How to Play Bridge: Complete Beginner’s Guide

Bridge gets a reputation for being complicated. It’s not.

Sure, it’s deep. You could play for decades and still discover new strategies. But the basics? You can learn them in an afternoon. By the end of this guide, you’ll understand enough to sit down at a table and play your first game.

Let’s jump in.

What is Bridge?

Bridge is a trick-taking card game played by four people in partnerships. You and your partner sit across from each other. Your goal is to win tricks by playing high cards—but here’s the twist.

Before you play a single card, you and your partner have a conversation. You tell each other (in a special code) what cards you hold. Then you make a promise: “We’ll win at least this many tricks.” If you deliver, you score points. If you fail, your opponents score.

That’s bridge. Part card game, part puzzle, part conversation with your partner.

It combines luck (what cards you’re dealt), skill (how you play them), and partnership (working together without saying what you actually have). Bridge players often say it’s like speaking a language only you and your partner understand.

What You Need

Getting started is simple:

A standard 52-card deck. No jokers. You’ll use all four suits: ♠ spades, ♥ hearts, ♦ diamonds, and ♣ clubs.

Four players. Bridge is always played with exactly four people, forming two partnerships. You and your partner play as a team against the other pair.

Something to track score. A notepad works fine. Bridge has its own scoring system, but don’t worry—we’ll keep it simple.

A table. You’ll sit in a square: North, East, South, West. Partnerships sit opposite each other. If you’re North, your partner is South. If you’re East, your partner is West.

That’s it. No board, no chips, no app required. Just cards, people, and a surface to play on.

The Goal of the Game

Here’s what you’re trying to do: make and fulfill contracts.

A contract is a promise. During the bidding phase, you and your partner figure out how many tricks you can win. You commit to that number. Then you play the hand and try to deliver.

If you said you’d win 7 tricks and you win 7 (or more), you score points. If you only win 6, your opponents score instead. Your actual opponents score the difference.

Bridge is played in rubbers—best of three games—but we’ll focus on playing a single hand first. Walk before you run.

Card Rankings and Suits

Every card has a rank. From highest to lowest:

A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Ace is high. Two is low. No surprises there.

But suits have rankings too:

♠ Spades (highest)
♥ Hearts
♦ Diamonds
♣ Clubs (lowest)

This matters during bidding. Saying “one spade” is stronger than “one heart,” even though both promise the same number of tricks. You’ll see why in a minute.

There’s also notrump (NT), which sits above all the suits. When you play in notrump, there’s no trump suit at all—just raw card power.

The Four Phases

Every hand of bridge follows the same pattern:

1. Deal

The dealer shuffles and deals all 52 cards, one at a time, clockwise. Everyone gets 13 cards. No one looks yet.

Once everyone has their cards, pick them up and sort them. Most players organize by suit, with high cards on the left.

2. Bid

This is the conversation. Starting with the dealer, players take turns either making a bid or passing.

A bid has two parts: a number (1-7) and a suit (or notrump). “One heart.” “Three notrump.” “Seven spades.”

The number represents tricks above six. If you bid “one heart,” you’re promising to win seven tricks (6 + 1 = 7). If you bid “three notrump,” you’re promising nine tricks (6 + 3 = 9).

Why six? Because there are 13 tricks available in every hand. Winning exactly half (6.5, rounded down to 6) is the baseline.

Each bid must be higher than the last. You can bid a higher number, or the same number in a higher suit. “One spade” beats “one heart.” “Two clubs” beats both.

When three players in a row pass, the bidding ends. The last bid becomes the contract. The player who first mentioned that suit (or notrump) for their partnership becomes the declarer.

3. Play

The player to the left of the declarer leads the first card. Then the declarer’s partner (called the dummy) lays all their cards face-up on the table.

Yes, face-up. The dummy doesn’t actually play—the declarer controls both hands. Your opponents can see half your cards. This is by design.

Players follow suit if they can. If you can’t follow suit, you can play any card. The highest card in the suit led wins the trick—unless someone played a trump card, in which case the highest trump wins.

The winner of each trick leads the next card.

