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Bridge is Arguably the Greatest Card Game Ever – But it is Tricky

Further on from the guru Eddie Kantor’s 4 Basic Phases of Bridge, I came across his crib notes that my partner and I used to get us up and running in this most difficult, yet addictive card game.

Bridge – the Card Game: Some Winning Tips

As any bridge player will know, bidding is considered the most important aspect to master in the game. A good bridge playing bidder is a winning bridge player.

· Count – before opening take stock. Add your high card points (HCP): Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2, Jack = 1. Holding 12 or more HCP, you should open the bidding.

· To open 1♥ or 1♠, you must have at least five cards in the suit.

· If you have two five-card suits, open in the higher-ranking suit first, i.e. spades before hearts. The suits rank from spades to hearts to diamonds and then clubs.

· If you have two four-card suits, one a major (spades or hearts), one a minor (diamonds or clubs), you should open in the minor. If you have two four-card minors, open 1♦.

· With a balanced hand, i.e. no voids, singletons, or two doubletons, open 1NT with 15 - 17 HCP.

· If your partner opens, holding less than 6 HCP pass. With 6 or more HCP, bid your longest suit at the one level, if possible. Responding at the two-level in a new suit requires 10-11 or more HCP. Replying 1NT indicates 6 to 10 HCP. This tells your partner you don’t have a four-card major when she opens 1♣ or 1♦.

· To support your partner’s first bid major suit you need three or more cards in that suit; to support any second bid suit, you need four or more cards in that suit.

· In bidding, the primary objective is to find an eight-card or longer major suit fit in the partnership.

Playing duplicate bridge at home – Bridge stationery and equipment that you will need.

This is a fun way of playing the game of bridge. To do so you need basically:

· You need at least 8 players (2 tables). If you want more players it is preferable to do so in multiples of 4.

· Card/bridge tables - you can use any table which accommodates 4 people, but it is nicest to use a standard card table.

· Bridge cloths - preferably plain coloured.

· Duplicate boards – at least one for each table.

· One pack of playing cards for each duplicate board

· Score sheets or travellers – one for each board.

· Movement cards - to direct players to their next table position after each round.

A "movement" in the game of duplicate bridge is a direction of circulating the pairs and boards around so that for every round each pair meets up with an opposing pair to play the next set of boards that neither has played. There are various types of movements, but these two – The Howell Movement and Individual are common and will show you how to set up the movement. It is essential to have these movement cards so that players know where to go and what boards to next play. You can get them at a bridge supply shop. https://www.bridgeshop.com.au/club-supplies/movements.html

#bridge shop #bridge shop australia #bridge cards #bridge game #bridge products #bridge card game

Bridge the Game is The Game to Play

We do not stop playing bridge because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing bridge

If you have been playing cards since time immemorial then this is not the time to stop. Playing cards as in the game of bridge will keep you on your toes for a very long time, even at this difficult time for all game playing people who are having to keep a safe distance and be vigilant about socialising in a safe environment.

There are some character traits of people who are adept (let's leave out the professional bridge playing gurus, although it still applies to these top echelons of a select few) at the game of bridge.

Think of Attila the Hun or Dolores the Dummy at the Bridge Table

Appearances can be deceiving in all sectors of game playing people, but one needs to be able to identify certain characteristics to select a partner or tactically play at the bridge table. These characteristics can be cultivated and implemented to ensure you and your partnership can improve. Traits can be learned – follow the leaders.

· Resourcefulness

Don't think outside the box. Think like there is no box, or even what you can do with the box. You have to be able to think and plan your way out of a tricky situation. Think creatively and generally it works – within limits of course. You can’t call 6NT on a whim – but perhaps you can defeat creatively if your opponents happen to call it.

· Be Fair and Reasonable

There is nothing worse than a Cruella Deville at the bridge table who all her life has played her cards badly. Admit wrongs and know the rules and don’t throw your toys around, particularly out of the bridge-playing cot!

