What you need
- A standard 52-card deck. Many groups use two decks and shuffle one while the other is dealt.
- Four players, sitting across from their partners
- Pen and paper, or the free score keeper. Bridge scoring is easy to get wrong by hand.
Players and time
Four players in two partnerships. About 45 minutes to an hour for a rubber.
The goal
Each deal has two parts: an auction, where the sides bid for the right to name the trump suit, and the play, where the side that won the auction tries to take at least the number of tricks it bid.
In rubber bridge the first side to win two games wins the rubber. A game is 100 or more points scored below the line.
This page covers the rules and the scoring. It does not teach bidding systems. Systems such as Standard American or Acol are conventions that partners agree on; they are not part of the rules.
Setup
- Cut for partners and for the first dealer. The dealer deals all 52 cards one at a time, so every player has 13 cards.
- Players sit opposite their partners. The deal passes to the left after each hand.
- Suits rank from high to low: spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs. No-trump ranks above all suits. Cards rank from ace (high) down to 2.
A turn
- The auction. Starting with the dealer, each player in turn passes, bids, doubles or redoubles. A bid names a number from 1 to 7 and a suit or no-trump. It promises that the side will take that number of tricks plus six, with that suit as trump (or with no trump).
- Each bid must be higher than the one before: either a higher number, or the same number in a higher-ranking suit or no-trump.
- A player may double the opponents' latest bid. The side that made the bid may then redouble. A new bid cancels earlier doubles and redoubles.
- The auction ends when a bid, double or redouble is followed by three passes in a row. The last bid is the contract. If all four players pass at the start, the hand is passed out and nobody scores. Deal again.
- The player on the winning side who first named the suit (or no-trump) of the contract is the declarer. The declarer's partner is the dummy. The other two players are the defenders.
- The play. The defender to the declarer's left leads to the first trick. The dummy then lays their cards face up, and the declarer plays both hands. Players must follow suit if they can.
- The highest trump wins a trick, or the highest card of the suit led if no trump was played. The winner of a trick leads to the next one. Play continues until all 13 tricks are played.
Special cards and combinations
- Contract and tricks needed
- A contract of level N needs 6 + N tricks. A contract of 4 spades needs 10 tricks. A contract of 1 no-trump needs 7.
- Game and part score
- Only tricks the declarer bid and made count toward game, and they are written below the line. A side reaching 100 or more below the line wins a game. Scores below the line that fall short of 100 are a part score, and they carry toward the next game. When either side wins a game, the part scores of both sides stop counting for the next game.
- Vulnerability
- A side that has won one game in the current rubber is vulnerable. Its bonuses for a made contract and its penalties for a failed one are larger. A side with no game is not vulnerable.
- Doubled and redoubled contracts
- A doubled contract doubles the trick score for the tricks bid and made, and a redoubled contract multiplies it by four. If the contract is made, the declarer also scores an insult bonus above the line (50 doubled, 100 redoubled) and a larger bonus for each overtrick.
- Slams
- Bidding and making 12 tricks (a level-6 contract) is a small slam. Bidding and making all 13 (a level-7 contract) is a grand slam. Each earns a bonus above the line. Taking 12 or 13 tricks without having bid them earns no slam bonus.
- Honors
- A player who holds four of the five top trump cards (ace, king, queen, jack, 10) in one hand scores 100 above the line for their side; holding all five scores 150. Holding all four aces in one hand in a no-trump contract scores 150. The declarer's side can count honors in the declarer's or the dummy's hand, and the defenders in either of their hands. Honors require no skill, so many groups leave them out.
Scoring
Trick scores for tricks bid and made go below the line. All other points go above the line. At the end of the rubber, add up both lines for each side. The side with the higher total wins.
