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Encyclopedia  of Bridge Terms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Duplicate     Bidding     General     Play     Conventions     Jargon     Rubber
 

 

 

Laws

Pack - The deck of 52 cards, comprised of four suits with 13 unique ranking cards in each suit.  See Example

Pack - See Law 1

General

Packet - A segment of the deck, associated together during shuffling or to indicate tricks won.
 

General

Pair - Two players forming a partnership, seated in either the North-South or East-West direction.
 

 

Laws

Pair Events -

Adjusted score - See Law 12  88
Indemnity points - See Law 88
Partnership - See Law 4

See Director Tech File - Pairs Conditions of Contest

Jargon

Pajama Game - Referring to a Duplicate Bridge session where the board results are "tops and bottoms" (score results).
 

Jargon

Pallas - Queen of Spades, referring to the Q, was a warrior goddess (Minerva).  See History of Cards and Card Names
 

Jargon

Palooka - A derogatory colloquial term for a Bridge player with poor ability.

Jargon Pancake - Describing a 4-3-3-3 hand shape, i.e., "flat as a pancake"  See Shape
 

Duplicate

Par - The optimum result where both sides score the best result possible.  In many auctions, the par involves competitive bidding factoring the pair's vulnerability.
 


Duplicate

Par Contest - A Duplicate Bridge tournament where each hand is predealt and analyzed to determine the optimum result of bidding and play by each side.  The scoring is based on the par, rather than directly comparing player scores.
 

Jargon

Pard - An affectionate term for one's partner.

 

Play

Parity -

1.

Whether a suit contains an even or odd number of cards

2.

Maintaining an equal suit length against an opponent, to avoid allowing the opponent to obtain additional tricks through promotion

 


Laws

Partial Designation - An incomplete call for a card by the declarer from the dummy.  For instance, if declarer calls for a Club, then dummy shall play the lowest Club available.  If a card is named but not the suit, the dummy shall play the prior suit played, if possible.  Calls such as "up", "top", "high", or a gesture such as a finger pointing upward, call for the highest card in the suit played.  Calls for down, bottom, low, or a finger pointing down, require the play of a low card. See Law 46.  Also see Card Names
 

Play

 

Partial Elimination - Referring to declarer's dilemma on which suit to discard, choosing a discard that may win against certain opponent distributions and plays but not others.

Laws

Partial Review Of Auction - See Law 20

Rubber

Partial Score - In Rubber Bridge, a partscore bid and result less than a 100 points "below the line" required for game.

General

Partner's Suit - A suit directly bid by or implied by a call.

General

Laws

Partnership - The pair of cooperative players sharing assets and scores, seated opposite each other and between opponents.

Partnerships - See Law 4

Bidding

Partnership Bidding - The partner's bidding where opponents pass at each turn.
 


Duplicate

Partnership Desk - A station at a tournament, coordinator via telephone, computer bulletin board, etc,  that arranges tournament pairings for players that do not have an established partner for the event.
 

 

 

Laws

Partnership Understanding - The associated agreements and understandings between two partners, allowing the pair to communicate through Calls and the play of the cards.  Duplicate players are required to disclose these agreements on their Convention Cards and, if applicable, announce or alert special understandings to their opponents.

Concealment prohibited - See Law 40  75
Mistaken bid - See Law 75
Psychic - See Law 40
Violation of - See Law 75

Rubber

Partscore - A partial score less than the 100 points "below the line", required for game in Rubber Bridge.
 


Duplicate

Partscore Bonus - In Duplicate Bridge, a 50 point bonus score is awarded to the declarer for making a sub-game contract.  In the Chicago version of scoring, a 100 point partscore bonus is awarded on the last hand.  See Laws
 

 


Laws

Pass - A Call typically implying the player does not have values sufficient to enter or continue bidding in the auction.