· Show initiative – be inventive if you have to

Embrace creativity and versatility in your bridge skills. How often have you been defeated by a person who plays her cards differently and thinks differently in everyday life? Don’t be afraid of taking that initiative that very often lies dormant in a lot of us – particularly when we freeze at the bridge table when a difficult hand arises.

· Display a good level of confidence and self-assurance

Cultivate poise and then show it. Don’t become Colin Cock of the Hoop, but command a respectable level of assurance – it will help you and keep the opponents around the bridge table on their toes. Timidity and hesitation at the bridge table is a sure spoiler.

· Be kind and considerate – the game of bridge is about partnerships

No need to be an angel with a pack of cards in her hand, but most good bridge players are respective to their partners and their opponents. Learn tact – because if you can't be tactful you won't find a decent partner and your bridge playing career will be cut short. Word gets around fast so no matter how well you play the game; you won't last long at the club or social circle.

Remember that nobody gets very far in life, let alone playing cards if they burn their bridges.

#bridge shop #bridgecard #thebridgegame #bridgegame #playingcard #playing cards #bridge game

At the Bridge Table – Come up Trumps with these Bridge Products

Lay your cards on the table – admit that you need new bridge products

When searching for a new bridge table, I recently came across a new section on my favourite bridge website The Bridge Shop Australia which gives a fabulous array of digital bridge offerings all for free. So not only did the great new card table arrive efficiently and intact, (of course – what else would you expect from a renowned bridge supply shop?), I am now able to make use of all things digital regarding bridge at a click of a button.

Digital Bridge Care Pack –

This super pack is a partnership with The Bridge Shop and a few of their favourite suppliers that offers you various free downloads of bridge products to help you fill in the hours and days during this uncertain and unsettling time.

In conjunction with Master Point Press, three free digital bridge books:

· Bridge in the Menagerie by Victor Mollo

· A Great Deal of Bridge Problems by Julian Pottage

· Northern Lights by Ray Lee and Linda Lee

With thanks to Marty Bergen, a transcript of his lesson:

· To Finesse or Not to Finesse

This is a great article and a bridge product to keep up your sleeve. In his introduction, he states: “We all know how important finesses are. What is a finesse? It's a manoeuvre to win a trick with a card that is not an obvious winner. Many players love to finesse. It's usually simple and supplies immediate gratification – when it works. However, experts don't like to finesse. Why? Finesses lose half the time, and no one gets rich betting on 50-50 propositions. Of course, that doesn't mean you should never finesse. Finessing will always be an important function in the game of bridge.” Read on to get some interesting tips and hints – a great bridge product to keep you in good stead at the bridge table.

In conjunction with Brad Coles of Australian Bridge magazine, a free copy of:

In conjunction with Didier Levy of Vu-Bridge, a free copy of:

Bridge Crossword puzzle

Eddie Kantar's Tip of the Day

Vu-Bridge Hands of the Week

Bridge Base Online

· Fun and friendly free on-line bridge club

· How to use Bridge Base Online

Bridge Baron 29

· Download a free trial version of Bridge Baron 29

Jack 6

· Download a free trial version of Jack 6

In conjunction with Grand Slam Books

· Paul Marston’s weekly bridge column with a link to Bridge Solver, so you can play the hands yourself.

In conjunction with Joan Butts School of Bridge

· ABF Education offers you one free month's access to Joan Butts’ Online School of Bridge. Joan is the ABF National Teaching Coordinator, and her Online School of Bridge offers hundreds of contract bridge lessons, videos and programmed hands so you can brush up your game and practise new techniques.

And lots more bridge products to keep your hand in at the bridge table.

#bridge products #Computer bridge #bridge shop

At the Bridge Table: The Bridge Shop Travel Guide

Not able to get out and about? Well, join the online travel club from around the world. We are all locked in and finding new travel destinations either virtually or from our TV screens. Well, I have found a great place to visit and it is The Bridge Shop Australia.

If you are into the game of bridge, bettering yourself and turning an old dalliance into a serious challenge then this is the site to do some exploring.

