Teach, isn't it possible to
make one fantastic bid and
everyone says pass and you
buy the contract?

Like, for example, if I
bid three diamonds!.

Sometimes, Norm. But you
won't often "buy" the
contract with just one bid.
Usually the other players
will compete by making
even bigger bids than
yours, in which case the
auction becomes quite
"competitive" and exciting!

Let's look more closely at this.

Here, each person is bidding
and everyone is out for
himself. Each person is
attempting to obtain the
painting. The money
escalates in an increasing
numerical direction.

See that clubs is at the
bottom, then diamonds
then hearts, then spades.
And then comes notrump.

Your bidding must go in
order, both numerically
and by suit. For example,
after somebody bids "one
spade," the next person
can bid clubs, diamonds
or hearts ONLY AT A
HIGHER LEVEL.

Professor Emceetwo, can
you bring your flashcards
in, please.

Unlike an auction for a
painting, in bridge you have
a partner. Your partner is
bidding along with you.

If you buy the contract, you
buy it for both of you. If one
of your opponents buys the
contract, both opponents
also share the contract.

I'll explain this auction. West "opened the
bidding" with a one-heart bid. He is saying,
"I contract to take seven tricks ("book" + 1)
with the heart suit as trump. North then bid
one spade: "I propose to take seven tricks
with spades as trump." East "supports" his
partner by "raising" West's suit to two
hearts (which is contracting for eight tricks,
book + 2), and South, who goes after East,
bid two spades; he "supports" his partner
by "raising" North's suit!

Both pairs, East-West and
North-South, have
contracted to take eight
tricks, but North-South
outbid East-West simply
because their suit, spades, outranks (i.e., is higher
ranking than) hearts. For
this reason, people call
spades "the boss suit" - it
is the highest ranking suit!

Here's a question for your
students, Bridget. Suppose
East-West want to outbid
North-South's 2S bid, yet
they want to keep their
commitment to only 8
tricks. What must they do?

Nice question,
but I think
Wilma has
the answer.

Young man,
the only bid
left at the two
level is two
notrump. I
suppose
either West
or East can
bid two
notrump!

Either of these auctions is
fine. In the first auction
West bid two notrump and
in the second East bid two
notrump. Notice the "NT"
stands for "notrump."

In either case, they are
contracting for eight tricks
with no trumps.

Teach, suppose your partner
bids a suit, and you would
like to contract in a
different suit, cause you
don't like partner's suit.
Can you?

Yes, Norm, you can!

West would like hearts to be trump, but East
would like spades or clubs to be trump.
Are they fighting about it? Absolutely not!
East and West are having a little
conversation, which goes something like:

  West: 1. I like hearts.

  East: 1. I like spades.

  West: 2. I like hearts quite a bit.

  East: 3. Hmm, I still don't like hearts too
    much, but I have some nice clubs over here.

  West: 3NT. Well, I don't like spades or
    clubs. How about no trump?

  East: pass. OK, let's try for nine tricks
    (book + 3) without a trump suit

When you're bidding for a painting at an
auction, you need to have money in your
checking account to make a bid. When
you bid a suit at bridge, you need to have
some cards of that suit, and you need to
have some honors in your hand. We will
discuss this in more detail next time.

Are you ready to try a little quiz? Here goes!