As conventional call - See Law 30
Irregular pass causing damage - See Law 23
Out of rotation - See Law 30  34

 

 


Laws

Pass, Enforced - The situation where an offender's side is required to Pass:

Action in violation of obligation to pass - See Law 37
Adjusted score for damage resulting from - See Law 23
Affecting right to review auction - See Law 20
After bid out of rotation - See Law 31
After double out of rotation - See Law 32
After exposed card - See Law 24
After irregularity - See Law 23
After pass out of rotation - See Law 30
After redouble out of rotation - See Law 32
Condonation of action in violation of obligation to pass - See Law 35

Bidding

Passed Hand - Referring to a player who previously passed when presented the opportunity to bid.
 

 


General

Passed Out -

1.

The condition where all four player pass the bidding on the first round.  In Duplicate Bridge, each player receives a neutral score of zero; in Rubber Bridge, the cards are redealt.

2.

After a player or players have made calls, the condition where three consecutive players Pass


Laws

Pass out of Rotation - During the bidding phase, should a player pass before their turn,  the player's partner receives unauthorized information.  The resolution of this irregularity is described in Law 30.
 

 

 


Play

Passive Lead - To make an opening lead which has a low likelihood of immediately losing tricks.  Ideal situations to make a passive lead include:

1.

Opponents' have bid 6 Notrump or grandslam

2.

Opponents' bidding does not show a long side suit

3.

Strength is predominantly in the declarer's hand

4.

Dummys' hand is flat (especially 4-3-3-3 distribution)

5.

Opponents' bidding indicate a suit misfit or bad split

6.

Opening leader has no suit to lead, with no long suit to promote or lacking entries

Also see Opening Lead, Trump Lead, Active Defense, Journalist Leads

Also see books on Leads

 

 


Bidding

 

Pass or Correct - In response to partner's call, the player has the option to either pass partner's denomination or bid in another suit, anticipating a fit with partner.   For instance, in this auction assume the overcaller is playing the DONT convention where a double shows a one-suited hand:

  (1N) - X - (P) - 2C;
(  P) - ?

Here, overcaller's partner shall bid 2C, allowing the overcaller to either pass or correct the suit to another denomination.

 

 

General

Pass Out -

1.

The condition where all four player pass the bidding on the first round.  In Duplicate Bridge, each player receives a neutral score of zero; in Rubber Bridge, the cards are redealt.

2.

After a player or players have made calls, the condition where three consecutive players pass

3.

Referring to the position where a pass completes the auction.  After two passes, the relative position is know as the passout seat.

 

 


General

Pattern -

1.

The number of cards held in each suit.  See Hand Distribution

2.

The card value characteristics of a suit within a hand, as a sequence, broken sequence, tenaces, etc.

3.

The distribution of a suit among the four players.  See Card Distribution

 

Laws

Pause -

As extraneous information - See Law 16
Regulation by sponsoring organization - See Law 73
Skip bid warning - See Law 73

 


Bidding

Pearson Points - Also known as "The Rule of 15" or "Cassino Points", this refers to a secondary hand evaluation methodology when a hand does not have sufficient strength to open bidding using a traditional point count.  Typically used by the player in the fourth (passout) seat, the player counts traditional High Card Points and adds 1 point for each Spade.  If the cumulative value is 15 or greater, the player should open the hand for bidding.

Jargon

Pedro - The colloquial term referring to the 5 (five-spot) card.  See Card Names
 

Jargon

Peewee - The colloquial term referring to an insignificant spot card.  See Card Names
 

 

 

 

 

Laws

Penalty -

1.

The remedy prescribed by the Laws when a player commits and infraction

2.

