Variations of Bridge
There are many variations on the rules of bridge. For now, here
are two ways to play three-player bridge:
- Cards are dealt normally. Each player counts their
points (
high card
only!), and announces their total. Whoever has the highest total (use
some method of breaking ties, such as most number of aces or something) is
declarer. Then the declarer names a
card that he/she want to have in
dummy, and the contract that will be played (before looking at the dummy
hand), which must either be in the suit of the card named, or in notrump.
Whichever hand holds this card is laid down as the dummy hand, and
if one of the opponents has that hand, he/she picks up the hand that has
not been looked at yet, and plays that hand.
- Cards are dealt normally. The bidding then begins, with each bid
consisting of only a number. Consecutive bids must go up (i.e. two bids
of 3 are not allowed), and once a player passes, he/she cannot bid again.
After the bidding has ended, the declarer looks at the dummy hand (the
hand no one has seen), and decides on a suit to play the contract in.
Play then proceeds normally.