Anyone in the know in the worldwide bridge community will have heard of The Bridge Shop Australia. It is a household name in Australia and has a world-wide and well-deserved reputation for first-class products and customer service. Visit, explore, purchase and become a subscriber and you will, no doubt about it, rate the trip and experience 5/5.

And it is worth a repeat visit.

Looking for

a new card table and card table cloths

Go to the card table section and click: https://www.bridgeshop.com.au/club-supplies/tables.html

Yes, indeed a new cloth on your new card table – how about this green felt bridge cloth made of dark green felt with suit symbols printed in each corner?

Searching for a

great gift for your fellow isolated bridge buddies

who just so happen to be into golf as well?

Ladies Golf Playing Cards

A double-deck of playing cards. These beautifully designed cards make a perfect gift and are suitable for Bridge, Whist and many other traditional card games. - Double pack of 52 cards and two Jokers - Gift style packaging - Bridge size 58mm x 89mm

To tempt your further to explore The Bridge Shop route – check out the

Coming Soon

at The Bridge Shop section

Like to know when these items are in store? Click on the picture and The Bridge Shop will send you an email as soon as they are in stock.

If you are a bridge playing beginner – then the section

Beginners' Resources

is right up your street

· Beginners’ bridge books

· Interactive bridge playing CDs

· Bridge Baron

· Cheat Sheets

· V-Blue Course for Newcomers

And lots more valuable products to help you on your bridge learning journey.

If you take playing bridge seriously and are on a journey of getting you back up to speed at the game of bridge then check out the

Classic Rewind

section

Various award-winning books are featured; as an example Eddie Kantar's Introduction to Declarer Play and Introduction to Defense. These have both been recently updated and revised by Barbara Seagram. Both are essential reading for the improving player and are still regarded as the classic way to play even after fifty years.

You are often able to download a sample of the featured books to see if they suit your level and style.

So all very user-friendly advice and tour guidance on The Bridge Shop’s website. Do yourself a favour and go on a great bridge experience at https://www.bridgeshop.com.au

#bridge shop #bridge books #bridge products #bridge cards #bridge table #the bridge shop

The Bridge Shop is an All Things Bridge Shop and More

So you are isolating, keeping safe and sound, missing your bridge club and your bridge buddies but going a little stir-crazy? Well then go shopping. Get your shopping togs on and click on https://www.bridgeshop.com.au/

All things Bridge just a click away

We should be kind to ourselves more. We find ourselves in an "unpleasant state" after a period of social isolation, since as we tend to forget sometimes that being human means we thrive, and survive, on interaction.

Humans, (included in this are Bridge Players!), don't just like to be social, we need to be. Being lonely seems to be as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and that is why depriving yourself of social connections, temporarily as it may be, doesn't feel good. Your body is trying to tell you to mingle, and if you are like me, your brain is telling you to shop and play bridge! Well, you can come out of hibernation and buy bridge products online, and mingle, read, play and do all things bridge.

So Shop till You Stop Being Lonely at The Bridge Shop

Get some good interaction going to stimulate those slowly declining bridge and social skills by starting with Tip of the Day:

FORGING EXTRA TRICKS IN THE TRUMP SUIT

Going for Your Own Ruff

“If you hold the AKx(x)(x) in the suit partner has led plus a side-suit singleton, win the opening lead with the ace and then shift to your singleton. Partner, thinking declarer has the king, will be more apt to give you a ruff. If you win the opening lead with the king and then switch to shortness, partner should assume a doubleton — with a singleton you would have won the first trick with the ace.

Does anybody remember when bridge used to be fun?”

Then take a look at their Digital Bridge Care Pack

“We've partnered with a few of our favourite suppliers to offer you the following free downloads to help you fill in the hours and days during this uncertain and unsettling time. Please feel free to share these with your friends, family and favourite bridge partners.”

What about buying bridge-related presents online for you isolating bridge chums?

Or perhaps you want to at long last treat yourself to some special bridge products then browse around.

Playing Cards:

Number one best present for bridge players are playing cards, decent ones. At The Bridge Shop, you will find a present for someone amongst their playing card selection.

