Rubber bridge
Encyclopedia
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge
and is played with four players. It is most often played for fun but is also played seriously for money. Rubber Bridge involves a high degree of skill but there is also a fair amount of luck involved in who gets the best cards.
From high to low, the cards are ranked A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Suits are ranked Spades , Hearts , Diamonds , Clubs . Four players play in partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. Gameplay rotates clockwise around the table.
At the beginning of a rubber the players cut to decide partnerships and who deals the first hand. A deck is spread face down on the table and each player takes a card (but not one from the ends). The player with the highest card deals the first hand. The player who drew the second highest card plays with the dealer against the other two players.
Some rules have suggested the use of two packs to choose from but is generally disregarded and absent from most published rules of the game. Where two decks are specified in the rules, the dealer selects a deck and passes it to the player on his left to be shuffled. The deck is then passed to player to right of the dealer to be cut. Dealer's partner shuffles the second deck during the deal to speed things up.
Starting with the player to his left, the dealer deals 13 cards to each player, one at a time. The deal rotates clockwise after each hand.
The contract to be played is determined by an auction in which the players bid for the number of tricks they will make and the trump suit or no trumps. A bid consists of the number of tricks above 6 you need to make and the denomination; e.g. "1" is 7 tricks with clubs as trumps, "3NT" is 9 tricks with no trump suit. The dealer bids first. At their turn players may either: pass, bid to make a higher contract, "double" an opponent's contract (which increases the penalties for failing to make the contract or the points for making the contract) or "redouble" their side's doubled contract which doubles the points again. A player may bid again after they have passed. The auction ends when any bid is followed by three consecutive passes. If all four players pass the hand is passed in and the deal rotates.
Once the contract has been decided, the player of the winning pair who mentioned the denomination of the contract becomes declarer. The opening lead is made by the player on declarer's left. Declarer’s partner then lays down their hand face up on the table as dummy, with the trump suit on their right. Declarer plays both his and dummy's cards. Each player, in turn, plays a card to the trick and they must play a card of the suit led if they have one. A player who has no cards of the suit led may play any card either discarding or trumping. A trick is won by the highest card of the suit led unless trumps are played, when the highest trump wins. The winner of the trick leads to the next trick.
Points are scored below the line for tricks bid and made:
Making a doubled contract scores double the points below the line, adds a 50 point bonus above the line and increases the value of over-tricks. Doubling or redoubling does not affect honour, rubber or slam bonuses.
Making a redoubled contract scores twice the scores for making a doubled contract.
Over-tricks per trick:
Winning a rubber:
Bonuses are scored for holding honours in the same hand:
Bonuses for slams bid and made:
For a redoubled contract the penalties are double the value for the doubled contract.
n.b. Slam bonuses, over-tricks and penalties are scored the same as in duplicate bridge. Part-score and game bonuses are not scored in rubber bridge as these bonuses are the average contribution of hand towards a rubber bonus used in duplicate scoring.
At rubber every hand is affected by the context of the score and there are many different factors to consider and weigh up. You need to be constantly aware of not just the vulnerability but what legs (part-games) both your side and the opponents have. This affects what bids you make and the meanings of bids. Game may only require 2 so it is worth stretching to bid it with a weak hand but not to go higher with a strong hand unless 6 is a reasonable chance. Part-scores like 40 and 60 are highly worthwhile as one can make game with two of major or 1NT respectively on a later hand.
This is very different from duplicate bridge where each part-score and game are worth fixed amounts and each hand is an individual battle over points.
. It gained a lot of publicity after a celebrated match, referred to as "Bridge battle of the century", was held December 1931 to January 1932 between teams led by Ely Culbertson
and Sidney Lenz. A total of 150 rubbers were played, and was ultimately won by the Culbertson team by a margin of 8,980 points. The match was a total success both for the game itself and the concepts of bidding as promoted by Culbertson.
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
and is played with four players. It is most often played for fun but is also played seriously for money. Rubber Bridge involves a high degree of skill but there is also a fair amount of luck involved in who gets the best cards.
Playing rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is usually played with a standard deck of 52 cards (though two decks are often supplied in bridge sets, only one is used in the game).From high to low, the cards are ranked A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Suits are ranked Spades , Hearts , Diamonds , Clubs . Four players play in partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. Gameplay rotates clockwise around the table.
At the beginning of a rubber the players cut to decide partnerships and who deals the first hand. A deck is spread face down on the table and each player takes a card (but not one from the ends). The player with the highest card deals the first hand. The player who drew the second highest card plays with the dealer against the other two players.
Some rules have suggested the use of two packs to choose from but is generally disregarded and absent from most published rules of the game. Where two decks are specified in the rules, the dealer selects a deck and passes it to the player on his left to be shuffled. The deck is then passed to player to right of the dealer to be cut. Dealer's partner shuffles the second deck during the deal to speed things up.
Starting with the player to his left, the dealer deals 13 cards to each player, one at a time. The deal rotates clockwise after each hand.
The contract to be played is determined by an auction in which the players bid for the number of tricks they will make and the trump suit or no trumps. A bid consists of the number of tricks above 6 you need to make and the denomination; e.g. "1" is 7 tricks with clubs as trumps, "3NT" is 9 tricks with no trump suit. The dealer bids first. At their turn players may either: pass, bid to make a higher contract, "double" an opponent's contract (which increases the penalties for failing to make the contract or the points for making the contract) or "redouble" their side's doubled contract which doubles the points again. A player may bid again after they have passed. The auction ends when any bid is followed by three consecutive passes. If all four players pass the hand is passed in and the deal rotates.
