What Does Every Bridge Contract Require in Points and Tricks?

How the Bid Ladder Works

Every bid in bridge names a level (1–7) and a denomination (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades or no-trump). The level is the number of tricks above six you contract to win: so a 1-bid is a promise of seven tricks and a 7-bid of all thirteen. Each bid must rank higher than the last, climbing the ladder below from 1♣ up to 7NT.

The Complete Bidding Chart

Read it bottom-to-top, left-to-right: within any level, no-trump outranks spades, spades outrank hearts, and so on down to clubs. The colours mark the contracts that earn the big bonuses.

For the rules that govern moving up this ladder: legal bids, doubles and how the auction ends: see our guide to bridge bidding rules.

Where Game Begins

"Game" is the level worth a large bonus, and it sits at a different height in each denomination because the suits score at different rates. These are the targets every constructive auction aims at first.

Because the minors need eleven tricks for game, partnerships with a minor fit often prefer to play 3NT instead: nine tricks is a far easier target than eleven.

Points You Need for Each Level

The combined high-card points your side holds (out of 40 in the deck) point to the level you can safely reach.

Reading the Chart at the Table

In practice you rarely think about all 35 contracts at once. You establish a likely strain: a major fit, a minor fit or no-trump: then use the ladder to judge how high to go. The art of bidding is exchanging enough information to land on the right rung: high enough to earn the bonus you are entitled to, but not so high that you cannot make it.

What Are the Standard Point Thresholds for Every Level of the Game?

Here are the combined high-card point (HCP) requirements for the standard contracts, as a quick reference. These are approximate guidelines, not absolute rules, but they serve well for the vast majority of hands:

Remember: these are combined HCP between your hand and partner’s. If you open with 14 HCP and partner responds showing 11-12, you know the combined total is 25-26 and game is correct. If partner shows 8-9 with an invitational bid, game is borderline and you need to judge based on your own hand quality.

What Are the Point Count Requirements for Opening Bids and Responses?

Opening bid requirements in standard bridge:

Response requirements: a simple response (1NT or a new suit at the one level) needs 6 HCP. A raise to the two level needs 6-9 HCP and three-card support. A limit raise (jump to three of opener’s suit) needs 10-12 HCP and at least three-card support. A game-forcing response (a jump to game, or a 2-over-1 response in standard game-forcing systems) needs 12+ HCP.

What Is the Points Chart for Notrump Bidding Specifically?

Notrump bidding has its own ladder of responses that is worth memorising separately. Over a 1NT opening (15-17 HCP), here is what each response by partner means:

The 4NT response here is "quantitative" (inviting slam based on combined points), not Blackwood. Blackwood only applies when a suit has been agreed as trumps. Over 1NT, 4NT = "we might have 33 points for slam; if you have 17, accept; if 15-16, decline."

For a complete walkthrough of how to bid over 1NT openings including Stayman and Transfers, see our guides to Stayman and Jacoby Transfers.

Does the Points Chart Work the Same Way in Suit Contracts as in Notrump?

The HCP thresholds are similar but not identical, and the reason is distribution. In notrump, high cards do all the work. In suit contracts, the trump fit adds extra tricks through ruffing, and the shape of the hand can be worth as much as 2-3 extra points.

The way most experienced players account for this is through "distributional points" added to the raw HCP count:

• Void: add 3 points (when you have a trump fit)
• Singleton: add 2 points (when you have a trump fit)
• Doubleton: add 1 point (when you have a trump fit)

These short-suit points are added only when you know your side has a trump fit. Adding short-suit points before a fit is confirmed is a common beginner error that leads to overbidding.

With distributional points included, a hand with 11 HCP plus a singleton might count as 13 points for the purpose of deciding whether to raise to game. That is why bridge teachers often say "25 HCP is the minimum for game" while simultaneously describing hands with 22-23 combined HCP reaching and making game. The distributional bonus is the bridge that closes the gap. To see this in practice, take a look at our guide to opening bids and the Rule of 20.