Card Tables:

Yes, now is the time to update your old pass-me-down card table. Go to the card table section and click: https://www.bridgeshop.com.au/club-supplies/tables.html

And then to keep in contact and up to date on all things bridge you can subscribe and The Bridge Shop will send you email updates and other news and offers.

Remember fellow isolators – Shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist! And playing bridge or buying bridge products online is safer and you won't be sorry!

#bridge shop #bridge books #bridge cards #bridge game

On the Hunt for Bridge Supplies?

Have you been rummaging through the internet looking for a decent place to buy your bridge supplies? Look no further than the Bridge Shop in Australia – the one stop shop for all things bridge.

It is not like searching in the woods for truffles with your friendly pig. This is easy and far less time-consuming. The rewards are equally delectable though.

SHOP. LEARN. PLAY. ADD TO CART.

SHOP to your Queen of Heart’s content and whilst you are on the the hunt for bridge supplies, have a little PLAY, and of course Jack – you can LEARN something too all at this fab shop called The Bridge Shop.

At the Bridge Shop, they have what you thought you did not need, until you saw what is on offer. A change of mind? Most definitely.

For Club and Home Supplies of Bridge Paraphernalia: Test your bridge supplies against this list – how many do you have?

· Bidding boxes and refills

· Boards

· Bridge Cloths

· Card Holders

· Home Bridge Kits

· Instant Duplicate Computers

· Movement Cards

· Party Tallies

· Pens and Pencils

· Playing Cards

· Table numbers

· Rubber bridge scorers

· Silent bidding pads and holders

· System cards

· Wallets

· Bridge tables

· Team score sheets

· Travelling score sheets

· And more…

Talking about playing bridge and all that.

The no. 1 essential thing, other than 3 other bridge players, is to have a decent set or sets of playing cards. Nothing beats playing with new super-duper playing cards. Your game instantly improves.

This is a fact. It is like playing with old balls at Wimbledon – it is simply not strawberries and cream is it?

The other fact is a good card table. Imagine the Wimbledon champions playing on a rocky bed of weeds. The same applies to playing cards on a proper card table.

There is a wide range of playing cards from some of the world’s best card manufacturers available at the Bridge Shop. You should have in your arsenal some ordinary, but good playing cards and for impressing your fellow players, some really special ones.

Because you deserve it I would suggest:

v The Monet Gallery decorative playing card series. These come in a set of double decks and are beautifully designed around the artwork of Monet. They come in bridge playing size of 58mmx89mm. If you think your friends deserve them too, they make a super gift.

v Because you really deserve it – how about some monogrammed playing cards? They are so James Bond. They will make a super gift to a fellow card playing friend – just select on-line which initials you want and order at a push of a button.

v This is one of the best bridge tables on the market. It is called The Edwardian. It has a velour top, a mahogany trim and the essential foldaway cast steel legs. It is the standard card table measuring 90cm x 90cm x 72 cm high.

You simply have to have one. I do!

#bridge shop #bridge books #bridge products #bridge supplies #bridge shop australia

Did You Know That the Game of Bridge Can Be Lethal?

Even if you have all the bridge products in the world, the honed skill of a top bridge athlete, the best-dressed table, magic playing cards and Eddie Kantor as your partner, you could still be in jeopardy.

In 1929 Myrtle Bennet shot and killed her husband for not making a contract of four spades.

She was acquitted.

It transpired that her husband was an abusive man and she got away with Bridge Murder. Lucky her – how often have you wanted to do away with your partner and get away with it because he made a very stupid mistake? (Yes, Cedrick the Sharp, this applies to you.)

The point is that Myrtle did not allow her bridge to go to the dogs or grow rusty even though she occasionally found it very difficult to get herself a new bridge partner at the bridge table.

She did find one partner and when he made an impulsive bid, he apparently put down his hand with some diffidence and stated: Partner, I am afraid you will want to shoot me for this.

