How to run a bridge night
A bridge night with several tables needs a scoring system that works with a changing crowd, and a plan for who moves where. Chicago bridge is built for it: four deals a round, a fresh start every round, and one running total for each player. This guide covers how a deal is scored, how a round and a night work, and three ways to move partners and tables.
The night in short
- Seat four to a table. Two sides at each table, North and South against East and West, with partners across from each other. North deals first.
- Play four deals. That is a round. The deal passes clockwise. A deal that is passed out doesn’t count, and the same dealer deals again.
- Score each deal. A contract that is made scores for the declaring side; one that goes down scores penalty points for the other side. Vulnerability follows the deal number.
- Win the round. Add up each side’s points for the four deals. The side with more wins the round, and the difference is its net.
- Move. When every table has finished, draw new partners and tables, or move the winning sides up a table.
- Keep your own total. Add your side’s net for each round. A round sat out is zero.
- Crown the winners. After the last round, the highest total wins. Every night’s totals add up to zero across the room.
Tables and sides
Bridge is played four to a table, in two sides of two, with partners across from each other. The seats are the compass points: North and South play East and West. Number the tables, and give each one a deck and a score sheet.
North deals first in every round at every table, and the deal passes clockwise: East, South, West. This guide assumes you know how to bid and play a deal. It is about what happens after.
Every table needs exactly four. If your numbers don’t come out in fours, the extras sit out in turn (see Sitting out). There are no three-handed tables.
Scoring a deal
The side that wins the auction is the declaring side, and the player who first named the contract’s suit is the declarer. If the declaring side takes at least six tricks plus the level of the contract, the contract is made. If not, it goes down by the shortfall.
A contract that is made scores contract points for each trick bid, then bonuses. The trick values:
| Suit | Not doubled | Doubled | Redoubled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clubs or diamonds | 20 | 40 | 80 |
| Hearts or spades | 30 | 60 | 120 |
| No trump, the first trick | 40 | 80 | 160 |
| No trump, each trick after | 30 | 60 | 120 |
A 4 hearts contract, made, is four tricks at 30: 120 contract points. The bonuses on top of it:
| What happened | Not vulnerable | Vulnerable |
|---|---|---|
| Each overtrick, not doubled | 20 or 30 | 20 or 30 |
| Each overtrick, doubled | 100 | 200 |
| Each overtrick, redoubled | 200 | 400 |
| Making a doubled contract | 50 | 50 |
| Making a redoubled contract | 100 | 100 |
| Small slam (a contract at the 6 level) | 500 | 750 |
| Grand slam (a contract at the 7 level) | 1,000 | 1,500 |
| Game (see Partscores and game) | 300 | 500 |
An undoubled overtrick is worth the trick’s own value: 20 in clubs or diamonds, 30 in hearts, spades or no trump. Honors, if your group counts them, score 100 for four of the five top trump cards in one hand, and 150 for all five, or for all four aces in one hand at no trump.
A contract that goes down scores penalty points for the other side, for every trick it was short:
| Down | Not doubled, not vulnerable | Not doubled, vulnerable | Doubled, not vulnerable | Doubled, vulnerable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50 | 100 | 100 | 200 |
| 2 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 500 |
| 3 | 150 | 300 | 500 | 800 |
| 4 | 200 | 400 | 800 | 1,100 |
| 5 | 250 | 500 | 1,100 | 1,400 |
| Each more | 50 | 100 | 300 | 300 |
A redoubled contract that goes down pays twice the doubled penalty. Every score in bridge is a multiple of 10.
Vulnerability
A side that is vulnerable earns bigger bonuses and pays bigger penalties. In Chicago it follows the deal number, so nobody has to remember it:
- Deal 1: neither side is vulnerable.
- Deals 2 and 3: only the dealer’s side is vulnerable.
- Deal 4: both sides are vulnerable.
Some groups reverse deals 2 and 3, so the dealer’s opponents are the vulnerable side. That is common enough to be worth agreeing on before the first deal (see House rules).
Partscores and game
A game is 100 or more contract points on one deal, or built up from partscores. A contract worth less than 100 is a partscore. In Chicago:
- A partscore carries forward to the next deal, for the side that made it, until either side scores a game.
- A game wipes out both sides’ partscores, and the side that made it scores the game bonus: 300 not vulnerable, 500 vulnerable.
- A doubled contract that reaches 100 is a game. A doubled 2 hearts is 120.
- A partscore made on the fourth deal that doesn’t make game earns a bonus of 100.
On deal 1, a side makes 2 spades: 60 contract points, a partscore. It carries forward. On deal 2 the same side makes 2 spades with one overtrick: 60 more contract points, 30 for the overtrick, and the 60 carried makes it 120, which is a game. With the game bonus of 300 (not vulnerable) the deal scores 60 + 30 + 300 = 390.
A round is four deals
At a party, you don’t play a fixed number of games. A round is four deals at each table, so each player deals once. When the fourth deal is scored, the round is over at that table, whatever the score. A round takes about 20 to 25 minutes, and a two-hour night is five or six rounds.
After the last deal, the side with more points for the round wins it. If the two sides tie, they share the round.