Once the contract has been decided, the player of the winning pair who mentioned the denomination of the contract becomes declarer. The opening lead is made by the player on declarer's left. Declarer’s partner then lays down their hand face up on the table as dummy, with the trump suit on their right. Declarer plays both his and dummy's cards. Each player, in turn, plays a card to the trick and they must play a card of the suit led if they have one. A player who has no cards of the suit led may play any card either discarding or trumping. A trick is won by the highest card of the suit led unless trumps are played, when the highest trump wins. The winner of the trick leads to the next trick.
Scoring
Rubber bridge is scored on a sheet of paper with columns labeled "We" and "They". A horizontal line is drawn across the middle of the sheet to divide it into "above the line" and "below the line". Only tricks bid for and made are scored below the line and count towards game. Over-tricks, under-tricks, bonuses and penalties are all scored above the line.Points are scored below the line for tricks bid and made:
| Suit | Points |
|---|---|
| No Trump | 1st trick 40, subsequent tricks 30 |
| Major ( and ) | 30 per trick |
| Minor ( and ) | 20 per trick |
Making a doubled contract scores double the points below the line, adds a 50 point bonus above the line and increases the value of over-tricks. Doubling or redoubling does not affect honour, rubber or slam bonuses.
Making a redoubled contract scores twice the scores for making a doubled contract.
Game and rubber bonuses
When a side has made 100 points below the line, which may take one or more hands, they have scored game. A line is ruled across the score sheet and any part-score the opponents had no longer counts towards game. A side scoring a game is said to be Vulnerable which increases slam bonuses and penalties for them. The rubber ends as soon as one side scores two games. They win a rubber bonus of 700 points if the other side has not scored a game and 500 points if they have scored a game. In an unfinished rubber one game up is worth 300 points and up a part-score is worth 50 points. The side with highest total points in the rubber wins.Bonuses
Are scored above the line for the following.Over-tricks per trick:
| Over-Tricks | Non-Vul. | Vulnerable |
|---|---|---|
| Undoubled | Trick value | Trick value |
| Doubled | 100 | 200 |
Winning a rubber:
| Rubber Bonuses | Points |
|---|---|
| Winning a two game rubber | 700 |
| Winning a three game rubber | 500 |
| Unfinished rubber - game | 300 |
| Unfinished rubber - part-score | 100 |
Bonuses are scored for holding honours in the same hand:
| Honours | Points |
|---|---|
| All 4 aces in NT | 150 |
| 5 top trumps (AKQJT) | 150 |
| 4 out of 5 top trumps | 100 |
Bonuses for slams bid and made:
| Slam Bonuses | non vul. | vul. |
|---|---|---|
| Small Slam (12 tricks) | 500 | 750 |
| Grand Slam (13 tricks) | 1000 | 1500 |
Penalties
Scored above the line to defenders for defeating a contract:| Under-tricks | 1 down | 2 down | 3 down | subsequent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| non-vul. | 50 | 100 | 150 | +50 per trick |
| vulnerable | 100 | 200 | 300 | +100 per trick |
| doubled non vul. | 100 | 300 | 500 | +300 per trick |
| doubled vul. | 200 | 500 | 800 | +300 per trick |
For a redoubled contract the penalties are double the value for the doubled contract.
n.b. Slam bonuses, over-tricks and penalties are scored the same as in duplicate bridge. Part-score and game bonuses are not scored in rubber bridge as these bonuses are the average contribution of hand towards a rubber bonus used in duplicate scoring.
Scoring example
The following example illustrates flow of a rubber game (the order of entering results is typically upwards above the line and downwards below the line):
|
|
| NB: Superscript denotes the hand in which points were scored |
- North-South bid 1NT (40 below) and made an overtrick (30 above)
- East-West bid and made 3 (90 below)
- East-West bid 3, got doubled, and ended up down two (300 above for the opponents)
- North-South bid and made 2NT (70 below), which makes a game with previous 40. A new line is drawn below, and E-W's previous 90 is nullified (moved above the line). N-S are now vulnerable.
- East-West bid and made 6 (180 below), making their game. The slam bonus is (500 above). Also, declarer claimed honor points (100 above). E-W are now also vulnerable. A new line is drawn below.
- North-South bid and made 4. This is their second game, ending the rubber. They are awarded 500 points for 1-game lead, and the total sums are 1060 for N-S and 870 for E-W.
Tactics
At rubber the goal is to win the most points over a series of hands and it is important to make contracts to try and win the rubber and get the bonus. Over tricks don't matter, even less than at IMPs. Balancing over low level contracts is not as attractive because unless you can make contract you have little to gain and may force the opponents into a higher scoring contract. Sacrificing can be expensive and only preserves the current state rubber as far as points below the line go and a 500 point penalty is possibly worth as much as winning the rubber.At rubber every hand is affected by the context of the score and there are many different factors to consider and weigh up. You need to be constantly aware of not just the vulnerability but what legs (part-games) both your side and the opponents have. This affects what bids you make and the meanings of bids. Game may only require 2 so it is worth stretching to bid it with a weak hand but not to go higher with a strong hand unless 6 is a reasonable chance. Part-scores like 40 and 60 are highly worthwhile as one can make game with two of major or 1NT respectively on a later hand.
This is very different from duplicate bridge where each part-score and game are worth fixed amounts and each hand is an individual battle over points.
History
Rubber bridge is the traditional form of contract bridgeContract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
. It gained a lot of publicity after a celebrated match, referred to as "Bridge battle of the century", was held December 1931 to January 1932 between teams led by Ely Culbertson
Ely Culbertson
Ely Culbertson was an entreprenurial American contract bridge personality dominant during the Thirties and Forties. He played a major role in the early popularization of the game, and was widely regarded as "the man who made contract bridge"...
and Sidney Lenz. A total of 150 rubbers were played, and was ultimately won by the Culbertson team by a margin of 8,980 points. The match was a total success both for the game itself and the concepts of bidding as promoted by Culbertson.