What is Bidding in Bridge?
Bidding is the first phase of every bridge hand. Starting with the dealer, each player takes turns making bids, passing, doubling, or redoubling. The auction determines two things: the contract (how many tricks declarer must take and in which suit or notrump) and which side plays it.
Bids have two parts: a level (1 through 7) and a denomination (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, or notrump). A bid of "3 Hearts" means your side commits to taking 9 tricks (6 + 3) with hearts as the trump suit.
The Rules of the Auction
The auction starts with the dealer and moves clockwise. On your turn you may pass, make a bid, or (if an opponent has bid) double or redouble. Every new bid must be higher than the last: either a higher level, or the same level in a higher denomination. The order of denominations from low to high is clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, notrump, so 1 Notrump outranks 1 Spade and 2 Clubs outranks them both.
The auction ends when a bid is followed by three passes in a row. The last bid becomes the contract, and the side that named the final denomination first becomes declarer. A double increases the penalty (or reward) on the current contract, and a redouble doubles it again; both are wiped out if either opponent bids on.
These rules are the same in every bidding system. What changes from one system to another is not the legal moves but the meaning partnerships agree to attach to each bid.
Evaluating Your Hand: Counting Points
The standard method for evaluating your hand is High Card Points (HCP): Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2, Jack = 1. A balanced deck contains 40 HCP total, so an "average" hand has 10 HCP.
Beyond HCP, shape matters. A hand with a 6-card suit or extreme distribution (like 5-5 in two suits) is worth more than its HCP suggest. Many players add distributional points: 1 extra for a 5-card suit, 2 for a 6-card suit, and 3 for a 7-card suit.
Opening the Bidding
In standard systems, you open the bidding with 12+ HCP (sometimes 11 with good shape). The key opening bids: 1NT shows a balanced hand with 15-17 HCP. One of a suit (1C, 1D, 1H, 1S) shows 12+ HCP and at least a 3-card suit (5 cards for major suits in modern systems).
With 20-21 balanced HCP, open 2NT. With 22+ HCP or a very powerful hand, open 2 Clubs (strong and artificial). Weak two-bids (2D, 2H, 2S) show a good 6-card suit with 5-10 HCP - a preemptive action.
Responding to Partner's Opening Bid
When partner opens, your first job is to describe your hand. With support for partner's major (3+ cards), raise immediately. With a new suit to show, bid it at the cheapest level. With 6-10 HCP and no better bid, respond 1NT.
Game requires roughly 25 combined HCP for 3NT or 4 of a major, and 28-29 for 5 of a minor. When you can see game is likely, bid it directly or make a forcing bid to explore. Try the bidding simulator to practice these decisions with realistic deals.
Bridge Bidding Systems: Standard American, SAYC, 2-Over-1 and Acol
A bidding system is the set of agreements a partnership uses about what each bid means. Most of the world learns one of a few closely related systems. Standard American is the common natural five-card-major framework used across North America. SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card) is a specific, written-down version of it, published so that two strangers can sit down and play with no discussion.
2-over-1 (often written 2/1) is not a separate universe: it builds on the Standard American framework and changes one big idea, making a new suit response at the two level game-forcing. Acol is the natural system most common in Britain, built around a weak 1 Notrump and four-card majors. These are variations on the same natural theme, not four unrelated languages, so learning one makes the others easy to pick up.
For a beginner, the best bidding system is simply the one your partner and local club use, which in most of North America means Standard American or SAYC. The fundamentals on this page apply to all of them.
Essential Conventions
Stayman: After partner opens 1NT, a 2 Clubs response asks "do you have a 4-card major?" Partner bids 2H or 2S with a four-card major, or 2D without one. This helps find 4-4 major suit fits.
Jacoby Transfers: After a 1NT opening, 2D asks partner to bid 2H, and 2H asks partner to bid 2S. This lets the strong hand (the 1NT opener) become declarer, hiding the weaker hand from view. These two conventions cover the vast majority of auctions after a 1NT opening.