The points given to the defenders when a declarer makes less tricks then promised during bidding in the auction

Action by offenders after payment of prescribed penalty - See Law 72
After forfeiture of right to penalize - See Law 11
Cancellation - See Law 10
Director's authority to impose additional - See Law 90
Explanation - See Law 10
Consultation between partners - See Law 10
Self-help - See Law 10
Individual event - See Law 89
Infraction by dummy - See Law 43
Procedural - See Law 90
Laws

Penalty Card - Referring to a defender's card inadvertently exposed, a faced where partner could have seen it through actions such as a dropped card or playing two cards to a trick.  See Details

Bidding

Penalty Double - A traditional double of opponents' bid suit with the intention of accelerating the penalty for missing their missed contract, deemed superior to seeking game or slam bonuses.  See Double
 

 

 

 

Laws

Penalty, Lead -

  After action in violation of obligation to pass - 37
After bid of more than seven - 38
After bid out of rotation - 31
After call following close of auction - 39
After cancellation of change of call - 25
After change of call - 26
After correction of insufficient bid - 27
After double out of rotation - 32
After redouble out of rotation - 32
After unauthorized information - 26
Inability to comply - 59
When there is one penalty card - 50
When there is more than one penalty card - 51

 

 

Laws

Penalty In Auction -
 
After substitution for insufficient bid - See Law 27
After pass out of rotation - See Law 30
After bid out of rotation - See Law 31
After canceled change of call - See Law 25
After double out of rotation - See Law 32
After redouble out of rotation - See Law 32
After action in violation of obligation to pass - See Law 37
Laws

Penalty Pass - A conversion of partner's intended takeout double into a penalty double, normally with a significant trump stack against one's right hand opponent.

 

 

General

Percentages: See:

Card Distribution (remaining two hands)
Hand Distribution (suits within a hand)
High Card Point Count (HCPs in one hand)
Miscellaneous Probabilities (assorted interesting odds)
Number of Cards (card quantity in a suit)
Posteriori Probability (example when additional information is known)
Suit Combinations (best lead and plays)
Expected Controls (based on HCP)

Also see books on Probabilities
 

Jargon

Perfecto - A colloquial term where ideal bidding and card layout where a seemingly high auction is attainable based on the play and lie of the cards.
 

Jargon

Peter - A high-low echo to signal partner with attitude or count in the given suit.

 


Bidding

Duplicate

Phantom -

1.

To make an artificially high sacrifice bid against a perceived attainable contract by opponents, when in reality the opponents could not make their contract.  Thus, the phantom bid turned a positive score into a negative score.

2.

A imaginary non-existent pair assigned as a placeholder by the tournament Director to balance the tables for an odd numbered pair

 

Jargon

Phone Number - A potentially derogatory term, such as "going (down) for a (telephone) number", indicating the side will or has incurred a very large loss.  The loss typically includes costly penalties for Doubled contracts, significantly more than opponent's game or slam bonuses.  Hopefully the context of the term is an attempt to add a bit of levity when referring to a 4 digit number when going set in a doubled contract, tersely saying "we went for a phone number" instead of admitting to a loss of 1100 points or more.
 


Jargon

Pianola - A colloquial term referring to a Bridge hand which is easy to play.  The analogy is derived from the musical player piano, which plays the tune by itself.
 


Bidding

Pick A Slam - Without a known fit or when opponents' interfere with the auction, a jump bid of 5 Notrump may be used to ask partner to pick the best slam suit.  See Details
 

 

General


Duplicate

Pick Up -

1.

To gather tricks during play

2.

To play with a newly met partner at an event, as opposed to a pre-arranged game

3.

The Bridge scoring slip left at the table after completion of a tournament round.  The pickup slips are typically gathered by the Caddy, who returns them to the Director for cumulative scoring.

 

Bidding

Picture Bid - A bid during the course of an auction that tends to show a specific feature of the hand, instead of overall strength.  For instance, in the auction 1S - 4S, a jump to 4S often shows a concentrated distribution.  Some advanced players make elegant usage of picture bids, perhaps bidding a third suit as a forward going complete description of one's assets.
 

Jargon

Picture Cards - Referring to the "court cards", a King, Queen or Jack.  See Example and Card Names



General

Rubber

Piece -

1.

A useful honor

2.