4. Score

After all 13 tricks are played, count how many the declarer’s side won. Did they make their contract? If yes, they score points. If no, the defenders score penalty points.

Then deal the next hand.

Bidding Basics

Bidding is where bridge gets interesting. You’re trying to tell your partner what you have without actually saying it.

You can’t say “I have the ace of spades.” But you can say “one spade,” which suggests you have some spade strength.

Here’s a simple system to start with:

Opening the Bidding

If you have 13+ points, you can open. Count points like this:

Ace = 4 points
King = 3 points
Queen = 2 points
Jack = 1 point

Look for a suit with at least four cards. Bid “one” of that suit.

If you have 13 points but no good suit, or if you have 16+ points with balanced cards (no really long or short suits), bid 1NT (one notrump).

Responding

If your partner opens and you have 6+ points, respond. Don’t pass.

With support for their suit (at least three cards in it), raise them. If they bid “one heart” and you have three or more hearts, bid “two hearts.”

Without support but 6+ points, bid your own suit or bid 1NT if you’re balanced.

When to Pass

Pass when you don’t have enough to bid or when you can’t beat the current bid without going too high.

If three players pass in a row, the bidding is over.

Example Bidding Sequence

North: 1♥    (I have 13+ points and at least 4 hearts)
East:  Pass  (I don't have enough to compete)
South: 2♥    (I have 6+ points and at least 3 hearts—let's go higher)
West:  Pass  (I've got nothing)
North: 4♥    (With your help, I think we can win 10 tricks)
East:  Pass
South: Pass
West:  Pass

The contract is 4♥. North is the declarer (they mentioned hearts first). They need to win 10 tricks (6 + 4).

Playing a Hand

Let’s walk through an actual hand.

You’re South. Your partner (North) is the declarer in 3NT (nine tricks needed). West leads the ♠5.

North (dummy) puts their cards on the table:

          NORTH (Dummy)
          ♠ A K 3
          ♥ 8 6 4
          ♦ K Q J 10
          ♣ 9 7 2

Your hand (South):

          SOUTH (Declarer)
          ♠ 7 6
          ♥ A K Q
          ♦ A 9 8 3
          ♣ A K 5 4

West led the ♠5. You play from dummy first—let’s say the ♠3. East plays the ♠Q. You play your ♠6 (can’t win anyway).

East wins and leads the ♠J. You play the ♠K from dummy (might as well win now). West follows with the ♠4. You discard the ♥4 from your hand—you’re out of spades.

Now you’ve won a trick. You lead from dummy.

You need nine tricks total. You can see:

3 heart tricks (A K Q in your hand)
4 diamond tricks (A in hand, K Q J 10 in dummy)
2 club tricks (A K in your hand)
1 spade trick already won

That’s 10 tricks. More than enough.

You lead the ♦K from dummy. Everyone follows. You win. Lead the ♦Q. Everyone follows. You win again. Lead the ♦J. Now someone runs out and discards. You win a third diamond trick.

Lead the ♦10 from dummy. Play your ♦A from hand. Four diamond tricks secured.

Now cash your ♥A K Q. Then your ♣A K.

You’ve won 10 tricks. Contract made with an overtrick. Your side scores.

Key Play Rules

A few rules to keep straight:

Follow suit. If a spade is led and you have any spades, you must play a spade. You can’t save your high card for later by playing a different suit.

Trump power. If a trump suit was named in the contract (like 4♥), any trump card beats any non-trump card. A ♥2 beats an ♠A if hearts are trump.

Dummy plays second. The person to the left of the declarer leads first. Then dummy’s cards are played (by the declarer). Then third hand. Then declarer from their own hand.

Winner leads next. Whoever won the previous trick gets to lead the next card.

Scoring Overview

Bridge scoring is detailed, but here’s the simple version for rubber bridge:

Making your contract:

Minor suits (♣♦): 20 points per trick bid
Major suits (♥♠): 30 points per trick bid
Notrump: 40 for the first, 30 for each after

You need 100 points to win a game. Bid and make 3NT? That’s 40 + 30 + 30 = 100. Game.

