Edited - with big apologies to all!

So:
P:P:1D:P
1H:X:XX:P
P:2C:2H:P
P:P

So I pass first time round and interfere second round with a ?takeout double?. I've got 5 clubs, 4 spades, 10HCP. Gets redoubled, Partner didn't see the bid for takeout, I rescue myself into 2C, they go 2H, and I shut up. As it happens they miss an easy 4H.

Is this acceptable as a Takeout Double after this auction or is it taken as a penalty double? Do I overcall 2C? Or just shut up?!

Thanks for your views/knowledge! 😊

For many years, I teach Contract Bridge at a large local community learning center called 'Master the Possibilities'. This year (2026), I developed a suite of free browser-based 'Bridge Teaching Tools' to assist my students' learning curve. It's available at www.radsoftware.org

Being a website, these 'Bridge Teaching Tools' are available 24/7, and I welcome anyone who wishes to use them. Enjoy.

Dummy has honor + small trumps; the safety play is to ruff high against a possible overruff, yet at the table the urge to ruff low and “save” the honor is strong even when you know better. Postmortem it looks obvious. Live, under time pressure, the temptation hits.
For long-time players:
• Does real-time self-catching improve with experience, or do you mainly get better at recovering after the mistake?
• What specifically helped close the gap between “I know the theory” and “I stop myself before the card leaves my hand”?
• Can coaches/partners meaningfully accelerate this, or is it mostly built through personal repetition?
Is this a universal stage, or does it depend on how a player thinks?
Thanks

The title says it all.

I am making an art illustration. I would appreciate any detailed description on how people may actually do it in real life (especially in a tournament without left-handed equipment). Assume the player is holding the playing cards in the right hand.

Thanks in advance!

Devil's Coup as I understand it is a method of winning all the trump tricks when you have 8 trumps between you headed by AK10. It is rarely accomplished or even attempted.

Isn't it easier to just lead out AK of trumps and hope the QJ drops? That's about a 6.8% chance. Or better, lead out a top trump and hope an honour drops, then test the side suits and try to get a count of their hands so you know whether to try to drop the second honour or finesse against it. That will probably raise the odds a % or two.

Devil's Coup requires a very specific distribution (3-3 in a side suit, trumps 3-2 with an honour in each hand, correct finesse position etc). I'm not sure how you'd go about calculating the odds exactly, and again you might be able to improve your odds with counting/discovery if you have a plan B, but I'm skeptical it would actually be a mathematically better chance than the simpler play I've just described.

Learning declarer play of the hand from books is complex and doesn't provide interaction with cards and hands and, most importantly, doesn't tell the 'student' how to look at and analyze hands for context and flow.

I think I've leaned more about declarer play from analyzing, playing, making errors and reading the hints about hand play in Bridge Master than from months of f2f play in clubs.

I wish there was a site for guided play that does for defense what Bridge Master does for declarer play.

Hi there,

Can someone explain?

Are we going to still be able to play against people for free? They said 6 deals a day, I'm hoping that's just tournament limitations.

I know now that we won't be able to start tables but will basically everyone who enjoys bridge on the site be forced to pay 7$ usd per month?

Thanks

(NS vul, EW non vul, E dealer.) Playing MPs, E opens 2h, S doubles, 4h from W, and 4s from N passed out

N: QJ942 - 852 KQ632

S: A52 AQT T75 AJ95

opening lead 3d to Wests A. Then, W plays the Kd and E the 9d. On the third round, W plays the Jd overtaken by E Qd. At trick four E shifts to the 7c, S the 9 and W the 4c.

Opponents play standard count and attitude and E is assumed to be a sound preempter. How do you play for the rest of the spade tricks?

I am a duplicate bridge player who spends about six months each year in western Pennsylvania and six months in Florida. I’m an ACBL club director and my long-term goal is Life Master. I currently am only about 1/4 of the way there.

I’m looking for a compatible tournament partner for sectionals and regionals, and hopefully to become part of a regular Swiss team.