To play or make a partscore

 

Play

Pin - To play a high card, causing opponents lower-ranking card to drop underneath and pin it.
 


Jargon

Pip - The number of suit designators on non-face cards.  The spot cards have an equal number of pips for the rank of the card.  Pips vary based on the country of origin. See Example

Jargon

Pitch - To discard a low card.

Play

Pitt Coup - A playing tactic that allows the declarer to finesse the Left Hand Opponent's tenaces toward the dummy's higher tenaces.

Rubber

Duplicate

Pivot Bridge Movement - In Rubber Bridge, to alternate the direction and partnership while remaining seated at the same table.  In Duplicate Bridge, a stationary pair in a Howell movement.
 


Duplicate

Pivot Mitchell - A duplicate Bridge player Mitchell movement which uses an extra half table.  The end table does not have a stationary pair, using the following movement: play in East-West direction, sit out next round, play in North-South direction, proceed to Table 1 in East-West direction.
 

Duplicate

Pivot Team - A team of four event primarily used in England, where each team player competes equally with other members.
 


General

Plafond - The French card game preceding contract Bridge.  Harold Vanderbilt adapted Plafond (translated means "ceiling") into Contract Bridge.
 

Jargon

Plain Suit - A non-trump suit.


Play

Planning The Play - The declarer's analytical process of considering aggregate bidding, the final contract, player inferences, opponent's lead, the dummy hand, various card combinations, and other environmental factors before proceeding with play.
 

Bidding

Plastic Valuation - A term popularized by Ely Culbertson, referring to the dynamic reevaluation of one's playing strength based on the collective bidding.
 


Duplicate

Platinum Points - Platinum points are awarded for NABC+ events (which are national-rated events with no upper masterpoint limit) and include the national-rated senior and women’s events.

 

General
 

Laws

Play - To place a faced card on the table:

1.

At the completion of bidding, the declarer's Left Hand Opponent makes the opening lead

2.

After each players contributes a legal card to a trick, the winner is on lead for the subsequent play.

3.

In 1 and 2 above, card play rotates in a clockwise manner.

Declarer play techniques include: Avoidance, Backward Finesse, Coup, Crossruffing, Deceptive play, Discovery, Drawing Trump, Elopment (En passant), Elimination, Endplay, Entry management, Environmental Factors, Finesse, Gambit, Loser on loser, Promotion, Restricted Choice, Ruffing, Rule of ..., Safety play, Shooting, Smother play, Squeezes, Strip and endplay, Suit Combinations, Throw in play, Unblocking.  Other factors include evaluation of odds and Probabilities: Card Distribution in remaining two hands, Hand Distribution of suits within a hand, High Card Point Count in one hand, Miscellaneous Probabilities, Number of Cards - quantity in a suit, Posteriori Probability when additional information is known, Expected Controls based on HCP.
 

  After illegal play - See Law 60
Before penalty imposed - See Law 11
Commencement of - See Law 41
Irregularity during play period - See Law 9


Laws

Play After Opponent's Illegal Play - When the non-offending side makes a play after the opponent's have made an illegal play, all rights to redress are forfeited (except when an opponent makes a revoke). - See Law 60

 

 

Laws

Play Of Card -
After illegal play - 60
Compulsory - 45
Dropping of card - 48 - 50
From dummy's hand - see Dummy, play of
Inadvertent designation of card - 45 - 47
Premature lead by defender - 57
Premature play by defender - 57 - 60
Proper method - 45
Retraction of - see Retraction of card played
Singleton in dummy not deemed played automatically - 57

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laws

Played Card -

1.

A card is deemed to be played by a defender when the card is faced so that their partner could have seen the card (whether looking or not)

2.

A card is deemed to be played by the declarer when the card touches or nearly touches the table, or in such a position to indicate the card was played.

3.

A card from the dummy is played when the card is called by the declarer.  However, if the call was an inadvertent "slip of the tongue" and there was not a pause for thought, another card may be called by the declarer.

