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Starting the bidding
Bridge is a partnership game where you and your partner aim to achieve the highest total
Bridge score. So there need to be some rules to understand each
other. In Standard American, opening either of the Major suits promises a 5-card suit. At the bottom of this
page there is a link to our Bridge Game where you can practice this lesson.
Opener’s First Bid
The first person to start the bidding process is called 'the dealer' however they may pass - the first person to actually make make a bid which is not pass, is called the opener. You should have at least 13 TP to open the bidding. To bid a suit at any level you should have at least 4 cards or more in the suit (there are exceptions but these will be covered in later lessons), this is called a 'biddable suit'Start with your longest suit – “Length before Strength”.
When you open with a bid at the level of 1 you are saying that you propose to
win at least 7 tricks out of the 13 tricks available in the game. The first six tricks is known as
"the book" and is the minimum number of tricks that you need to win before you can start
accumulating points for your bid. If you bid at the 2 level you need to win "the book" of 6 tricks
plus an extra 2 tricks to make your contract. When you bid you are also nominating the suit as the
trump suit. The number of cards to bid differ according to whether you open a major
suit or minor suit covered in lessons 1f and 1e.
Instant Progress Quiz - Check the correct answer
What what is your opening bid with this hand ?
Your Hand
- ♠ A K Q J
- ♥ J 5 4 3 2
- ♦ A K
- ♣ 6 5
Answer: The correct opening bid here is 1♥ Even though the spade suit
is stronger, the heart suit is longer and should be bid first.
If you get the chance to bid again you would then bid your spade suit
If you get the chance to bid again you would then bid your spade suit
Extra for Experts
A different game on the same subject as this lesson, with questions for community discussion in the comments area below.
Play