7 tips on how you can avoid being taken out when playing the game of bridge or similarly, you committing an offensive bridge crime:

Tip # 1.

Find yourself the right partner. Bond with that person. As in James.

Tip# 2.

Keep yourself abreast of the latest bridge products to ensure you are not regarded as Shirley the Sheep at the table i.e. a person commonly known as an old-fashioned bridge player with no sense of what needs to be done to keep up to date with the game. This can be very offensive and very boring to the partner.

Tip# 3.

Know that post-mortems must only be done after the game – preferably at dawn the day after.

Tip# 4.

Keep ahead of the pack (including the cards) by posing as an expert witness. To do this you need to keep a stash of products that will inspire all your bridge chummies and make you look professional.

Tip# 5.

If you have offended your bridge chummies or more seriously your bridge partner, then revert to giving that person a super bridge gift. A new set of monogrammed personalised playing cards with a note saying: “I promise never to not lead your call again”. Or something along those lines. Have a stash of bridge greeting cards for this exact purpose, i.e. Wrong Bid Greeting Card, or A Wandering Dummy Greeting Card.

Tip# 6.

Do not compound a crime in the game of bridge. If you or your partner (this is surely more likely), make an error, do not lose you cool and commit a crime. Simply understand that most contracts can still be beaten after one defensive error, but seldom after two.

Tip# 7.

When your partner makes a nice play a kind word at the end of the round will go a long way to warding off evil thoughts. If this consistently happens – go all out and buy a Superb Jumbo Index set of playing cards for her and say – “Thanks Dolly the Dummy, you make a BIG difference in my game!”

#bridge products #bridge shop #bridge game

In your Bridge Game are you thinking two moves ahead? Of haven’t you got that far yet?

Remember bridge players that some of the most poisonous people come disguised as your bridge playing chummies. So, unless you keep ahead and have eyes at the back of your skull, you are not going to make it at the bridge game.

This is some really good advice from Robert Todd, an American professional bridge player:

“It is important to understand why we learn conventions in the game of bridge. They are tools to help us better communicate with partner. We have to be craftsmen and use our tools effectively. Until we do, we will not be able to get the most out of them.

The process of learning to use a new bridge convention can be a difficult one. We will often take one step back (make mistakes or have bidding mix-ups) in an effort to move forward. It is important for us to recognise this and realise that adopting a new convention and learning to use it effectively is a long term investment in improving our bridge game.”

Harry the Hog – you should have this imprinted on your bridge brain. It pertains to you. Also, could you please keep your bridge cards from being exposed to the opponents. Brace your cards please. Your opponents are poisonous!

Here are 10 tips, with thanks to Robert Todd, in the game of bridge that we should all have on our playing cards written in invisible ink:

1. All jumps in competition are weak! (Except when they are known not to be.)

2. The auction tells you what to lead, your hand has to persuade you otherwise.

3. When working hard in your game of bridge and focusing on details it can be easy to miss the forest for the trees. Always try to keep one eye on the big picture.

4. The opening lead is our primary advantage as defenders, do not waste it.

5. Bridge is a game of skill, but also a game of psychology. Unfortunately, some players will try to get under your skin. Don’t let them do it! You need a thick skin at the bridge table and you can get them back by playing your best bridge - rise to the occasion, don’t sink to their level. Cruella de Ville take note!

6. When winning a trick, it is best to select your lead to the next trick before you play your winning card. (Thinking two steps ahead here folks). Select your lead to the next trick before turning over your playing card from the previous trick - leave it up on the table, this allows you to look back at everyone’s cards.

7. The Law of Total Tricks is your friend. In competitive bridge auctions it serves as your “fall guy” - if you follow it and you are wrong you can blame The Law. So vary from The Law sparingly - do so only when you feel strongly and otherwise let it guide you.

8. Don’t get too fancy, just try to bid your longest suit...

9. If you get rattled at the bridge table, stop doing all the other things that you do when you are playing and just focus on the bridge game.

No doubleton leads and definitely no doubleton leads without trump control.

#bridge cards #playing cards #bridge game #bridge shop