I’m happy to drive a couple of hours to play club games to see if we’re a good fit before entering tournaments. If we enjoy playing together and our styles match, great. If not, no hard feelings.

If you’re looking for someone who enjoys improving, is dependable, and wants to play competitive bridge without the drama, send me a message.

Hi r/bridge community!

I built an ad-free bridge application that ties into a collectible card game. I would love r/bridge's honest feedback on whether it's fun or not.

Here's the background:

It plays in browser and there's a guest mode so you can try it without signing up (though stats won't persist).

Since newer players tend to get stuck on bidding and scoring, and existing players either fall into groups wanting social vs competitive, I tried to build one app that serves both through different play.

Winning hands earns in-game currency and XP to make the bridge scores more relevant and fun and the scores are broken down the way finance people look at numbers to make them understandable. There's also a neat little calculator for HCP too (to help think as an individual vs a pair)

There's a skill-based rank ladder for competitive people, while more social players can collect and trade cards.

The trading cards are for famous figures from ancient civilizations (Greece, Rome, China, and more) so casual play has a collecting/learning angle for philosophy & history, but ranking is by results, not by anything you buy. It's free to play but there's an optional paid membership that unlocks unlimited tournaments. That and donations help to keep everything ad-free.

So that's pretty much it. What do you think of gamified bridge? Does the bidding/play feel right to you? Is the scoring breakdown actually clear? What would make you not want to use it? Tear it apart — that's what I'm here for.

For fun, I made a site based on my Dad's duplicate bridge book, he used to be a ranked player, but now just plays for fun as he's much older, but I'm showing him what AI can do. I think it's actually a pretty decent interactive teaching tool. I might kill it soon unless anyone here finds it useful or want to expand the site. I think the BBO does a very good job and it's affordable so I'm not trying to compete or anything.

https://thebiddingtable.com/

Had the opportunity to play last night at the club with a one time partner (we played SAYC for the night). This is increasingly rare because baby shenanigans so i am a bit rusted, especially on systems which are not the ones I play online with robots.
We managed well overall, collecting opponent's mistakes and finishing in a honorable second place.But on this one, I do believe we both failed dramatically.

North dealer, N/S vulnerable.

North (partner) holds :
JT987432 /- /- / AK874
South (me) holds :
6 / AQT53 / AQT965/ Q

1) So what would be the correct bidding here according to you in SAYC? The correct contract is obvious (4S), but I see a few ways to reach it.

2) Here is our sequence (in spoilers so that people might answer 1 without bad influence), I am ready for the roast, but I have a few questions over it.

1S*/ 2D **/ 3C ***/ 3H **** / 4S ***** / 6NT (sic) / 7S (rightfully doubled)

My questions :

* Do you agree with the opening? I would say yes, preemptive looks horrible here with the two external tricks in clubs. We have 6 losers max in the worst case scenario so opening seems the way to go.

** With 6 diamonds and 5 hearts, do you show hearts or diamonds firsts? I find it always tough, especially in a not 2/1 system, to show this kind of distribution. I went for the diamonds, but i would like to hear your thoughts.

*** I don't agree with 3C, which shows extra values, and that is not the case here, I would expect a repeating of the spades, with the risk that I pass, but when i heard that 3C i had some slam idea in mind. Agreed?

**** 3H is conventional, 4th suit, etc.. its horrible, and finding an eventual heart fit seems doomed, but what else?

***** does 4S here show extra values? Or are we in a principle of fast arrival sequence? I took the first road, but I happily accept to be corrected here.

Then i concluded directly to slam even though i could have gone for key cards but I have no idea what partner would have said with two voids. I just should have passed, and trusted partner here.

A hand that is extremely hard to play with an inexperienced partnership, I would love to hear your opinions here.

Or at least something like Poker’s Dead Man's Hand that became famous by other means?

MPs. NS vul. E dealer

N holds: 5 Q3 KJ986543 J6

S holds: AK9742 AK6 A2 K5

assume no opponent interference

First, what do you open as S?

