The purpose of bidding is for the partnership to exchange information about their hands and eventually declare how many of the 13 tricks they will take.
Bidding Language
The bidding process uses a special language comprised of 38 coded messages where each message has a special meaning. Each player must use one of these 38 coded messages during the bidding process. Any other form of verbal communication or gesture is considered “table talk”, and is not permitted.
• BIDs: 35 of the coded messages are bids which are simple 2 syllable phrases. Each phrase is comprised of a number from 1 to 7, and one of five STRAINs. Four of the strains are the four suits in a deck of cards (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) and the fifth is "No Trump" (NT). Examples of these coded messages (or bids) are: 1 ♣ , 4 ♥ , and 7 NT .
• CALLs: The last 3 coded messages, calls, are the coded phrases "PASS", "DOUBLE", and "REDOUBLE".
Bidding Hierarchy
The 35 bids have a bidding hierarchy. The hierarchy displayed in the Hierarchy Chart progresses from bottom-left to top-right.
• The number hierarchy begins with "1" (the lowest number hierarchy on the bottom row), and increases by 1 up to row "7" (the highest number hierarchy on the top row).
• Strain hierarchy begins with clubs (the lowest hierarchy of the strains on the left), increases to the right to diamonds, to hearts, to spades, and is topped by No Trump (the highest hierarchy of the strains on the right).
• The lowest ranking bid is 1 ♣ , and the highest ranking bid is 7 NT .
The calls of PASS, DOUBLE, and REDOUBLE" have no hierarchy and do not interfere with the progression of the bidding hierarchy.
Once a bid is announced, the next player cannot use that same bid and cannot use a lower hierarchy bid. Each subsequent bid must be a higher ranking bid than the previous bid. The bidding must progress foward in bidding hierarchy.
Bid Meaning
1 ♣ means the partnership will take 7 of 13 tricks using clubs as the trump suit. The number 1 is the level of the contract. The first 6 tricks are referred to as a “book”, and the number 1 is how many tricks in addition to the book the partnership will attempt to win (1 plus 6 = 7).
4 ♥ means the partnership will take 10 of 13 tricks using hearts as the trump suit. The number 4 is the level of the contract. The first 6 tricks are referred to as a “book”, and the number 4 is how many tricks in addition to the book the partnership will attempt to win (4 plus 6 = 10).
7 NT means the partnership will take 13 of 13 tricks without using any suit as the trump suit (hence – no trump). The number 7 is the level of the contract. The first 6 tricks are referred to as a “book”, and the number 7 is how many tricks in addition to the book the partnership will attempt to win (7 plus 6 = 13).
Bidding Process
The bidding process is like a normal auction, in which the various participants making ever increasing bids on an item. The highest bidder wins the item. In this case the bidders vie for a "CONTRACT", hence the name of this card game, Contract Bridge. The contract is the commitment by the partnership to take a certain amount of the 13 tricks using one of the 5 strains.
• The dealer begins the bidding process by stating one of the 35 bids, or the call PASS.
• The player to the left of the bidder makes a higher bid or one of the calls.
• The next player to the left of the bidder makes a higher bid or one of the calls.
• This process progresses around the table in a clockwise direction where each player makes a higher bid or a call.
• After 3 players in succession make the call PASS, the bidding session is finished.
The last bid (before the 3 successive passes) becomes the “CONTRACT”. The player of this last bid becomes the DECLARER and has committed the partnership to taking the declared number of tricks using the declared strain.
Next, let's learn how to determine an opening bid.
