Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-26
AUCTION BRIDGE LESSONS.
By R. F. Foster, Author of "Foster's Com
plete Bridge"
No. !.

Unless all signs fail, auction bridge vii
soon supplant the parent game in the af.
fections of the card playing public. and
although there will always be some who
| stick to bridge, just as there are those
who still play whist, one of the essentia
social duties Of the near future Will be
| the ability to play auction.
The prelimtnaries of the game are com.
paratively- simple, but they must be thor
| oughly mastered. With the exception OF
the declaration and the penalties, the
laws of bridge apply, and those who are
already familiar with the trick and honor
values at bridge start with a certain
advantage at auction, as there is so inucn
the less to learn in the matter of scoring
which is one of the chief difficulties in
auction.
Two packs of cards are absolutely nee
| essary in order to mark the position OF
the deal, and the etiquette of shutting
and placing the still pack is most inn
portant. The first deal and partners are
decided, as at bridge, by cutting. and when
players cut cards of equal value the bet
ter suit has the choice. the eight OF
hearts outranking the eight of diamonds
etc. While the dealer distributes the
cards, his partner shutfles the still pack
and places it on his right hand. to the
! left of the next dealer. Reaching across
this next dealer. to place the cards on
his right hand. is not >nly bad manners
but contrary to the laws of the game
The player whose turn it is to deal next
should not touch the still pack until il
comes into play and it is time TO present
it to be cut. Then. and not until then,
haA the player a right to shuttle it. Those
| who pick up the still pack and shuttle or
displace it during the play of hand are
almost sure to bring about confusion as
to the position of the next deal
The score pads should have about
twice as much space above the line
as below, as honors and penalties are
all scored above the line. and there are
at least twice as many of these as
there are trick scores toward game.
The table of trick and honor values
printed on the back of the ordinary
bridge pad is equally applicable to
auction.
Should Master Rules.
The following rules should be thor
oughly mastered before making any at
tempt to understand the tactics of the
game and as they will not be repeated
in these lessons, they should be cut out
for future reference.
The deal passes in regular rotation to
the left. regardless of who played the
dummy in the preceding hand. After
sorting his cards the dealer must make
declaration to win at least -"one'
trick, either with a named trump or
with no trumps. The correct form is:
"One SPADE or 1.-TWO hearts; and the
number of tricks must be distinctly stat
ed This bid means lone odd trick in
spades, or two by cards in hearts. the
suits outranking one another as at bridge
and the value OF the tricks being the
same when the bidder makes them.
The dealer cannot pass, but the play
on his left can pass. bid higher or
double The correct forms are: Il pass"
or simply NO or Three diamonds.
or II double two hearts After the sec
ond player has decided. it is the turn of
the player next on his left. who is the
dealers partner. and then the turn of
the player ON the dealers right, and SO
1t gets round to the dealer again, who
can bid higher or change his original bid
only if he has been overcalled or dou-
bled by some other player. 1t goes
around In this way until three players
pass the last call made, but no player
can raise his own bid unless some other
player has outbid him or doubled.
Players must be very careful not to
bid out of turn. because this gives