Help
|
Encyclopedia of Bridge Terms |
|
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
Details,
Ogust 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).
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Play
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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.
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Jargon |
Pressure
Bid - A uncomfortably high bid required based on competitive bidding.
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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 |
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General
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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