Learning the Game 3 - Introduction to card play
There are many games which have similar card play to bridge. Bridge is a member of the Whist family of games, or trick taking games. Other well known examples are Hearts and Spades.
Every suit has an order or rank to the cards. Ace is the highest card, followed by the King, Queen, Jack, then 10 down to 2.
Each player plays a single card in clockwise order, known as a trick. The person “on lead” gets to choose any card in his hand; every player after that must play a card of the same suit if they can (”following suit”), otherwise they may play any card they wish (”discarding”). The winner of the trick is the player who played the highest card of the suit led. They get to be “on lead” for the following trick.
In some cases, the bidding will name a trump suit. The trump suit assumes a special roll in the play of the hand. If a player does not have to follow suit to the lead, they may discard a member of the trump suit or “trump” the trick. If any player does this, the highest trump played to the trick wins. All players must still play the original suit led if they can.
Scoring is based on a combination of bidding and play. During the bidding, the declaring side states how many tricks they think they will win. (For example, the bid 3 hearts says “I can take 3+6 tricks with hearts as my trump suit.) If they acheive this goal (or better), they “make” their contract and earn points. If they fail in their stated goal, the non-declaring or “defending” side get points.
One unique difference in the card play in bridge against other trick taking games: after the initial opening lead by the left hand opponent of the declarer, the next hand gets placed face up on the table for all to see. The declarer gets to control both his own hand and this one, allowing that team to use their combined assets to greater effect. Of course, the defenders get to see this hand as well, and try their best to stop declarer.
In the next installment of this series, we’ll explore a sample hand through the whole lifecycle, from bidding to play.
POSTED IN: Beginners
0 opinions for Learning the Game 3 - Introduction to card play
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: