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001-014: Beginners - Evaluating your Hand

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  1. 001 - Introduction
  2. 002 - Definition of Terms
  3. 003 - Tricks To Make Your Bid
  4. 004 - High Card Points
  5. 005 - Long Suit Distribution Points
  6. 006 - Short Suit Distribution Points
  7. 007 - Total Points (TP)
  8. 008 - Trump Suits
  9. 009 - No Trumps
  10. 010 - The Ranking of Bridge Bids
  11. 011 - The Major Suits
  12. 012 - The Minor Suits
  13. 013 - Playing Bridge On Our Computer Game
  14. 014 - Quiz 1 Hand Evaluation
008

Suit Contracts

A trump suit is a way of winning a trick in Bridge and in other trick taking games. The trump suit can be either spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs and is decided by the bidding (also called ‘auction’). Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a trump suit these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits.
Suit Contracts in Bridge

Trump Suits

In the auction (bidding) if the final or highest bid is in either clubs, diamonds hearts or spades, that suit becomes the trump suit for the duration of that game. The contract can then be referred to as a suit contract.

When the highest bid is not a suit

If the highest bid is  ‘No Trump’, then the contract is a No Trump contract, this is covered in the next lesson

When to ruff using a trump card

When you are playing to a card led by another player if your hand has cards in that suit, you must follow suit  (not doing so involves strict penalties in a Bridge Club). If you have no cards left in the suit led then you should, if you can, play a trump card which will win the trick unless a subsequent player plays a trump card of higher value. This means that, for the duration of the game (thirteen tricks) that playing any card in the trump suit when others have played cards from different suits will win the trick.

Playing against the 60SecondBridge computer

The 60SecondBridge game engine will not let you play a trump card if you still hold cards in the suit led to the current trick.

Instant Progress Quiz

Check the correct answer/s



  is decided by the suit bid highest bid

 is decided by the Opening bid

  means that the highest card played in a trick always wins

  has a lower rank at the same level as a notrump contract

  means that a very low trump card cannot be over ruffed


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A suit contract in part game

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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.
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