A round, worked out
Eleanor and Margaret sit North and South, against Gordon and Alan, East and West. Eleanor deals first.
| Deal | What happened | Vulnerable | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Margaret is declarer in 3 no trump and takes 10 tricks: made with 1 overtrick. Contract 100, overtrick 30, game bonus 300. | Neither side | 430 to Eleanor and Margaret |
| 2 | Gordon is declarer in 4 spades and goes down 1. | Gordon and Alan | 100 to Eleanor and Margaret |
| 3 | Alan is declarer in 2 hearts, doubled, and makes 1 overtrick. Contract 120, overtrick 100, making a doubled contract 50, game bonus 300. | Eleanor and Margaret | 570 to Gordon and Alan |
| 4 | Gordon is declarer in 3 diamonds and takes 11 tricks: 2 overtricks. Contract 60, overtricks 40, and 100 for a partscore on the fourth deal. | Both sides | 200 to Gordon and Alan |
| Round | Eleanor and Margaret 530, Gordon and Alan 770 | Gordon and Alan win by 240 | |
Your total for the night
In a party game, you play the night for yourself. Each round, both partners add the net of their side to their own total: their side’s points for the round minus the other side’s. A round won counts for both partners, and a round lost counts against both. Gordon and Alan each gain 240 for the round above, and Eleanor and Margaret each lose 240.
| Round | Table | Partner | Result | Net | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Margaret | Won 810 to 430 | 380 | 380 |
| 2 | 1 | Eleanor | Lost 380 to 620 | −240 | 140 |
| 3 | 1 | Gordon | Won 770 to 530 | 240 | 380 |
Because every round’s net is a plus for one side and the same minus for the other, everyone’s totals add up to zero across the room, and a round sat out is a neutral zero. At the end of the night, the highest total wins. Some groups also give a prize for the total closest to zero, which nobody can play for.
Where partners stay together all night, partners have the same total, and they win together. Free printable score sheets are on our printables page.
Three ways to move
Nobody moves until every table has finished its round. Then your group does one of three things.
Same partners all night
Partnerships and tables stay. Each table plays its rounds one after another and never waits for the others. This suits a single table, or a group of couples who always sit together.
New partners each round
After every round, everyone is drawn again: new partners and new tables. The aim is that nobody partners the same person again until everyone has partnered everyone, when that can be helped. With no one sitting out, that takes 3 rounds at 4 players, 7 rounds at 8, 11 at 12 and 15 at 16. It works for one table with five or six players too, with the extras sitting out in turn.
Winners move up
Partnerships stay together all night.
- The winning side moves up one table, toward Table 1.
- The losing side stays.
- At the head table, the winners stay and the losers go down to the highest-numbered table.
- A side that arrives at a table takes the seats the side that left was in.
- If a round ends in a tie, someone has to say which side moves up.
At Table 1, Eleanor and Margaret beat Gordon and Alan. Eleanor and Margaret stay, and Gordon and Alan go down to Table 3.
At Table 2, Barbara and Carolyn beat Philip and Richard. They move up to Table 1, and Philip and Richard stay.
At Table 3, Diane and Leonard beat Helen and Warren. They move up to Table 2, and Helen and Warren stay.
With an odd number of partnerships, one partnership rests each round: the losers at Table 1 rest, and they return at the highest-numbered table the round after.
Sitting out
When the numbers don’t come out in fours, the extra players sit out a round, in turn, and nobody sits out twice before everyone has sat out once, when that can be helped. Whoever runs the night isn’t exempt. 11 players at 2 tables: 8 play and 3 sit out each round. 9 players at 2 tables: 8 play and 1 sits out. 12 players at 3 tables: everyone plays.
A round sat out scores zero. It is neutral, because the night’s totals add up to zero anyway. You need at least four players.
House rules and rubber
Every group plays a little differently. Agree on these before the first deal, and tell every table:
- Which side is vulnerable on deals 2 and 3: the dealer’s side, as above, or the other side.
- Honors: counted or not. Many groups leave them out.
- Partscores: carried forward, as above, or 50 points for each partscore made, with nothing carried and no 100 on the fourth deal.
- Rubber bridge instead of Chicago, for a group that keeps the same partners at one table. A rubber is played until a side wins two games. The side that wins it scores a rubber bonus of 700 if the other side won no game, or 500 if it won one. A side with a game is vulnerable. If you stop with a rubber unfinished, a side with a game scores 300, and a side with a partscore 100.
Questions people ask
How many deals are in a round of Chicago bridge?
Four, so each player deals once. A round takes about 20 to 25 minutes.
Who is vulnerable in Chicago bridge?
On the first deal neither side is vulnerable. On the second and third deals only the dealer’s side is, and on the fourth deal both sides are.
Do partscores carry forward in Chicago bridge?
Yes. A partscore carries forward to the next deal until either side scores a game, which wipes out both sides’ partscores. A partscore made on the fourth deal that doesn’t make game scores a bonus of 100.
How do you score a bridge night for each player?
Each player adds the net of their side’s rounds: their side’s points minus the other side’s points for each round they played. A round sat out is zero, so the whole room adds up to zero.
How do partners change at a bridge party?
Some groups draw new partners and tables after every round, so nobody repeats a partner until everyone has partnered everyone. Others keep partnerships together and move the winning side up a table.
One tap a deal with Bridge Circle
Each table’s scorekeeper taps the declarer, the contract and how it went, and Bridge Circle works out the points, the vulnerability and the partscores, totals the round, and after every round shows everyone their next table, seat and partner, or that they sit out. Your organizer picks Chicago or rubber, and which of the house rules your group plays.
Free for every player to join, RSVP, keep score and see where to sit. The live scoreboard, season standings and winners log are an optional subscription, per person. Coming to iPhone and Android soon.
See Bridge Circle
