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how to play contract bridge
(Reprinted with permission of the United States Playing Card Company from the Official Rules of Card Games-Condensed from The Laws of Contract Bridge, copyright 1918 hy The National Laws Commission, and official at least until 1953)
Preliminaries
Number of Players: Four, two against two as partners. Five or six may take part in the same game, but only four play at a time.
The Pack: 52 cards. Two packs, of contrasting back designs, are invariably used. While one pack is being dealt, dealer's partner shuffles the other pack for the next deal.
Rank of Suits: Spades (high), hearts, diamonds, clubs.
Rank of Cards: A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
The Draw: A shuffled pack is spread face down on the table and
each player draws one card, but not one of the four cards at either end. A player who exposes more than one card must draw again. No player should expose his card before all have drawn.
The player drawing the highest card deals first. He chooses his seat and the pack with which he will deal; next-highest is his partner and sits across the table from him; the two others take the other two seats. If two players draw cards of the same rank, as G of hearts and 6 of clubs, the rank of the suits determines the higher card.
Precedence: When five wish to play, the draw establishes order of precedence. Example: North draws ace of clubs, South, king of spades, East, 5 of clubs, West, 2 of hearts and a fifth player draws 2 of diamonds. North and South play as partners against East and West. After the first rubber the fifth player plays and West sits out; after the next rubber West reenters the game and East sits out, and so on until North has sat out a rubber, after which the fifth player sits out again.
The Shuffle: The player on dealer's left shuffles the cards and places them at the dealer's left. The dealer (after shuffling again, if he wishes) sets the cards down at his right to be cut.
The Cut: The player at dealer's right must lift off a portion of the park (not fewer than four cards nor more than forty-eight) and set it down toward dealer. Dealer completes the cut.
The Deal: Dealer deals thirteen cards to each player, one card at a time, face down, in clockwise rotation beginning with the player at his left.
Rotation: The turn to deal, to bid and to play always passes from player to player to the left.
The Auction
Calls: After looking at his cards, each player in turn, beginning with dealer, must make a call (pass, bid, double or redouble).
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