  After illegal play - See Law 60
Attempt to play card not in dummy - See Law 46
Compulsory - See Law 45
Designation of card not in dummy - See Law 46
Dropping of card - See Law 48  50
Dummy play by declarer - See Law 41 - 42 - 45
Dummy card not designated by declarer - See Law 45
Incomplete designation of card - See Law 46
Misplay by dummy of card not named by declarer - See Law 45
Partial designation of card - See Law 46
Premature play by defender - See Law 57
Proper method - See Law 45  46
Singleton not deemed automatically designated - See Law 57


Inadvertent designation of card - See Law 45  47
Premature lead by defender - See Law 57
Premature play by defender - See Law 57  60
Proper method - See Law 45
Retraction of - see Retraction of card played
Singleton in dummy not deemed played automatically - See Law 57

Director Tech File

General

Player - Each of the four participants at the Bridge table.  In a team game, partners are seated at another table.
 


Duplicate

Player Of The Year - Each year the ACBL designates one of its members as Player of the Year. That person receives The Goren Trophy for earning the most masterpoints (platinum points) in North American Championship events with no upper masterpoint limit (NABC+).
 


Duplicate

Player Number - The seven-digit number issued to each member of the ACBL is that person’s player number. The first digit is changed from a number to a letter when the member achieves Life Master status.
 


Play

Play From Equals - When holding a series of cards in a suit, the play of a certain card in the sequence can be used to provide useful information to one's partner.  Conversely, the play may inform or deceive the opponent's of one's holding as well.  See Example
 

General

Playing Tricks - The evaluation of one's holdings to win offensive tricks.

 

Laws

Play out of Turn - The initial card is played by the opening leader with subsequent leads by the player winning the prior trick.  After the lead, play proceeds rotationally in a clockwise manner with each player contributing a legal card.  Any deviation from this procedure is a play out of turn, subject to Laws 53, 54, 55, and 56.
 

Bidding

PLOB - See Conventions.


Laws

POOT - Abbreviation for Pass Out Of Turn [or]

POOT - Abbreviation for Play Out Of Turn

Duplicate

Pocket - The slotted card holder on a duplicate board.

Bidding

PODI - See Conventions.

General

Pogo - See Bridge Service Providers

Jargon

Pigs Eye - The colloquial term referring to the DA (Diamond Ace).  See Card  Names
 

 


General


Duplicate

Point, Points -

1.

A numeric value associated with scoring (Bridge scores are in multiples of 10)

2.

A numeric evaluation correlating to the strength and length of a Bridge hand, such as High Card Points

3.

The masterpoint awards given to a player based on their performance in a sanctioned event.

 

 

 

General

Point Count - The modern point count system originated by Bryant McCampbell in 1915 and publicized by Milton Work:

Ace

4 HCP

King

3 HCP

Queen

2 HCP

Jack

1 HCP

Also see Distribution Points Hand Evaluation Books
 

General Point Distribution - See Distribution Points
 
Jargon

Pointed Suit - The Spade and Diamond suits, as opposed to the rounded Heart and Diamond suits.  Example


Duplicate

Pointing Card Orientation - In duplicate Bridge, each players card played cards are kept separate from other players.  Each player may keep track of tricks won or lost by orienting the cards vertically (lengthwise) pointing to the side that has won the trick.  See Arranging Duplicate Tricks
 


 

Poker
 If you enjoy bridge bidding then you'll enjoy the similarity with poker - analyzing your chances of winning hands and whether you can outplay your opponents.
 

 

 


General

Position -

1.

The player's orientation at the table (North, East, South, West) See Example

2.

The relative seat corresponding to the dealer (first, second, third, fourth)

3.

The situation at a given point during play, based on factors including bidding, opening lead, plays, signals, and player currently on lead.

