New on BridgeDummy
MiniBridge: bridge without the bidding
Play your first real hand in 5 minutes. No auction to learn: count your points, see dummy, pick a contract and play.
What is MiniBridge?
MiniBridge is the simplified bridge that bridge clubs and schools use to teach the game. There is no auction. Each player counts high-card points (ace 4, king 3, queen 2, jack 1), and the partnership with more points declares. Within that pair, the stronger hand is declarer.
Dummy goes face up before the contract is chosen, so declarer sees both hands and picks trumps or notrump, and partscore or game. Then it is real bridge card play: follow suit, win tricks, make your contract. The rules follow the English Bridge Union MiniBridge standard.
Where do you start?
Pick the line that fits you. You can change it later.
The lesson ladder
Nine short lessons, one to two minutes each. After lesson 3 you play "Your first hand", a guided real hand.
- Meet the cards1 minute
- Win a trick1 minute
- Follow suit or discard1 minute
- Partners are a team1 minute
- Count your points1 minute
- Declarer and dummy2 minutes
- Your first contract2 minutes
- Trumps2 minutes
- Go for game2 minutes
Questions
- Do I need to know bridge?
- No. The first lessons start from a deck of cards: tricks, following suit, partners. If you already know card games you skip ahead to a guided hand, and bridge players can go straight to play.
- How is MiniBridge different from bridge?
- MiniBridge has no bidding. The side with more high-card points declares, dummy is shown before the contract, and declarer chooses the contract alone: partscore (7 tricks) or game (9 in notrump, 10 in hearts or spades, 11 in diamonds or clubs). Card play and scoring work like bridge.
- Can I play with friends?
- Yes. Open a private table and share the invite link, or join quick-play to sit with other players. Empty seats are filled by bots. Lessons and bot games work without an account; tables with people need a BridgeDummy account.
- How strong are the bots?
- The bots play with a double-dummy solver: they sample the hands they cannot see and play the card that scores best on average. They are good partners to learn from and tough opponents.