Bid and make 4♥? That’s 30 × 4 = 120. Game.

Overtricks (tricks beyond your contract) score the same as regular tricks.

Undertricks (failing your contract): The opponents score 50 points per trick you fell short.

Slam bonuses: Bidding and making 6-level (small slam) or 7-level (grand slam) contracts earns huge bonuses.

For your first games, just track: Did you make it or not? Who’s ahead? The exact math can come later.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Here’s what trips up new players:

Forgetting to follow suit. When that spade is led and you play a heart instead (even though you have spades), that’s a revoke. It’s a penalty. Your opponents can claim tricks back.

Bidding without points. Opening with 8 points because you have a long suit seems tempting. Don’t. You’ll make promises you can’t keep.

Ignoring your partner’s bids. If your partner opens 1♠ and you have two tiny spades and nothing else, passing seems logical. But if you have 6+ points, bid something. Even “1NT” says, “I have a few points but no fit.”

Trying to win every trick. Sometimes you need to lose a trick on purpose to set up winners later. This is called “establishing a suit.” If you have ♠K Q J 10 and the opponents have the ♠A, you might lead small and let them win their ace. Then your K Q J are all winners.

Leading trump too early. When you’re defending, don’t automatically lead trump. Sometimes you want to lead your longest, strongest suit to take tricks before the declarer can use their trumps.

Your First Game

Ready to play? Here’s how to make your first game smooth:

Find patient partners. Let everyone know you’re learning. Most bridge players remember being beginners and will happily explain.

Start with rubber bridge. Forget about duplicate bridge and tournaments for now. Just play casual hands at home or a club.

Use a simple bidding system. The basics in this guide are enough. As you play more, you’ll add conventions (special agreements about what bids mean).

Ask questions between hands. “Why did you lead that card?” “Why did you bid 2♣ instead of 1NT?” Good players love talking strategy.

Expect to make mistakes. You will revoke. You will forget the contract. You will underbid or overbid. That’s how you learn.

Play a lot. Bridge clicks after you’ve seen patterns repeat. Ten hands teaches you more than ten hours of reading.

Next Steps

Once you’ve played a few hands and the basics feel comfortable, here’s where to go next:

Learn standard bidding conventions. Stayman, Blackwood, and weak two-bids are used by almost everyone. They make bidding more precise.

Study declarer play. How to count tricks, manage trump, and time your plays. This is where bridge becomes beautiful.

Practice defensive signals. As a defender, you and your partner can signal to each other with the cards you play. High-low, count signals, attitude signals—there’s a language here too.

Read about card combinations. How do you play ♠K Q J opposite ♠9 7 3 to maximize tricks? There are proven techniques.

Join a bridge club or play online. Regular play accelerates your learning. Clubs often have beginner lessons. Online platforms like BBO (Bridge Base Online) let you play anytime.

Bridge is a game that rewards the curious. Every hand is a puzzle. Every partner is different. You’ll never master it completely—and that’s the joy.

Why Bridge?

Millions of people play bridge. It’s the only card game that’s both a social pastime and a competitive sport. You’ll find bridge clubs in nearly every city, tournaments offering thousands in prizes, and online communities playing around the clock.

But beyond the competition, bridge keeps your mind sharp. Studies show it improves memory, concentration, and logical thinking. Players in their 80s and 90s stay mentally agile through regular play.

And it’s genuinely fun. That moment when you and your partner execute a perfect contract, or when you figure out where the missing queen is hiding based on the bidding—there’s nothing quite like it.

Ready to Deal?

You now know enough to play bridge. Not perfectly. Not expertly. But enough to deal the cards, bid a simple hand, play some tricks, and score the result.

That’s all you need.

The rest comes from playing. From making mistakes and learning why they matter. From watching better players and stealing their techniques. From that first time you bid a game contract, play it out, and make it exactly.

Bridge is waiting. Grab a deck and three friends.

Your first hand starts now.

Want to improve your game? Explore our Encyclopedia for detailed articles on bidding systems, declarer play techniques, defensive strategies, and more.

How to Play Bridge: Complete Beginner's Guide (2026)