 


General

Positional Factor - Dynamic point adjustments made to one's holdings based on opponent's bidding.  For instance, holding "onside" tenaces in right hand opponent's suit is advantageous to "offside" tenaces in Left Hand Opponent's bid suit.  See Environmental Factors
 

Play

Positional Squeeze - A squeeze opportunity only applicable to one opponent based on the position of the cards relative to holdings by the other side.  See Example
 

Bidding

Positive Response - A constructive bid in response to partner's call indicating useful values as opposed to a waiting or negative call.
 

General

Post Mortem - A constructive review the bidding and play of a Bridge hand after completion of the round.

 


General

Posteriori Probabilities - A posteriori refers to knowledge derived from experience.  Relating to playing a hand of Bridge, after players view one hand and dummy (26 cards), players can make an initial probability assessment (a priori) for suit breakage.  Thus, as the cards are played and information about suit breakage was observed, players use the "a posteriori" concept to revise their probability assessment.  For "a priori" probabilities, see Probability of Distribution Table.

Card Distribution (remaining two hands)
Hand Distribution (suits within a hand)
High Card Point Count (HCPs in one hand)
Miscellaneous Probabilities (assorted interesting odds)
Number of Cards (card quantity in a suit)
Posteriori Probability (example when additional information is known)
Suit Combinations (best lead and plays)
Expected Controls (based on HCP)

Also see books on Probabilities
 

Jargon

Pothook - The colloquial term referring to the 9 (nine-spot) card.  See Card Names
 

Bidding

Pottage - See Conventions (Cappelletti, Hamilton)

Jargon

Powerhouse - A strong hand with an abundance of High Card Point.

Laws

PP - Abbreviation for Procedural Penalty


Jargon

Practice Finesse - A tongue in cheek term coined by Eddie Kantar, describing a player that needlessly "practices" taking a simple finesse chance which is uncertain to take a trick while another line of play provides a guarantee of taking the requisite trick.
 

Bidding

Pre Balance - To make a competitive bid in the direct (as opposed to passout) seat, where opponents are both bidding.  Also called Balancing In Direct Seat (BIDS).  See OBAR BIDS.

Bidding

Pre Acceptance - See Conventions (aka Super Acceptance)


Laws

Pre Alert - A requirement by the ACBL in duplicate tournaments that dictates players with certain unusual methods, systems, or carding, to pre-announce such partnership agreements prior to commencement of play.  See Laws.
 

Bidding

Precision - See Conventions.

Also see Precision/Big Club Books
 

Bidding

Precision 2 Diamonds - See Conventions.
 


Bidding

 

Preemptive Bid -  A bid at a higher level than necessary to obstruct opponent's bidding by taking up valuable bidding space, potentially a sacrifice bid. The bid also provides partner lead directing information and an opportunity to explore distributional game or slam options.  See Convention Card Instructions, Weak 2 Bid, Feature and DetailsOgust and obstructive bidding Systems  For more on preemptive bids, please refer to our newsletters Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Also see Books on Preempts

Bidding

Preemptive Overcall - A preemptive bid, often a double or triple jump, made over opponent's 1 level opening bid.
 

Bidding

Preemptive Raise - A preemptive jump bid in partner's suit, usually to the 3 or 4 level to show 4+ trump support and shortness in at least one other suit.
 

Bidding

 

Preemptive Response - Typically known as a Weak Jump Shift, a preemptive jump response in either partner's suit or a new suit showing a long 6+ card suit. 
 

Bidding

Preference - In response to a call or series of bids by partner, preference refers to a choice of one suit over another.
 

 

Laws

Premature Lead of Play - To lead or play a card before one's legal turn results in a penalty card and other options for redress by the declarer (but not the defenders if the declarer leads or plays out of turn). 

By defender - See Law 57  60
During auction period - See Law 24

 

General

Premium Score - In Duplicate Bridge, the bonus score awarded for making a slam or grandslam contract, making a doubled or redoubled contract, overtricks,  and undertrick penalties by opponents.  See Duplicate Law 77.  In Rubber Bridge, the premium score bonuses also also awarded for winning the Rubber, winning a game in an unfinished Rubber, leading an unfinished game, honors, and.  See Rubber Bridge Law 81.
 

