Contract Bridge: Rules and How to Play
Contract Bridge is a four-player partnership card game that takes about 25 minutes. Bid for the number of tricks and the trump suit, then make your contract. Free. In-browser. No account.
What is Contract Bridge? How you win
Contract Bridge is a trick-taking card game for four players in two partnerships. An auction decides the contract — how many tricks one side promises to take and which suit is trumps. Make it and that side scores; fail and the defenders score. In the default Chicago format the side with the higher total after four deals wins.
Setting up Contract Bridge: partners and the deal
- Four players. You partner the player sitting opposite (North–South, East–West). Empty seats are filled by the computer on this site.
- Deal all 52 cards (no jokers), 13 to each player. The deal passes to the left each hand.
How to play Contract Bridge: the auction and the play
- Starting with the dealer, each player makes a call: a bid (level and denomination), pass, double or redouble. Three passes after a bid end the auction.
- The player on declarer's left makes the opening lead. Then declarer's partner (dummy) lays their hand face up.
- Declarer chooses and plays dummy's cards. The dummy player just watches for that deal.
- Follow suit if you can; otherwise play any card. The highest trump wins the trick, or if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next. Aces are high and twos are low.
The auction (bidding) in Contract Bridge
Starting with the dealer and going clockwise, each player makes a call. A bid names a level and a denomination; the level is the number of tricks over six (1 means seven tricks).
- Denominations rank ♣ < ♦ < ♥ < ♠ < NT (no trumps). Each bid must be higher than the last: a higher level, or the same level in a higher denomination.
- You may always pass. Right after an opponent's bid you may double; a doubled side may redouble.
- After a bid, three passes in a row end the auction. The last bid is the contract, and declarer is the player of that side who first named its denomination.
- If all four players pass, the hand is redealt: in Chicago by the same dealer, not counting as one of the four deals (in Rubber, by the next dealer).
Contract Bridge scoring and the end of the game
- Take at least the contracted number of tricks (level plus six) to make the contract and score contract points plus bonuses. Fall short and the defenders score for each undertrick.
- The default Chicago format ends after four deals; the side with the higher total wins. Equal totals are a draw.
- With the Rubber setting, the first side to win two games wins the rubber and a bonus of 700 (500 if the other side won a game).
How Contract Bridge is scored
If declarer's side takes at least the contracted tricks, it scores; if not, the defenders score for each trick short.
| Item | Score |
|---|---|
| Contract points (per trick bid) | ♣♦ 20, ♥♠ 30, NT 40 for the first and 30 after (doubled ×2, redoubled ×4) |
| Game bonus (100+ contract points) | 300 (500 vulnerable) |
| Small slam (6) / grand slam (7) | 500 / 1000 (750 / 1500 vulnerable) |
| Making a doubled / redoubled contract (insult) | 50 doubled, 100 redoubled |
| Overtricks | Undoubled: same as contract points. Doubled 100 (vulnerable 200), redoubled 200 (vulnerable 400) |
| Undertricks (to the defenders) | Undoubled 50 each (100 vulnerable) |
| Doubled undertricks (1st · 2nd–3rd · 4th on) | 100 · 200 · 300 each (vulnerable 200 · 300 · 300 each); redoubled is twice that |
- Game contracts are 3NT, 4♥, 4♠, 5♣ and 5♦ or higher. Part-scores carry over and can add up to a game.
- A vulnerable side scores bigger bonuses and loses more when down. In Chicago nobody is vulnerable on deal 1, the dealer's side on deals 2 and 3, and both sides on deal 4.
- A part-score made on deal 4 that does not complete a game earns a 100-point bonus.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 4 players (set automatically by the party size) |
| Turn time limit | None by default (the host can set 30 or 60 seconds) |
| If someone drops mid-game | Reopening on the same device returns you to your seat. If you do not return, the CPU plays in your place. |
| Draws | In ranked play, a draw counts as halfway between a win and a loss for your rating. |
| Source of the rules | Based on the standard reference rules |
Rules supervised by Qdan, Inc. (based on the standard reference rules)
Contract Bridge house rules (settings on this site)
Defaults follow the standard reference rules. The party can change these.
| Name | Description | Default | Changeable |
|---|---|---|---|
| FormatFormatChicago always ends after four deals, with a fixed pattern of which deals are vulnerable (bigger bonuses and bigger penalties). Rubber is the traditional form: the first side to win two 100-point games takes a bonus, so its length depends on how play goes. Chicago suits a game with a set time. | Chicago ends after four deals and is decided on total points. Rubber is won by the first side to win two games. | Chicago (4 deals) | Yes |
| Part-scores (Chicago)Part-scores (Chicago)A part-score is the score for a contract too low to make game (100). With carry over, it combines with later deals and earns the game bonus once it reaches 100, and a part-score on deal 4 gets 100. Scoring each deal separately closes every deal on its own, with 50 for any part-score. | Whether a contract below game carries over toward game on later deals. | Carry over | Yes |
| HonoursHonoursHonours are the trump A, K, Q, J and 10. With this rule, if one player holds four or more of them, their side gets a bonus whether or not the contract makes (defenders' hands count too). Since it rewards the luck of the deal, turn it off to compare pure skill. | Four of the trump A, K, Q, J, 10 in one hand score 100, all five 150. In no trumps, all four aces in one hand score 150. | On | Yes |
Contract Bridge terms
- Trick
- One round of four cards, one from each player. The highest card takes it.
- Bid
- A call naming a number of tricks and a trump suit. The round of calls is the auction.
- Contract
- The final bid of the auction: the tricks promised and the trump suit.
- Declarer
- The player who tries to make the contract: the first of their side to name its denomination.
- Dummy
- Declarer's partner, whose hand is laid face up and played by declarer.
- No trumps (NT)
- A contract with no trump suit.
- Made / down
- Taking the contracted tricks is making it; falling short is going down.
- Vulnerable
- A state in which bonuses and penalties are larger.
Contract Bridge rules FAQ
Is this the same as Seven Bridge?
No. Seven Bridge is a rummy-style game about melding cards; Contract Bridge is a partnership game of bidding for tricks and making the contract.
What do I do as dummy?
Your hand is laid face up and your partner, declarer, plays your cards. You watch for that deal.
What does the number in a bid mean?
The tricks over six: 1 means seven tricks, 4 means ten, and 7 means all thirteen.
How is it different from Spades?
In Spades, spades are always trumps and each player just bids a number. In Contract Bridge the partnerships bid for both the trump suit and the tricks, and declarer also plays dummy's hand.
What if everyone passes?
The hand is redealt. In Chicago the same dealer deals again and it does not count as one of the four deals; in Rubber the next dealer deals.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-26 · Run by Qdan, Inc.