play a Game of Bridge with Guided Bidding

Click on the link below titled “Practice this Lesson – with full Commentary” to play a game of Bridge. The Game engine will make all the bids for you starting as soon as the game screen has loaded – you only need to click on the cards to play.




Instant Progress Quiz – Check the correct answer



   No

  Yes


Your Hand

Exercise: Calculate the distributional points on this hand

  • ♠ A K 9 8 7 5
  • ♥ A K 10 8 6
  • ♦2
  • ♣4
Answer = 3 DPs. You have 3 DP’s for the extra cards over a holding of 4 in any suit. So you get 2 DP’s for the fifth and sixth spade cards and you get 1 DP for the fifth heart suit card.
This counting is performed before you know anything about partners suit holdings.

Practice bidding over the opponents

Bid to 3C to play

PLAY

Responses

  1. doedee April 29, 2025

    I am totally confused on this lesson. If I am the dummy why can’t I see my partner’s hand? Why isn’t partner playing my hand?
    It says opposition bid 3 H and yet I win the bidding with 3 C?
    Next it says I open with a 2 C bid. Not a word about HCDP which I thought was the purpose of this lesson.

  4. Unknown Member July 11, 2023

    I tried to follow the commentary but get lost after it says loss the heart and diamonds…. If I lose my last heart, EW comes back with the HQ. If I trump it and continue the best I scored was 9 tricks, which is over game. but the commentary says you can win 10?????

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The Acol Bidding System

*If you live in the UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand Acol is the most widespread system Acol has the following characteristics:
  • It is a natural system: most opening bids, responses and rebids are made with at least 4 cards in the suit bid, and most no trump bids are made with balanced hands.
  • It is a four-card major system: only four-card suits are required to open 1♠ or 1♥, unlike Standard American and many other systems where five-card suits are typically required.
  • It makes extensive use of limit bids: limit bids describe the hand so closely, in terms of high card points (HCP) and shape, that the one who makes the limit bid is expected to pass on the next round, unless partner makes a forcing bid.
  • Understanding and correct use of limit bids and forcing bids is fundamental to applying the system: all no trump bids below the level of 4NT are limit bids, as are all suit bids that merely repeat a suit already bid by the partnership; changes of suit may be forcing or not depending on the approach bids.
  • The level of the 1NT opening bid influences other bids: the normal choice is between a “weak no trump” (12–14 HCP) and a “strong no trump” (15–17 HCP).
  • All 1 of a suit opening bids then promise at least 4 cards in the bid suit
  • Notrump follow-up conventions include Stayman, Jacoby transfers Blackwood and Gerber Convention.
Change my Settings to Acol