Bridge For Dummies

by Eddie Kantar

Would you like to play a card game more challenging than Old Maid, Go Fish, or War? Are you fascinated by the bridge columns in your local newspaper? If you'd like to take the plunge and join the millions of bridge players worldwide, here's your chance. With Bridge For Dummies at your side, you'll have plenty of expert tips, techniques, and suggestions to help you master this challenging game. With dozens of sample hands and helpful diagrams, you'll be taking tricks in no time!

Inside, you'll discover how to Determine how many tricks you can take with your hand Declare the best bid to get the game started Make your contracts by establishing and taking tricks Interpret your partner's bids and respond to them appropriately Decipher bridge terminology and talk like a pro Secure the winning opening lead so you can get off to a great start Use the power of preemptive bids and other interference bids to disrupt your opponents' communication Purchase and play computer bridge games Locate online bridge stuff with a listing of Web site forums and e-mail bridge games

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Games, Sports

381 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 1997

Reviews

[Nolan Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough bridge introduction.

A very comprehensive book for beginners. Well-written but far from succinct. Lots of humor and personal accounts that include big names like Jacoby and Stayman. The biggest problem is that it provides so much information but no real summaries at the end of each chapter to allow for testing your knowledge or for easier reference on rereads.

[Dianne Humann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an absolute beginner at bridge, having started a class at my local library 6 weeks ago. I have read through this book to get an overview of how much I have to learn about the game to play at only a basic level. N.B: I have a lot to learn! I am recommending this book because not only is it very thorough, but also written with a "tongue in cheek" sense of humour that I love. It does not, of course read like a novel or a biography, or even a normal non-fiction book. Rather it is like tackling a foreign language textbook with all the required memorization of rules and concepts. Yes, learning bridge is very much like learning a foreign language. I am sure my copy of the book is destined to be well-worn.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta start somewhere! 😁

[Marci Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going through old books. I’ve been playing bridge for 10 years now and we started our own bridge group that played on Sundays before the pandemic. While this book is better than most books about bridge…I think I’ve found that playing online games and apps helps me to really think about strategy. Every played card matters and says something, and I don’t think I learned that from any book. This is a great book for beginners.

[C.E. Case · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really helped my beginning bridge game. Very easy to understand. Practical. Friendly.

I read it as an eBook and it was difficult to keep track of the sample hands. Would be much better as a print book to flip pages back and forth.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best single book on bridge by a world champion, Eddie Kantar

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was interested in learning bridge and this book was very easy to read and understand with good examples. I feel I have a good start on understanding the strategies of playing bridge.

[S.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been working my way through this book while learning to play Bridge. I have to say that the reading of this book was actually kind of fun as the author has a fun sense of humor and does a nice job of explaining/showing his readers how to play a game that is definitely one of the most challenging of card games I’ve ever learned.

[Ravanagh Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complicated game. Possibly worth learning, but one of the four players must always sit the hand out (and it cannot be played by two)!

And then, there are no Bowers, at all, to speak of! I like Bowers. I’m going back to Five Hundred (like a good Australian).

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide for beginners. I read it to help me with my bidding/responses. Lots of good tips and tricks.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 1 out of 5]

A guide to playing a card game.

I played this game thirty years ago and was looking for a refresher book, but this one was incomprehensible.

[Beverly Rowls]

I just love learning to play Bridge. This book gives explanations in a straight forward manner.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I refer to this book from time to time and find it to be very helpful.

[Deb Werenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great starter book.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never played Bridge nor to I recall seeing anyone play it, but I keep reading historical novels where the people play Bridge or Whist. I was curious about the game and interested in learning how to play it. So, as an absolute beginner, I'd say that this book is extremely helpful and at the same time overwhelming.

The author is encouraging and has a sense of humor, which made reading the whole book enjoyable. He also clearly explained the game. I wasn't confused. After reading the first few chapters, I was eager to play a hand soon. But then I read the bidding section and, wow, it's a whole coded language to learn, but you have to bid before you can play. I realize I'll probably learn the bids pretty quickly for the most common hands, but he covered how to bid in practically every situation. I need to make a flow chart, frankly--if this, then this. lol.

He covered all of the parts of play and scoring that I can think of--I didn't have any unanswered questions by the end. He provide online resources for play, learning to play, and finding local Bridge clubs. Now it's just a matter of finding partners willing to put up with me as I try to remember everything. Anyway, I do think this is an excellent resource for those wanting to learn Bridge.

I received this review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

[Meru · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an okay intro, though it turned out to be too basic for me, and I ended up skipping sections I knew. Eddie Kantar is apparently very well thought of, but I found his writing a bit eclectic. He'd occasionally be making some not-so-dry jokes in the midst of set of tips, and it was more jarring to read this as a result. I wouldn't really recommend this guide, but it begins my exploration into bridge books because they had it at the library!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for beginners to bridge. Kantar does a good job of explaining both how to play and how to bid. Bridge is a complex game, and I have not found one book yet which made it simple; but this one is the best of the several I've read.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently kind of learned how to play bridge and man is it complicated. I got several books to try to help and this was the best one that I found (even though I really hate the whole 'Dummy' angle). Didn't get a chance to finish it but would definitely check it out/use it again as reference.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many rules to memorize!

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm starting a bridge club with a group of happening 30-somethings in the bay area.
We're the Bay Bridge Club - har har.
More later

[Katy]

Enormous book!

[Marcus Devin]

$16.99

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but long.