A full guide: the deal, bidding for the contract, the trump, playing tricks and scoring. Get to grips with sides, bids and tricks — and sit straight down at the card table.
Bridge is a team card game for four people who sit crosswise and form two permanent pairs: the N–S side (North and South) against the E–W side (East and West). Players on the same side are partners and play for a common result. First the pairs compete in the bidding for the right to set the contract, and then they play out 13 tricks. The aim is to promise a certain number of tricks in advance and fulfil that promise in the play: the deal is won by the side that took more tricks.
The game uses a single deck of 52 cards: four suits (♠ spades, ♥ hearts, ♦ diamonds, ♣ clubs) of 13 cards each. Within a suit the ranking runs from the two up to the ace: 2 is the lowest, then up to the ten, then jack (J), queen (Q), king (K) and ace (A) is the highest. The deck is shuffled and dealt evenly: 13 cards to each player. On muta.pro you sit in the South seat — your cards are face up and neatly sorted by suit, while the other three players' cards lie face down. North deals, and the bidding starts with them.
A deck of 52 cards is dealt evenly among four players — 13 cards each. Partners (N–S and E–W) sit opposite one another, so the players next to you at the table are always from the other side.
In turn, clockwise, players make bids. A bid is a promise to take a certain number of tricks: a level from 1 to 7 plus a trump suit or "no-trump" (NT). Level 1 means 6 + 1 = seven tricks, level 7 means all thirteen.
Each new bid must be higher than the previous one. At the same level the suits rank in order ♣ → ♦ → ♥ → ♠ → NT (no-trump is the highest). To outbid an opponent's lower-ranking suit, move up a level.
If there is nothing to bid, a player says "Pass". An opponent's bid can be reinforced with the penalty word "Double" (✕), raising the cost of its failure. When three passes in a row follow the last bid, the auction closes.
The last bid named becomes the contract. Its suit is the trump for the whole deal (with NT there is no trump). The side that won the auction has promised to take the stated number of tricks; its declarer runs the play.
The first lead is made by the player to the left of the declarer. Each in turn plays one card. You must follow the suit led if you have such a card. A trick of four cards is won by the highest trump, or if there are no trumps, by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads the next one.
Thirteen tricks are played in all. They are totalled by sides: N–S separately, E–W separately. The side that took more tricks wins the deal, after which the cards are dealt again.
Tricks count for the whole team, not the individual player: everything North and South take goes into the N–S side's pot, everything East and West take into the E–W side's. On muta.pro the "Tricks" board in the right column shows the current score of both sides, and the leading pair is highlighted in gold.
When all 13 tricks have been played, the deal ends: the side with more tricks wins. The perfect result is when your pair not only won but also made the contract, that is, took as many tricks as it promised in the bidding. After the tally the table automatically deals the next hand, and the battle begins anew.
Before bidding, work out how many aces, kings and long suits you hold — those are your future tricks.
A modest bid you make is better than a fine one you cannot fulfil. A well-timed "Pass" is a strength too.
Keep track of how many trumps have already gone. When the opponents have no trumps left, your high cards win in peace.
Remember that across from you is your partner. Their tricks are your shared points, so protect the team's strength, not your personal score.
Before opening the auction, turn the picture in your hand into a number. The standard measure is high-card points (HCP): an ace is worth 4, a king 3, a queen 2, a jack 1. There are exactly 40 points in the whole deck, so an average hand comes to 10, and you usually open with 12–13 HCP: for a game contract a partnership needs about 25 combined points.
But pure HCP is only half the story. Long suits bring tricks in their own right: the fifth and each further card of one suit almost always cashes in the endgame, when the opponents have none of that suit left. So to the honour points you add 1 point for each card of a suit beyond four — that way a weak-looking hand with a six-card suit turns out well worth an opening bid.
A♠+Q♠+K♥+Q♦+J♣ = 4+2+3+2+1 = 13 HCP with a balanced shape — a classic 1NT opening.
Add up the honour points: only aces, kings, queens and jacks. Small cards count zero here, but remember the length.
1NT shows a balanced hand with no trump: a shape like 4-3-3-3 or 4-4-3-2, without a five-card suit and without singletons.
With 12–14 balanced HCP on muta, open one no-trump — a single bid describes both the strength and the shape of your hand to your partner at once.
A weak hand on the edge? Add your HCP and the lengths of your two longest suits. A total ≥ 20 — open even with 11 points.
HCP understates aces and overstates queens and jacks. Three aces are really stronger than the count; bare Qs and Js with no support are weaker.
The main aim of the dialogue in the bidding is to find a fit: a suit where you and your partner together hold eight or more cards. An eight-card fit turns a suit into a weapon — you ruff your losers with it and stop the opponent from establishing their length. So when you hear a suit from your partner, first of all size up your support in it.
Three spades in your hand + five in your partner's = an 8-card fit; spades become the trump (gold frame).
Do you have 3+ cards in the suit they named? Raise it — you announce a fit and invite play in that trump.
If both hands are balanced and there is no common long suit, the natural home for the contract is "no-trump": there short suits are no threat.
An eight-card fit and ~25 HCP between you is a game: four in a major (♥/♠) or five in a minor (♦/♣). Fewer values — stop lower.
The ranking of bids helps you read the auction: at the same level the suits rank ♣ → ♦ → ♥ → ♠ → NT. To outbid an opponent's higher suit, move up a level — and each such step promises your partner extra strength. Remember the reverse too: each of your bids is a sentence, not a shot in the dark, so name exactly the suit and level that honestly describe your hand, so that your partner rightly gauges the pair's overall potential.
You won the auction — you are the declarer, and your partner's cards go down face up: this is the dummy, which you play as a second hand. Don't rush to win the first trick — first count where you will get the number you bid. In a no-trump contract you count your sure tricks, in a trump one the opposite — the possible losers.
A finesse: with A♠ and Q♠ in dummy you play the low five toward the queen — it wins if the king is to the left.
Compare your bid with the number of sure tricks. A 3NT contract needs nine; if there are seven sure — decide in advance where to get two more.
Missing a king? Play on it being with the "right" opponent. Low toward dummy's A-Q: play the queen — you win it when the king is to the left. A 50% chance.
In a trump contract pull the opponents' trumps so they can't ruff your high cards — but later, if you yourself need a ruff in the short hand.
Giving up an unavoidable trick pays off at the start, while you still hold the controls. A deferred loser often turns into a lost contract.
Play so that dummy's honour ends up "over" the opponent. Which hand you play from first determines the outcome.
Bridge forgives ignorance of fine technique, but punishes systematic blunders harshly. Here are the ones that most often cost deals on muta.pro — and how to avoid them.
Against NT you lead the fourth-highest of your long suit — from K J 7 5 3 that is the five, not the king.
After the deal, ask yourself where you lost the trick: in the bid, the plan or the defence. Reviewing one hand is worth more than ten played at random.
Most "partner mistakes" are your own unread signals. Before blaming the dummy, re-read what they showed with their cards.