ACBL

Played with a pack of 52 cards, consisting of thirteen cards in each of four suits (Law 1A); The suits rank downward in the order spades (♠), hearts (♥), diamonds (♦), clubs (♣) (Law 1A); The cards of each suit rank downward: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4,...

Four players per table form two sides, North-South and East-West (Law 4); In pair or team events contestants enter as pairs or teams and keep the same partnership throughout a session; in individual events partnerships change during the session (Law 4); The Director assigns an initial position to...

The auction period begins for a side when either partner withdraws his cards from the board (Law 17A); The player designated by the board as dealer makes the first call; thereafter each player calls in turn clockwise (Law 17B, 17C); A bid designates a number of odd tricks — tricks in excess of si...

Each deal is scored from the Duplicate Bridge Scoring Table (Law 77), which sets trick scores, premiums and penalties; Declarer's side scores if it makes the contract; the defenders score if it fails; Vulnerability, shown on the board, raises both the bonuses and the penalties

Pairs events, normally matchpointed, are the most common club format; Teams events compare two tables playing the same boards in opposite directions, normally scored in IMPs; Individual events change partnerships during the session (Law 4)

Played with a pack of 52 cards, consisting of thirteen cards in each of four suits (Law 1A); The suits rank downward in the order spades (♠), hearts (♥), diamonds (♦), clubs (♣) (Law 1A); The cards of each suit rank downward: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4,...

Each deal is held in a board with four pockets, one per hand (Law 2); The board designates the dealer and which side is vulnerable, so every table plays the deal under identical conditions; Boards are numbered, letting the same deal be compared across the whole field

The auction ends when, one or more players having bid, there are three consecutive passes — the last bid becomes the contract (Law 22A); If all four players pass, the hands are returned to the board without play, and there is no redeal (Law 22B)

Pairs events, normally matchpointed, are the most common club format; Teams events compare two tables playing the same boards in opposite directions, normally scored in IMPs; Individual events change partnerships during the session (Law 4)

Each contestant is compared with everyone who played the same board; Two scoring units for each score inferior to yours, one for each equal score, and zero for each superior score; This is the standard method for pairs events — beating the field on a board matters more than the size of the margin