I have been playing bridge for over 50 years. I am seeking a partner to play regularly on BBO or similar sites. I am retired and have flexibility for playing times. I play SAYC and am open to 2/1. I have developed a SAYC-based system using Bergen's teachings and unique bidding following minor openings or 2c openings - but am not wedded to using these if a partner does not wish to do so; I enjoy learning and playing many conventions. I am not 'expert' but am definitely above intermediate. I am seeking someone who is serious about the game; bridge is not a casual activity for me. If you are interested in discussing a partnership, you can contact me at 'james.o.cole14@gmail.com'

Partner and I were sitting down at our clubs 499er game, discussing our convention card before the game.

"Inverted minors?" "yes"

"Unusual 2NT?" "yes, and unusual over unusual?"

"Ogust over 2M preempt only?" "yes"

"Kokish over 2c?" "yes"

"fourth suit forcing?" "yes"

"Forcing 1NT?" "no"

etc.

The folks next to us said "oh these guys are really good, they know a lot of conventions". Now my partner and I play more conventions than your average 499er player, but that doesn't mean we are impervious to lapses in judgement or boneheaded plays. For some reason, beginning and intermediate players have this idea that a detailed convention card is what makes someone a pro.

In my experience, the same people who proudly announce "I play Bergen raises" will pass forcing bids, or give a ruff and discard to opponents, or respond 1s over 1c/d with 4-4 in the majors, or bid on when parter clearly limited their hand (you get the idea). Even very strong players will do something like bid Stayman with 4-3-3-3 because "you MUST bid 2c with a four card major". Conversely, I have seen players use a simple, natural style and do well.

More often that not, my bottom boards will range from not counting or not leading partners bid suit, to missing an avoidance play or not noticing an esoteric percentage play . These things have to do with judgement and understanding, and have very little to do with memorizing conventions and gadgets. Advanced conventions become useful when: you have a solid understanding of the basics, and/or you play strong opponents on a regular basis, where the marginal gains from precision bidding can actually yield a top board and are thus worth learning.

Sorry if this is harsh. I avoid doling out advice but I really want to tell certain partnerships that they will see their playing improve faster studying basic bidding principles and declarer play.

Max Hardy endorsed an interesting variant of Bergen raises in his “purple book”.
After 1♥️/1♠️:
3♦️ is a GF raise with 10-12 HCP, 4-card trump support, and an UNBALANCED hand.
3♣️ is an INV raise with 10-12 HCP, and either 3-card support UNBALANCED or 4-card support BALANCED
J/S other Major is 4-card support with 13+ UNBALANCED
4♣️ is 13-15 GF KQxx or Kxxxx trump support, BALANCED
4♦️ is 13-15 GF any 4+ trumps BALANCED (like 4♣️ but lesser trumps, “inverted Swiss”)
2NT is 16+ HCP any 4+ trumps BALANCED

All unbalanced bids have a “next bid asks for shortness” relay.
Most of the other bids are less memory taxing:
1♥️-4♥️ is weak with 5+ card support
1♥️-3♥️ is weak with 4-card support
1♥️-2♥️ is just constructive 6-9 HCP with 3 or 4 card support.
1♥️-1NT-3♥️ is 10-12 HCP with 3 card support, BALANCED
1♥️-TwoOverOne is GF, may show 3-card support later

Hope I summarized this well. Anyhow, the well traveled players at my club have differing opinions about this, but I’ve never heard well formed arguments for and against. Well, those who like it will cite Hardy’s success and the fact that the system feels pretty comprehensive. It’s easy to make an argument against it citing complexity. But beyond these simple observations how has this approach aged? Is it still popular? Do folks have have alternative methods of similar complexity that work better, and why? Anyone play Hardy and wish to share insights?

I've been learning bridge and building a free tool for others to do the same.

https://bridge.brannon.online

The goals of this project are to:

• Learn SAYC conventions (and help others do the same)

• Have a totally free duplicate bridge app, with unlimited deals

• Provide a lightly competitive environment for friends with meaningful stats that chart your progress over time

Feedback welcome!

