Bridge Lesson 5: Counting Points (HCP) for Beginners

To count points in bridge, score each ace as 4, each king as 3, each queen as 2 and each jack as 1, then add them up. These are high-card points (HCP), and the total tells you how strong your hand is before you make your first bid.

You now know how the play works from lessons 2 to 4. Bidding needs one more tool: a quick way to measure a hand. Point count is that tool, and every bidding system in the world starts with it.

Count suit by suit. With ♠A Q 8 6 3 ♥K 7 ♦Q J 4 ♣9 5 2 you have 6 in spades (ace and queen), 3 in hearts, 3 in diamonds and none in clubs: 12 HCP.

This scale is called the Milton Work count, after the American player who made it popular. It is not perfect: an ace is worth a little more than 4 and a jack a little less. But it is simple, and it is good enough for nearly every decision you will make for years. Our high-card points guide goes deeper.

Each suit has 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 10 points, so the whole deck has 40 HCP. That gives you a reference point: an average hand holds 10, a quarter of the deck.

The number 40 is useful at the table, too. Add your points to what partner has shown in the bidding, take that from 40, and you know roughly what the opponents hold between them.

Check the count for yourself. South holds ♠A Q (6) ♥K J (4) ♦Q J (3) ♣K (3) for 16 HCP. North has 10, West 10 and East only 4. North-South hold 26 of the 40 points between them, East-West hold 14.

On this deal North-South have enough for game, and nine tricks in notrump are there even with East-West defending as well as possible. That is not luck. It is what 26 points usually buy you.

Tricks come mostly from high cards, so the combined points of you and your partner predict how high you can bid. These are the standard guidelines, used in Standard American, 2/1 and Acol alike:

Opening the bidding needs about 12 HCP in most systems. Partner needs about 6 to answer. The reason is simple: 12 + 13 = 25, so if both of you have an opening hand, you belong in game. Lesson 6 explains what game, part score and slam mean for the score.

Points are not the whole story. The shape of your hand, how many cards you hold in each suit, matters too. Write it as four numbers from longest to shortest: a hand with five spades, three diamonds, three clubs and two hearts is a 5-3-3-2.

• Balanced hands have no void, no singleton and at most one doubleton: 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 and 5-3-3-2. They suit notrump.
• Unbalanced hands have a void, a singleton or two doubletons, such as 5-4-3-1 or 6-4-2-1. They usually play better in a trump suit.

Long suits win extra tricks once the opponents run out of the suit (you will see this in lesson 8). So many teachers add length points: one point for each card beyond four in a suit. A six-card suit adds 2. Once you find a trump fit with partner, short suits gain value instead, because they let you ruff. The hand evaluation guide covers these methods, and the Rule of 20 shows one popular way to mix points and shape when you decide whether to open.

Every time you pick up a new hand, before you think about any bid, do the same two counts:

1. Count your HCP. Suit by suit, aces 4, kings 3, queens 2, jacks 1.
2. Note your shape. Balanced or not, and where your longest suit is.

Then, as the bidding goes on, add partner's promised points to yours. You will soon do both counts in a few seconds. BridgeDummy's Bidding Room is a good place to drill it: you bid random deals with robot partners, and every new hand is a fresh chance to count.

Previous: Lesson 4: Declarer and Dummy. Next: Lesson 6: The Contract, where points turn into bids.