Lesson 7 - Opening the bidding - 30 mins

Well done, you're still here. You are a third of the way into the learning.

Remember to refer to your Helpcard 3 for this lesson.

Bidding is great fun. Watching your opponents mannerisms, for instance, when they pick up their hand, can tell you a lot about how good or bad their hand is. Humans tend to be tuned in to these type of things. Reading your opponents is fair game. If you can do it, great. How long they take to bid is also a handy thing for you to note. If you are dealt a hand with no aces, kings, queens or jacks it is unlikely that you will need to take 20 seconds thinking time before you pass.

A good plan, especially when it's true, is to tell your bridge companions that you are a starter. They will willingly allow you a longer time to think about your bid.

The purpose of bidding is to help you and your partner to reach a good contract and outscore your opponents. In the bridge starter system, bidding is absolutely natural. What you bid is what you expect to make.

Once you have worked out your hand count, you will know whether you have enough points to bid. You need at least 11 points to open the bidding.

If your hand count is less than 11 points - pass

If your hand count is 11-17 points - bid your longest suit at the first possible level - if you have a balanced hand with at least 3 cards in each suit and no obvious best suit, bid no trumps.

If your hand count is 18-24 points - bid your longest suit at the second possible level - if you have a balanced hand with at least 3 cards in each suit and no obvious best suit, bid no trumps.

If your hand count is 25+ points - bid your longest suit at the third possible level - if you have a balanced hand with at least 3 cards in each suit and no obvious best suit, bid no trumps

Suits of the same length and 'the first possible level'

If you have two or more suits with the same length; bid the one with the lowest ranking first i.e. clubs before diamonds before hearts before spades.

In the example above you have 4 hearts and 4 diamonds. You have enough hand count (11 points) to bid to the first possible level so you should choose the lower ranked suit and bid 1 diamond.

If an opponent has already bid 1 spade, for instance, you should bid diamonds to the first possible level. You cannot bid 1 diamond as diamonds rank below spades, so you should bid 2 diamonds.

If, unusually, you have a hand like the above and there has been a particularly strong bid from an opponent, like 2 hearts, before your chance to start bidding, use your instinct. I would pass with this hand. It is always acceptable to pass, as long as you dare face your partner afterwards.

No obvious best suit
If you have at least 3 of each suit but the suit that you have 4 of is very weak, bid no trumps. However, if you have at least a Jack as the highest card of the weak suit, bid the suit. I don't encourage bidding no trumps at either the opening bid or the response to the opening bid in the bridge starter system.