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What’s in the Box

• Two Decks of aBRIDGEd® Cards
  Each 52-card deck consists of four colored sets, numbered 2–14.
• Four Quick Reference Cards
• Four Score Pads and Four Pencils
• Rules Booklet
  * These rules are written for those with some experience playing trick-taking card games. For those new to this type of game, and those new to aBRIDGEd, the blue asterisks indicate terms that are further defined here.

The Object of aBRIDGEd

In aBRIDGEd, partners work together to earn points by winning tricks.*

Setting Up

1. Divide the four players into two teams. A team consists of two players, who sit across from each other and are partners for a complete game.
2. Give each player one Quick Reference card.
3. Select a player to be the first dealer. The dealer starts by shuffling one deck of aBRIDGEd cards. The other deck is given to the dealer’s partner.
4. Decide who will keep score and give that person a score sheet and a pencil. Write the names of the team members in the space provided.

Figure 1

Playing the Game

A game consists of four hands—each player deals one hand. A hand is played in four steps: Dealing, Declaring, Playing the Cards, and Scoring.

Step 1 – Dealing

The player to the right of the dealer cuts the cards. The dealer deals all 52 cards, one card at a time, face down, clockwise, starting with the player to the left. Each player will have 13 cards. Players pick up their cards and form a hand. Players may sort their cards.

To save time between hands, the dealer’s partner shuffles the other deck while the dealer is dealing. The partner sets this deck to his or her right. It is now ready for the next hand.

Step 2 – Declaring

ROUND ONE
The dealer begins this round by stating either “Pass” or “Play.” “Pass” indi-cates that the player believes his or her team cannot win at least 10 of the 13 tricks for that hand. “Play” indicates that the player believes his or her team can win at least 10 of the 13 tricks. If the dealer passes, the player to the left then decides to pass or play, and if that player passes, the turn moves clockwise until a player either declares “Play” or until all four players have passed.

If “Pass” is stated by all four players, the game moves directly to ROUND TWO.

If “Play” is stated, the player who announced it becomes the declarer.*

1. The declarer’s partner places all of his or her cards on the table, face up, grouped by color, in descending number order. This is called the dummy’s hand* and should be placed in front of the declarer’s partner, who is called the dummy.* Refer to Figure 2.

2. The declarer decides which color will be trump,* or if there will be no-trump.* If a color is selected for trump, the cards of that color, in the dummy’s hand, are placed on the left as viewed by the declarer.
   
   Example: If red was declared trump, the red cards would be displayed on the left as shown
   in Figure 2.

   Figure 2

3. Starting with the player to the left of the declarer, and moving clock-wise, each player states his or her hand strength.* Hand strength is determined by adding together the total number of pips* on the cards in a player’s hand. The pips are located directly under the numbers on cards 11–14. The total hand strength for all four players will always be 40.
   
   Example: In Figure 3, a player has one 14, two 13s, and two 11s, so the hand strength is 12 (4+3+3+1+1).

   Figure 3

4. Starting with the player to the left of the declarer, and moving clock-wise, each player states his or her color count.* The color count is the largest quantity of cards of one color in a player’s hand. Only the quantity is stated, not the color.
   
   Example: In Figure 3, a player has 4 red cards, 1 green card, 3 yellow cards, and 5 blue cards. This player would state “5” because 5 is the largest quantity of cards in any one color.
   
   If two or more colors tie for having the largest quantity of cards, the player states only the quantity of cards in one of the colors from the tie and does not indicate that there is a tie.

5. Since a player declared “Play” in ROUND ONE there will be no ROUND TWO, and the game moves directly to Step 3 – Playing the Cards.

ROUND TWO
Use only if all players pass during ROUND ONE.

1. Starting with the dealer, and moving clockwise, each player states his or her hand strength.* Hand strength is determined by adding together the total number of pips* on the cards in a player’s hand. The pips are located directly under the numbers on cards 11–14. The total hand strength for all four players will always be 40. Refer to the example in Figure 3.

2. Each team totals their hand strength. The team with the highest total automatically becomes the declaring team.* If the two teams have equal totals, then the dealer’s team becomes the declaring team.

3. The player in the declaring team who has the highest hand strength will be the declarer.* If both partners have the same hand strength, then the partner who either dealt, or sat to the left of the dealer, will be the declarer.

4. The declarer’s partner places all of his or her cards on the table, face up, grouped by color, in descending number order. This is called the dummy’s hand* and should be placed in front of the declarer’s partner, who is called the dummy.* Refer to Figure 2.

5. The declarer determines how many tricks he or she thinks the team can win and states either “Ten” or “Seven.” “Ten” indicates that the player believes his or her team can win at least 10 of the 13 tricks for that hand. “Seven” indicates that the player believes his or her team can win at least 7 of the 13 tricks.