Bidding

Prepared Bid - A perceptive bid, considering possible future bids by partner and opponents, allowing flexibility in future rounds of bidding and avoiding misrepresenting one's hand (such as unwarranted suit reversals, etc).
 


Play

Present Count - A count system methodology based on the number of card currently held when a new suit is first played.  Thus, if a player earlier discarded on a suit now led for the first time, the player shows the current count at that instant - not the initial suit holding.
 

Jargon

Pressure Bid - A uncomfortably high bid required based on competitive bidding.

 

 

General

Primary - Referring to:

1.

Strength, as High Card Points

2.

Trump support in partner's suit

3.

First round control of a given suit

4.

Top honors (Ace or King) in the trump suit

5.

Winning cards, regardless of who is declarer

 

 


General

Priori Probabilities -  A priori comes from the Latin phrase meaning "from the former", a self-evident proposition.  Relating to playing a hand of Bridge, after seeing one hand and dummy (26 cards), our initial assessment of card distribution would be "a priori".  However, as the cards are played and information about suit breakage was observed, players would revise their probability assessment (a posteriori).  See Details, Probability of Distribution Table, and Posteriori Probabilities


Laws

Private Convention - A secret agreement or understanding with a partner not disclosed to opponents through any means; private conventions are in violation of Law 75.

Duplicate

Private Scoresheet - A pre-printed form used by players to maintain a record of table results in a Duplicate game.   BridgeHands includes a free private score template for your use.   Download Private Scoresheet
 

General

 

Probable Trick - As assessment of winning a trick based upon bidding and prior lead and play of cards by partner and opponents.
 

 

 

General

Probabilities -

Card Distribution (remaining two hands)
Hand Distribution (suits within a hand)
High Card Point Count (HCPs in one hand)
Miscellaneous Probabilities (assorted interesting odds)
Number of Cards (card quantity in a suit)
Posteriori Probability (example when additional information is known)
Suit Combinations (best lead and plays)
Expected Controls (based on HCP)

Also see books on Probabilities
 

 


General

Probability of Hand Distribution - The a priori probability of holding a certain hand pattern is based on mathematical odds.  Aspiring Bridge players make mental references the hand distribution when bidding or determining the best line of play, particularly the most probable hand distribution.  Among the 39 possible hand patterns, 5 hand patterns comprise 70 percent of the the possible hands. See  Hand Distribution
 

 


General

Probability of Distribution - The a priori probability of two hidden hands holding a certain number of cards is based on mathematical odds.  Aspiring Bridge players make mental references the distribution when determining the best line of play.  Generally, when opponents hold an even number of cards, the number of cards held will not break evenly between the opponents.  When opponents hold an odd number of cards, the number of cards held will break evenly  See Probability of Distribution Table
 

 


Laws

Procedure In General -
After auction period - See Law 22
After irregularity in general - See Law 9
Appeal - See Law 93
At table - See Law 6  7
Director's duties - See Law 82
Error in - See Law 82  90
 

 

Laws

Procedures After Specific Irregularities -
Bid out of rotation - See Law 31
Call out of rotation - See Law 29
Illegal play - See Law 60
Inadmissible double - See Law 36
Inadmissible redouble - See Law 36
Lead out of turn - See Law 53
Opening lead out of turn - See Law 54
Revoke - See Law 60  64

General

Professional - A player who earns a living at Bridge, having made all the mistakes everyone else does but chooses not to continue doing so.

 

Duplicate

Progression - In duplicate Bridge, the orderly movement of:

1.

Boards from table to table, according to the guide card

2.

Players from table to table, according to the guide card

See example of the Mitchell Movement
 

Play

Progressive Squeeze - A triple squeeze followed by a simple squeeze, both being invoked on one player during the play of a hand.  See Example
 

 

Play


Bidding

Promote -

1.

