The Basics: What is Bridge?
Bridge is a trick-taking card game for four players in two partnerships. You sit North–South or East–West, opposite your partner. A standard 52-card deck is used — no jokers. The Ace is the highest card; then King, Queen, Jack, 10 down to 2.
The Deal: Getting Your Cards
One player (the Dealer) shuffles and deals all 52 cards clockwise, face down — one card at a time — giving 13 cards to each player. Pick up your cards and sort them by suit. Keep them hidden from the other players.
The Auction: Making Your Bid
Starting with the Dealer and going clockwise, each player bids or passes. A bid names a number (1–7) and a suit (♣ ♦ ♥ ♠) or 'No Trumps'. Each bid must be higher than the last. When three players in a row say 'Pass', the auction ends and the last bid becomes the contract.
The Contract: What You Must Win
The final bid is the contract. The number in the bid plus six tells you how many tricks you must win. So a contract of '3 Hearts' means you must win 9 tricks (3+6) with Hearts as the trump suit. The player from the winning side who first bid the trump suit becomes the Declarer.
Dummy's Hand: The Face-Up Cards
The player to Declarer's left leads the first card face-up on the table. Then Declarer's partner (called Dummy) lays their entire hand face-up for everyone to see. Declarer now plays both their own cards and Dummy's cards — trying to win the contract.
Playing Tricks: How to Win
Each player plays one card per trick, following suit if possible. If you have no cards in the suit led, you may play any card — including a trump. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, unless a trump is played, which beats all other suits. The winner of a trick leads the next.
Scoring: How Points Are Counted
If Declarer wins at least as many tricks as the contract required, their side scores points. Win fewer and the defenders score penalty points. Club and Diamond tricks score 20 points each; Hearts and Spades score 30; No Trumps score 40 for the first then 30 each. First side to 100 points wins a Game!
Quick Reference: The Four Suits
Full Guide
Bridge is widely regarded as the most intellectually rewarding card game ever devised — and with over 60 million players worldwide, its enduring appeal is no mystery. The game rewards memory, logical thinking, strategic planning and the subtle art of communication with a partner.
Learning bridge as an adult — even for the very first time — is entirely achievable. Many of the game's most accomplished players took it up in their 50s or 60s and went on to reach a high standard. The basics can be grasped in an afternoon; becoming a confident social player typically takes a few weeks of regular practice.
The move to online bridge has been transformative. Where once you needed to find three other players, arrange a time and meet in person, today you can open a tablet or laptop and find a game within seconds. Major platforms like Bridge Base Online (BBO), Funbridge and RealBridge offer games against computer opponents (called robots) that are ideal for beginners.
Counting your High Card Points (HCP) before the auction is one of the first skills every new bridge player should develop. The standard scale awards Ace=4, King=3, Queen=2 and Jack=1, giving the entire deck 40 HCP. Typically 12+ HCP is needed to open the bidding.
The best way to consolidate what you have learned is to play real hands as soon as possible. All major online platforms offer 'robot' games — you play against computer opponents who bid and play to a reasonable standard. Funbridge in particular is excellent for beginners, with a guided learning path and opponents at multiple difficulty levels.
Bridge is fundamentally a partnership game, and that partnership dimension is part of what makes it so rewarding. You and your partner are trying to communicate the contents of your hands through the auction — telling each other about your strength, your suit lengths, and your overall intentions, all through a sequence of coded bids.
Understanding the scoring system early makes the game much more enjoyable. The most important threshold is 100 trick points, which constitutes a 'game'. In major suits (Hearts and Spades), you need to bid and make 4 of a kind (10 tricks) to reach 100. In No Trumps, just 3NT (9 tricks) is enough.