Figures here are for rubber bridge, from the ACBL's scoring table.
| Item | Not vulnerable | Vulnerable |
|---|---|---|
| Trick score, per trick over six: clubs or diamonds | 20 | 20 |
| Trick score, per trick over six: hearts or spades | 30 | 30 |
| Trick score: no-trump | 40 for the first, 30 for each other | 40 for the first, 30 for each other |
| Doubled / redoubled contract | Trick score × 2 / × 4 | Trick score × 2 / × 4 |
| Overtrick, undoubled | Trick value | Trick value |
| Overtrick, doubled / redoubled | 100 / 200 each | 200 / 400 each |
| Insult: making a doubled / redoubled contract | 50 / 100 | 50 / 100 |
| Small slam (bid and made) | 500 | 750 |
| Grand slam (bid and made) | 1000 | 1500 |
| Undertrick, undoubled, each | 50 | 100 |
| Undertricks, doubled | 100, then 200, 200, then 300 each | 200, then 300 each |
| Undertricks, redoubled | Twice the doubled amounts | Twice the doubled amounts |
| Four or five trump honors in one hand | 100 / 150 | 100 / 150 |
| Four aces in one hand, no-trump | 150 | 150 |
| Rubber won 2 games to 0 / 2 games to 1 | 700 / 500 | 700 / 500 |
Worked example
North-South have won no game. They bid and make 4 hearts with 11 tricks (one overtrick). Trick score: 4 × 30 = 120 below the line, which is a game. The overtrick adds 30 above the line. North-South are now vulnerable.
East-West, not vulnerable, then bid 3 no-trump. North doubles, and East-West take 7 tricks, which is 2 short of the 9 needed. The penalty is 100 for the first undertrick and 200 for the second, so North-South score 300 above the line.
Keep score with the Contract Bridge (rubber) score keeper
How to win
The first side to win two games wins the rubber and scores the rubber bonus: 700 if the other side has won no game, or 500 if it has won one. Both sides then add up everything above and below the line, and the higher total wins.
If you stop before a rubber is finished, a side with a game scores 300 and a side with only a part score scores 100. The score keeper does not add these two bonuses, so add them to the last deal if your group uses them.
Common house rules
These are house rules. They are not part of the official rules, so agree on them before you start.
- Chicago, or four-deal bridge (variation) House rule
- Only four deals are played, with the dealer rotating. Vulnerability is fixed by deal: nobody on the first, North-South on the second, East-West on the third and both on the fourth. Making a game scores 300 not vulnerable or 500 vulnerable. Part scores carry forward until a side makes game, and a part score made on the fourth deal earns 100. Turn on Chicago in the keeper settings.
- No honors (house rule) House rule
- Honors are optional. Many groups leave them out, and you can hide them in the keeper settings.
- Other scoring (variation) House rule
- Duplicate bridge, used at clubs and tournaments, is scored per board against other pairs, not as a rubber. This page and keeper do not cover duplicate.
Frequently asked questions
How many tricks do I need for my contract?
Six plus the level you bid. A bid of 3 needs 9 tricks, a bid of 4 needs 10, and a bid of 6 (a small slam) needs 12.
What counts toward game?
Only the trick score for tricks you bid and made. Overtricks and bonuses go above the line and do not count toward the 100 needed for game.
What does vulnerable mean?
In rubber bridge, a side that has won one game is vulnerable. It scores larger bonuses for making a contract and pays larger penalties for failing. A side with no game is not vulnerable.
What is a bidding system like Standard American?
A set of conventions that partners agree on, giving meaning to bids beyond the rules. The rules only require each bid to be higher than the last. You can play bridge with any understanding your partnership agrees on.
What happens to part scores when the other side wins a game?
Both sides start the next game from zero below the line. Part scores do not carry forward past a game.
Are the honors always scored?
No. They are optional and many groups skip them, since they depend on the cards dealt and not on skill. Agree on this before you start.
What if all four players pass?
The hand is passed out. Nobody scores and the next dealer deals.
Sources
- ACBL, The Laws of Rubber Bridge: the score (Law 81, as hosted on BridgeHands) (Rubber bridge scoring table: trick scores, premiums, undertricks, slams, honors, rubber and unfinished-rubber bonuses.)
- Bicycle Cards: Bridge (Deal, auction, declarer, play, game and rubber, honors.)
- Pagat: Rubber Bridge scoring (Auction, vulnerability, scoring figures, and Chicago (four-deal) scoring.)