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.
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Rubber bridge is usually played with two standard decks of 52 cards. The cards are ranked AKQJ1098765432. Suits are ranked No Trump (NT), Spades (♠), Hearts (♥), Diamonds (♦), Clubs (♣) There are four players who play in partnership with the player sitting opposite. The game rotates clockwise. [1]
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. 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. Starting with the player to his left, the dealer deals 13 cards to each player, one at a time. Dealer's partner shuffles the second deck during the deal to speed things up. The deal rotates clockwise after each hand. [1]
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. [1]
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. [1]
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. [1]
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 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.
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. [1]
Are scored above the line for the following. [1]
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 | 50 |
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 |
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.
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):
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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.
Rubber bridge is the traditional form of contract bridge. 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 Sydney 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.
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