The Play of the Hand

Basics

The cards in each suit are ranked from Ace (high) to 2 (low), with 13 cards in each suit. A deal consists of 13 tricks, where each hand contributes one card. Any card may be chosen when leading to a trick, but a player must follow suit (play a card of the same suit as the card led to the trick) if possible. Players who have a void - no cards - in the suit led may play any card at their turn.

The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump has been played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The player who wins the trick leads to the next one.

Order of Play

The player from the pair that won the bidding (that is, the pair that is going to play the contract), who was the first to make a bid in the suit of the final contract (who is thus either the player bidding the final contract or their partner), is called the declarer. Their partner is called the dummy.

Play to the first trick starts with the player to the left of the declarer. After the first card has been played, the dummy lays their cards open on the table. These cards are from then on played by the declarer, who plays dummy's cards whenever it is the dummy's turn to play on a trick. The dummy does nothing else for the remainder of the hand (hence the term).

Apart from this, the play is just like other trick-taking games - the player who took the previous trick leads to the next one (if the declarer took the trick in dummy, they have to play from dummy on the next trick, if they took the trick in their own hand, they have to play from their own hand). Whether there is a trump suit, and if so, which suit it is, has been decided during bidding.

Techniques in the Play of the Hand

Terence Reese, a prolific author of bridge books, points out that there are only four ways of taking a trick:

• playing a high card that no one else can beat
• trumping an opponent's high card
• establishing long cards (the last cards in a suit will take tricks if the opponents don't have the suit and are unable to trump)
• playing for the opponents' high cards to be in a particular position (if their ace is in front of your king, your king may take a trick)

All trick-taking techniques in bridge can be reduced to one of these four methods.

The optimum play of the cards can require much thought and experience, and is too complicated to describe in a short article. However, some of the most important probabilities have to do with the position of high cards.

• The probability that a given opponent holds one particular card, e.g. the king: 50%
• The probability that a given opponent holds two particular cards, e.g. the king and the queen: approximately 25%
• The probability that a given opponent holds at least one of two particular cards, e.g. the king or the queen: approximately 75%

When developing long cards, it is important to know the likelihood that the opponents' cards in the suit are evenly divided between them. Generally speaking, if they hold an even number of cards, they are unlikely to be exactly divided; if the opponents have an odd number in the suit, the cards will probably be divided as evenly as possible. For example, if declarer and dummy have eight trumps between them, the opponents' trumps are probably (68% chance) divided 3-2 (one opponent with three trumps, the other with two) and trumps can be drawn in three rounds. If declarer is trying to play with a seven card trump suit, it is more likely that the outstanding trumps are divided 4-2 (48%) than that the cards are evenly divided 3-3 between the opponents (36%).

Basic Techniques by Declarer

When new to the game, a player should be familiar with these strategies for playing the hand:

• trumping
• crossruff
• establishing long suits
• finesse
• holdup (mostly at NT contracts)
• managing entries
• when to draw trumps

Advanced Techniques by Declarer

Someone who plays regularly in tournaments should be familiar with these concepts:

• counting the hand (tracking the distibution of suits and high cards in the opponents' hands using inferences from the bidding and play)
• coup
• duck
• dummy reversal
• endplay
• Morton's Fork Coup
• Principle of Restricted Choice
• safety play
• squeeze
• trump coup

Basic Techniques by Defenders

• opening lead
• when to lead trump

Advanced Techniques by Defenders

• avoiding an endplay or squeeze
• counting the hand (tracking the distibution of suits and high cards in the unseen hands using inferences from the bidding and play)
• opening lead-using information from auction
• signaling
• uppercut