Bridge Groups

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Bridge currently occupies a position of great prestige and it is more comprehensively organized than any other card game. At Senior Center, Inc., Bridge abounds. To non-players, bridge is bridge. To players, bridge has many varieties and certain forms of the game and styles of play can be more appealing to different individuals…make that partners or pairs!

In all forms of bridge, 13 cards are dealt to each player. One of the players declares which of the four suits shall be trump (making the 13 cards of that suit higher in rank than the other 39 cards) or declares that there shall be no trump. The method of declaration varies with the form of bridge. The player to the left of the declarer then leads a card. Each of the others in turn plays a card and must play a card of the suit led, if possible. The 4 cards played constitute a trick, which is won by the person playing the highest card of the suit led, or the highest trump if any trump has been played. The winner of the first trick leads the first card of the second trick, and so on for the remainder of the 13 tricks. The scoring depends primarily on the number of tricks won by each side and is different for the different forms of bridge.

Rubber Bridge is the basic form of Contract Bridge, played by four players. There are four players in two fixed partnerships. This form is played in rubbers with a rubber being the best of three games with a game won by the first team to score 100 or more points for successful contracts, over several deals if necessary.

In Contract Bridge, the scoring places an emphasis on skillful bidding. Contract Bridge is not a single game, but many games with each having its own unique winning tactics. Games include Duplicate Bridge, Party Bridge and No Trump Bridge.

In Duplicate Bridge, the element of luck (i.e. outcome of game depending heavily on which side is dealt the better hand) is decreased by having the same hands played more than once, by different sets of players. With a decrease in the element of luck affecting the final score, the factor of skill is correspondingly increased. Duplicate Bridge can be played by any number of players divided into pairs or teams. Each pair competes against all (or against half) the other pairs. The cards are all dealt before play begins and placed in pockets in separate trays known as boards on each table with the dealer and conditions of vulnerability marked on the board. In this form, the cards are placed in front of each player and at the end of the hand, everyone's cards are placed intact back in the board. The board is then passed on to the next table, and the same cards are replayed by four different players. The players move from table to table in accordance with a prearranged plan so that each pair plays against as many other pairs as possible and the boards are moved in such a way that the same pair never plays the same hand twice. Scoring is based upon how each pair does with the cards compared to other pairs with the same cards partners win if they score better, and lose if they score worse, than other players.

Party Bridge is a multi-table contest in which participants compete against a field of pairs playing Contract Bridge. Typically six deals are played at each table, scored as a continuous rubber bridge game with the scores totaled at the end of the six deals. After six deals, one pair from each table moves to another table for another round of six deals. After four rounds played against different opponents, results are totaled and pairs ranked according to total points won.

No Trump Bridge involves noting a bid or contract to be played without naming a trump suit. No trump contracts provide the nuts and bolts of bridge card play. Without a trump suit lurking in the background, where small cards can pop up unexpectedly and ruff your winners, the play is simplified and becomes all about the correct handling of the suits. This does not imply that no trump play is easy, though!

Sources: www.pagat.com/boston/bridge.html#types, http://hometown.aol.com/sqeezzee/, http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561056/Bridge_(game).html