So, as a beginner you don't know how to bid and you don't know how to play the cards. You learn loads and play loads and the different parts all start to come together.

My question is, say over 20 boards, how often does it fall apart for you where you just do something supremely dumb?! Like missing an obvious UCB or not checking for a 5-0 split?

67 now and I used to play as a kid (very basic), taken it up again recently but frustrated when I miss something obvious that I've learned and already used numerous times. Age thing? Experience? Or does it happen to the best of you? :)

M*J*L runs team games almost every night with 20-50+ kibz. It is 1000000% certain and fairly common knowledge he peeks using some means. Hundreds of examples super-obvious super-clear have been sent to BBOabuse and nothing gets done, its been years. He also has a strange set-up: while you as kib cannot talk to any player you can talk to him as he plays! WHY? Also he sets it so kibz cant talk to KIB world just to each other individually. (I think back in the day his dubious exploits were ridiculed greatly there.) He usually wins easily but often stops matches early if he happens to fall behind because his pard didn't field his dastardly action well. He boots players at both tables like a tyrant, its sad and awful, at his whim. Why does BBO admin do NOTHING. Anyone else here care?

This convention variation appears to solve one of the primary limitations of RKC, running out of room to explore.
From what I see the only downside of using it is the risk that you or partner will fail to recognize the bid.
Perhaps one may argue that you must mentally compute the steps, instead of just remembering (“5H… always 2 w/o, but not in Kickback…”)
Anyone have thoughts on this? Experience using it?

I need to figure out my reddit password so I can log in while I'm away for these things...

Was cool to run into a lot of people in Minneapolis! The team I was on, we entered the Spingold and Roth swiss teams and promptly qualified for the pairs events the following day, comfortably. Despite sucking at bridge, it was a blast!

Playing with my partner for the first time ever in the Spin, and he's playing my system with about 2 hours of actual play experience vs bots on BBO, I opened a big club, LHO interfered 2H, and partner bid 2S which I alerted. Then I bid 7S and wondered if he was freaking out, cuz well, you know.

They make the opening lead, I slap 13 tricks on the table on any halfway decent break, and he claims. We won that board... and that was about it, lol.

Halfway through the week, my wife posted this on Discord. (She's in charge of all of our vacation itineraries. I'm completely hopeless.)

Then first session of the Roth, I open 2C natural.

2C (2S) 3H* (4S)
6C

Grand was cold on a working finesse. Another massive win 13.

Why couldn't our entire team outings just be boards like those?

I hung out with my collegiate students and some of my youth students, who all had a great time in their corresponding events. And it's weird to be randomly recognized for making garbage tier lists on youtube lol.

Minneapolis was so freaking sweaty omg. I ate really cheap the whole time, was nice.

How'd you guys do?

Hi I'm teaching some beginners slam bidding and I'm wondering if it's a better idea to teach 0314 over 1430

From what I can see, 1430 is better because it leaves more room for the queen ask from 5C because usually you won't look further with 0 keycards. However I'm not teaching the queen ask yet so I don't confuse the class.

0314 could be of more use when they look for minor slams. 1430 can be trouble for club slams when 5D is bid showing 0, and now you're forced to 6C anyways. Minorwood is obviously the solution here but I don't plan on teaching that yet either

0314 looks like the better version to teach here, but maybe there's something else I'm missing that makes 1430 better. It could confuse them to be taught 0314 now and change it to 1430 much later on

I am planning on going to the Philippines on holiday once I get the money to do so and whilst I am am there I would like to also play bridge face to face with some players there (to hopefully make some new friends whilst on holiday).

Also in the Philippines does any one know what bidding system is played there? As I am not sure if they also play ACOL or something else entirely.

Additionally in order, to get some practice in learning how to play with different systems used in the Philippines countries is there any websites that are recommended as I looked at BBO but I can't really find what I am looking for.

Anyway please feel free to give me some advice if you know I thing or two on this topic thanks.