To forfeit a trick or tricks in a given suit in order to establish future tricks in a long suit  See Details

2.

To upgrade the effective point valuation of a hand based on bidding by partner or opponents.  See Environmental Factors

 

 

 


Laws

Proprieties - A set of Bridge Laws dealing with player's actions associated with:

Law 72

Observance and infractions

Law 73

Communication, unauthorized information, tempo, deception,

Law 73

Conduct and etiquette

Law 74

Partnership agreements

Law 76

Conduct and etiquette

Law 76

Spectators

See Details, Etiquette, Slow Play

 

Bidding


Play

Protect -

1.

To make a balancing bid

2.

To reopen the auction in the passout seat after previously passing

3.

To guard a suit which opponents could win further tricks

 

General

Protected Suit - A suit with one or more stoppers.

Laws

Protest - The orderly process of appealing a ruling by the local Director to a higher body. See Laws 92 and 93.  Also see prior NABC Appeals Casebook

Laws

Protest Period - The interval of time allowed by the sponsoring organization to appeal a Director's ruling.
 

Play

Proven Finesse - Based upon prior play, a finesse which is proven to win.


Play

Pseudo Finesse - A psychological finesse that, based on the actual card layout, would not work; however, due to a defender's confusion of partner's holdings, an otherwise non-winning trick is allowed to slide by the defender (also called a Chinese Finesse).  See Example
 

 

General

Pseudo Random Number - Associated with computer programming, a number generated which should represent a random pattern similar to that of nature.  Pseudo random numbers are used to simulate the shuffle, cut, and dealing process at the actual Bridge table.  See Computer Deals
 


Play

Pseudo Squeeze - A perception of a squeeze causing a player to misplay a card when, in fact, no squeeze actually exists.  This phenomenon occurs when a player either forgets or is unable to determine which cards are winners held by the opponents.  See Example
 

 


Bidding

Psychic Bid - An intentionally misleading call or bluff which departs from accepted partnership agreements or is otherwise designed to confuse the opponents.  Psychic bids attempt to provide an illusion of strength or length in a given suit, thus concealing the weakness of one's hand.  Of course, since trust and confidence are cornerstones of partnership bidding, psychic bidding can be disruptive to both sides. A few systems, such as Roth-Stone and Kaplan-Sheinwold utilize disciplined psychic bids in certain situations.  See Details and Law -  40  73, Director Tech File - Psyches

Also see Books on Psyches
 

Jargon

Pudding Raise - A balanced raise relying only high card points as opposed to length in partner's suit.
 

 

Bidding

Play

Pull -

1.

To unilaterally continue bidding after partner makes a signoff bid, such as making a subsequent suit bid after partner makes a penalty double

2.

To exhaust opponent's trump suit.

 

Jargon

Pump, Punch - To reduce an opponent's trump holding by forcing the opponent to ruff a side suit.

Bidding

Punishing Partner - When both partners are passed hand and the opposition signs off in 1 Notrump or a 2 level major contract, competing at the 3 level is asking for trouble.  See Details
 

Bidding

Puppet - A conventional agreement to make an artificial waiting bid which allows partner to further describe their hand.
 

Bidding

Puppet Stayman - See Conventions
 

Jargon

Puppies - Inconsequential cards, not able to take any tricks.

Jargon

Puppy Foot - A colloquial term referring to the CA (Ace of Clubs).   See Card Names
 

 

Bidding

Duplicate

Push -

1.

In a competitive auction, to force a player (or become forced) to make a bid higher than the warranted

2.

To complete a team event session with a neutral net score, also known as a "wash"

 


Jargon

Pusher - The colloquial term referring to intermediate cards (such as the 9 or 8) typically in the weaker dummy hand, which are useful to generate later tricks through tactics such as promotion and finesses.  See Card Names
 

 

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