1. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
How to play Mini Bridge
Mini bridge is played with a deck of cards which consists of 52 cards.
There are 4 suits:-
♠ spades
♥ hearts
♦ diamonds
♣ clubs
Each suit has 13 cards
The two is the lowest card and the Ace is the highest.
In Mini Bridge all the suits rank the same
Tricks and Trumps.
If you have played Whist then you will be familiar with these but for those who have not then
here is an introduction.
A Trick
A trick is all the cards played in a single round, one from each player and played in front of
them on the table.
Tricks are played in a clockwise direction.
Except when a trump is played a trick is won by the highest card played in that trick
Players must follow the suit led if they can.
Lowest Highest

2. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
Here is a trick being played:-
North
West East
South
East started by playing ♠10
South played the ♠ 5
West played the ♠ 3
North wins the trick by playing the highest card of the trick – the ♠ J

3. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
In this example they are playing with ♥s as trumps.
North
West East
South
East started by playing ♠10
South played the ♠ 5
West played the ♠ 3
North has no spades, so wins the trick by playing a trump – the ♥ 2!
In this example they are playing with ♥s as trumps.
North
West East
South
East started by playing ♠10
South played the ♠ 5
West played the ♠ 3
North has no ♠s and no ♥s (trumps) – (s)he “throws away” a small card ♦ 2

4. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
Playing Mini Bridge – No Trumps.
Mini Bridge is a card game played by four people; it is a partnership game, two people play against
the other two.
Partners sit facing each other at four sides of the table – North and South are partners and East and
West are partners.
North
West
East
South
A full pack of 52 cards is dealt so that each player receives 13 cards.
Players should sort their hands into suits, alternating black/red (it isn’t a rule but it makes life easier).
So a player’s hand might look like this-
In Bridge books and teaching, hands are represented in diagrams like this:-
♠ A 10 6 2
♥ K Q 7
♦ K J
♣ Q J 8 3
So a full deal might look like this:-
Before play begins each player assesses their hand as follows:-
Every Ace 4 points
Every King 3 points
Every Queen 2 points
Every Jack 1 point

5. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
Let’s value North’s hand in the above example
♠ A 10 6 2 4 points
♥ K Q 7 5 points
♦ KJ 4 points
♣ Q J 8 3 3 points
Total for the hand 16 points
Looking at the points for all of the players:
North 16 points
East 8 points
West 8 points
South 8 points
Total 40 points
With 10 points in each suit and four suits the total will always be 40 points.
We have dealt and assessed our hand it is time to decide who will lead the first card.
Each person announces how many points they have starting with the person who dealt the hand.
We’ll assume that North dealt and they announce their points
North – “I have 16 points”
East – “I have 8 points”
South – “I have 8 points”
West – “I have 8 points”
Everyone should check that the total of all points is 40 and ask that players re-check their points if it
does not.
The partnership with the higher number of combined points plays the hand and the other partnership
“Defend”.
The player with the higher number of points will play the hand. If they have equal points the player
who announced their points first will play the hand.
The person with the most points is known as “Declarer” and their partner is known as “Dummy”.
In the above example the North-South partnership has 24 points and North with 16 will be Declarer
with South being Dummy.
Dummy sets his cards out on the table and will wait for Declarer to tell him which card to play.

6. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
Dummy sets his hand on the table in suits running from high at the top to low at the bottom of each
column of cards.
Dummy sets his hand on the table similar to this.
It is usual to set the cards out as black-red-black-red.
Declarer then decides which suit is Trumps and how many tricks they can make.
The person to Declarer’s left plays the first card (in our example that is East).
East decides to play the ♦ 10 as his first card and places it on the table in front of him.
Declarer will tell Dummy which card he wants to play from the hand on the table.
Dummy should always wait for Declarer’s instruction; he must not indicate the card or suit that
Declarer might choose to play!
The play will continue clockwise.
The person who wins the trick will lead the next card.
You need to keep track of how many tricks you win and lose.
Place all cards face down in front of you, but put winning tricks vertically and losing tricks
horizontally.
Here after six tricks have been played, four have been won and two lost.
Here are some hands to play.

7. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
Playing Mini Bridge – No Trumps.
The first hand is set out for you but you can play the next three.
Board 1
North Deals
None Vul
♠ A K 2
♥ A 5 4 3
♦ A K Q J
♣ 3 2
♠ 7 5 4 3
♥ Q 2
♦ 9 8 7
♣ K J 9 7
N
W E
S
♠ 8 6
♥ J 10 9 8 7
♦ 10 6 2
♣ 10 8 4
♠ Q J 10 9
♥ K 6
♦ 5 4 3
♣ A Q 6 5
North 21 points
East 1 point
South 12 points
West 6 points
Announce your points starting with North who dealt.
North will be Declarer.
South is Dummy and puts his cards face up on the
table.
East chooses a card to lead.
North tells Dummy which card to play.
When the trick is played each player turns his card
face down in front of him. If it won it is vertical and if
lost horizontal.

8. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
Now here are some hands for you to practise.
Board 2
East Deals
♠ 5 3 2
♥ Q 6 4
♦ K 9 8
♣ 8 4 3 2
♠ K 7
♥ K J 8 2
♦ Q 3 2
♣ K J 9 6
N
W E
S
♠ A 8 6
♥ A 7 3
♦ 10 7 6 4
♣ A Q 10
♠ Q J 10 9 4
♥ 10 9 5
♦ A J 5
♣ 7 5
North points
East points
South points
West points
Board 3
South Deals
♠ A 3 2
♥ 9 2
♦ Q J 10
♣ K 7 5
♠ K Q J
♥ K Q J 6
♦ 9 8 7 5 2
♣ 6
N
W E
S
♠ 9 7 4
♥ 5 4 3
♦ 6 4
♣ A Q 9 3 2
♠ 10 8 6 5
♥ A 8
♦ A K 3
♣ J 10 8 4
North points
East points
South points
West points
Board 4
West Deals
♠ 6 4
♥ J 8 7 4
♦ A Q 8
♣ 3 2
♠ J 10 3
♥ A K 6
♦ J 10 5 2
♣ A 10 9
N
W E
S
♠ K Q 2
♥ 5 3 2
♦ 9 6 3
♣ K Q J 8
♠ A 9 8 7 5
♥ Q 10 9
♦ K 7 4
♣ 6 4
North points
East points
South points
West points

9. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
Playing with Trumps.
In the above hands we played without any trump suit (playing in No Trumps). We will now look at how
we might nominate and play in a trump suit.
North deals these hands.
North starts by announcing his points and at the end of the process we see
North 12 points
East 13 points
South 4 points
West 11 points
East-West have the majority of the points and so they will play the hand and can nominate trumps.
As East has the majority of points he will be Declarer and West will be Dummy.
Dummy puts his cards on to the table using alternating Black-Red (this isn’t a rule but it is helpful).

10. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
East as Declarer can nominate which suit is trumps.
When trying to decide on a trump suit we look for the “Magic 8” that is a combined total between the
two hands of at least 8 cards of the same suit.
The length of the suit is more important than having strong honours in a suit.
East can see that they have 9 cards in ♣s and so he says “Clubs are trumps”.
Now Dummy has to organise his hand so that Clubs are on the right. His hand will now look like this:-
South can now decide which card to lead and decides to lead the 7♥.
Even though North has ♦QJ he will not be able to make them as they will be “ruffed” by a ♣.
Remember the rule when choosing a trump suit. Long suits are better than strong suits and look for
the Magic 8!
Your mantra should be “Length before strength”.

11. Copyright Keith Butler 2013 Cardiff Bridge Tutors
How to choose whether to play in a suit contract or No Trumps.
Let’s look at some examples:-
♠ Q 7 5
♥ A K 4
♦ 8 7 6 2
♣ A 3 2
♠ 10 9 6 2
♥ 10 9 7 3 2
♦ K J 10
♣ 10
♠ 4 3
♥ J 6
♦ Q 5 4
♣ K Q J 8 7 5
♠ A K J 8
♥ Q 8 5
♦ A 9 3
♣ 9 6 4
13
4 9
14
N
S
W E
South would be Declarer. What would you nominate to play in?
Well, there is no Magic 8 and so No Trumps would be the best choice.
And here:-
♠ 5
♥ K 8 7 2
♦ A Q 9 5
♣ 8 7 5 3
♠ A J 9 3
♥ 4
♦ 8 7 3 2
♣ A 9 6 2
♠ K Q 8 7
♥ 9 6 5
♦ 10 6 4
♣ K Q 10
♠ 10 6 4 2
♥ A Q J 10 3
♦ K J
♣ J 4
9
9 10
12
N
S
W E
This time there is a Magic 8 and South should nominate ♥s as trumps.
Finally:-
♠ K 10 5
♥ 10 7 5
♦ A K 7
♣ 8 7 6 4
♠ A 6 3 2
♥ 6 4 3
♦ J 10 2
♣ A 10 5
♠ J 9 4
♥ Q 9 2
♦ 9 8 6 5 4
♣ K Q
♠ Q 8 7
♥ A K J 8
♦ Q 3
♣ J 9 3 2
10
9 8
13
N
S
W E
South’s Magic 8 is in ♣s and these should be nominated as trumps. The ♥s are strong but not long!