6. The declarer decides which color will be trump,* or if there will be no-trump.* If a color is selected for trump, the cards of that color, in the dummy’s hand, are placed on the left as viewed by the declarer.
   
   Example: If red was declared trump, the red cards would be displayed on the left as shown in Figure 2.

7. Starting with the player to the left of the declarer, and moving clock-wise, each player states his or her color count.* The color count is the largest quantity of cards of one color in a player’s hand. Only the quantity is stated, not the color.
   
   Example: In Figure 3, a player has 4 red cards, 1 green card, 3 yellow cards, and 5 blue cards. This player would state “5” because 5 is the largest quantity of cards in any one color.
   
   If two or more colors tie for having the largest quantity of cards, the player states only the quantity of cards in one of the colors from the tie and does not indicate that there is a tie.

Step 3 – Playing the Cards

Only three of the four players will actually select cards to be played — the dummy does not select cards. The player to the left of the declarer has the first lead* and selects a card from his or her hand and places it, face up, in the center of the table. The second card to be played is selected from the dummy’s hand, by the declarer. The third player plays a card from his or her hand. The fourth player, the declarer, then plays a card from his or her hand. This set of four cards is called a trick. The winner of the trick is the player who played the highest numbered trump card. If no trump cards were played, then the player who played the highest numbered card in the color which was led, wins the trick. The winner of the trick has the lead for the next trick, and card-play proceeds clockwise.

• The player who has the lead may select any card to play, regardless of color or trump.

• Players must play a card of the same color as the card which was led. If a player does not have a card of the same color as the card led, the player may play any other card from his or her hand, including trump.
  
  Example: Red is trump. The blue 12 is led. The second card played is the blue 4 and the third card is the blue 5. The last player doesn’t have any blue cards so she is allowed to play any color. She chooses to play the red 4 and wins the trick because red is trump.

• The winner of a trick will play the lead card for the next trick. If the trick is won by a card from the dummy’s hand, then the declarer must lead with a card selected from the dummy’s hand.

• Each trick won is gathered by the team who won it. All tricks for that team are arranged neatly in front of just one of the partners from that team. Tricks must be displayed so that they are easily counted.
  
  Play continues until all 13 tricks are won. This completes card-play for this hand so it is ready for scoring.

Step 4 – Scoring

The score is recorded after each hand is played. Only one team earns points per hand.

Count the number of tricks won by the declaring team and use the chart in Figure 4 to determine the points. If the declaring team does not win the minimum number of tricks required by their declaration, they earn no points for that hand. Instead, their opponents earn points.

Record the number of points on the score sheet in the appropriate box. The points are totaled after four hands. Refer to Figure 5, and Scoring Examples.

Figure 4

After scoring the hand, the role of dealer rotates clockwise and the next hand begins. The deck of cards, previously shuffled, is ready to be cut and dealt. Refer to Step 1–Dealing.

A complete game consists of four hands, with each player dealing once. After four hands are played the scores are totaled.

Scoring Examples HAND 1 Carol declares “Play” in ROUND ONE. She and Bob need to win at least 10 tricks. They win 11 tricks. They score 100 points and Ted and Alice score no points. HAND 2 Ted declares “Seven” in ROUND TWO. He and Alice need to win at least 7 tricks. They win 9 tricks. They score 20 points and Bob and Carol score no points. HAND 3 Bob declares “Ten” in ROUND TWO. He and Carol need to win at least 10 tricks. They only win 8 tricks. They score no points and Ted and Alice score10 points. HAND 4 Needing at least 80 points to win, Alice declares “Play” in ROUND ONE. She and Ted need 10 tricks, but only win 9. They score no points and Bob and Carol score 10 points. Bob and Carol win this game of aBRIDGEd 110 to 30.

Figure 5

Winning the Game

The team with the most points at the end of four hands wins aBRIDGEd.

If the teams tie with the same number of points, the team that won three out of four hands, wins the game. If the teams are still tied, because the score is tied and each team has won two hands, the team that won the fourth hand wins the game.

Playing Notes

Team Play
Players should remember that they are trying to win tricks as a team. For example, a player might be able to win a trick, but if it appears that the player’s partner can win the trick, it might be in the best interest of the team to play a low card and let the partner take the trick.

Risk and Reward
The number of points earned depends on the round and the declaration. For example, the points earned by declaring in the first round are significantly greater than in the second round for the same number of tricks. However, the risk for declaring in round one is much greater than declaring in round two.

Table Talk
After the cards are dealt, players may not discuss the cards in their hand, or strategy, with any other player until the end of the hand.

Hand Strength and Color Count
As players gain experience, knowing other players’ hand strength and color count will become more important in card playing decisions.