How to Use This App

Follow these easy steps, one at a time. You can come back here any time.

Getting Started

1

Sign in

  1. Type your email in the first box.
  2. Type your password in the second box.
  3. Press the big green “Sign In” button.
2

Forgot your password?

  1. On the Sign In page, press “Forgot your password?”
  2. Type your email and press “Next.”
  3. Answer your security question. Big or small letters do not matter.
  4. Type a new password two times and press “Save New Password.”
  5. Press “Start Playing.” That’s it — no email needed!
3

Find your way around

  1. Look at the top of the screen. You will see buttons called tabs.
  2. “How to Use” is this page.
  3. “Play” is where you play a game of bridge.
  4. “Practice” is where you practice bidding with a coach.
  5. “Learn Conventions” teaches you Gerber, Blackwood, Stayman, and more.
  6. On a phone or small tablet, press the button with three lines (☰) to see the tabs.
4

Make the words bigger

  1. Look for the words “Text size:” at the top, next to the “A”, “A+” and “A++” buttons. On a phone, press ☰ to find them.
  2. Press “A+” for bigger words, or “A++” for the biggest words.
  3. Press “A” to go back to normal. The app remembers your choice.

Playing a Hand

5

Deal the cards

  1. Press the “Play” tab.
  2. Press the big green “Deal the Cards” button.
  3. You sit at the bottom of the table. You are South.
  4. North, at the top, is your partner. East and West are the other team.
6

Look at your cards

  1. Your 13 cards are at the bottom of the screen, face up.
  2. Next to your name you will see “HCP.” That means High Card Points.
  3. An Ace is 4 points, a King is 3, a Queen is 2, and a Jack is 1. The app adds them up for you.
7

Bid

  1. When it is your turn, a box called “Choose Your Bid” shows up in the middle.
  2. Press the bid you want, like 1♥ or 1NT.
  3. Or press “Pass” if you do not want to bid.
  4. The other players bid by themselves. You can see every bid in the list.
  5. To see what your partner bid, look for the blue “Partner bid” bubble above North. The blue box in the Bidding list shows all of your partner’s bids.
  6. After bidding ends, the Bidding list stays on the side so you can look back at it while you play.
  7. When bidding ends, the green bar at the top shows the contract.
8

Play your cards

  1. When it is your turn, the green bar at the top says “Your turn to play.”
  2. Tap a card to play it. Cards you are allowed to play stand out; the others are faded.
  3. You must follow suit. If someone plays a heart, you play a heart if you have one.
  4. The highest card wins the trick. A trump card beats all the other suits.
  5. If your team wins the contract and North is the dummy, North’s cards turn face up and you play them too.
9

Keep score

  1. The top bar shows how many tricks each team has won.
  2. The “Score” box on the side keeps the score for “We” (you and North) and “They.”
10

Oops! Take it back

  1. Tapped the wrong card or bid? Press the blue “Take Back” button.
  2. Your last move is undone, and it is your turn again.
  3. You can press it more than once to go back further in the same hand.
  4. On a phone, “Take Back” and “Help Me!” are at the bottom of the screen.
11

Slow it down

  1. Find the “Game Speed” box on the side (on a phone, scroll down below the table).
  2. Press “Slow” to give yourself more time to watch each card.
  3. Press “Fast” if you want the other players to move quickly.
12

Your game is saved

  1. If the screen goes dark or you close the page, don’t worry.
  2. Come back and press “Play.” Your hand will be right where you left it.
13

Cheers when you do well

  1. When you make a good bid or win a trick, a happy message pops up.
  2. Do something extra good, like a convention or a winning streak, and confetti falls!
  3. Make your contract, and you get a big party on the screen.
  4. The messages go away by themselves. You can keep playing right away.
  5. Want it quiet? Find the “Cheer Sounds” box on the side and press “Sound Off.”

Getting Help

14

Ask for help any time

  1. Not sure what to do? Press the big yellow “💡 Help Me!” button.
  2. The coach tells you the best bid or card to play.
  3. The coach also explains WHY, in plain words.
  4. Press “Got it!” to close the help box and keep playing.
15

Read your Hand Review

  1. When a hand is over, a “Hand Review” box opens by itself.
  2. It tells you what you did well and what you could try next time.
  3. Press “Continue Playing” when you are done reading.
  4. Press “Deal Next Hand” to play again.

Practice with a Coach

16

Pick how to practice

  1. Press the purple “Practice” tab at the top.
  2. Press “With Conventions” to practice special bids like Stayman or Blackwood.
  3. Or press “Without Conventions” for plain bidding, where every bid means just what it says.
  4. If you chose “With Conventions,” tap the one you want. Or tap “Mix of All” for a surprise each hand.
  5. The cards are dealt so that your convention comes up.
17

Get coaching after each bid

  1. Bid just like you do in a real game.
  2. Right after you bid, a box tells you if it was a good bid.
  3. If the coach would bid something else, it tells you which bid, and WHY.
  4. The purple box on the side shows “What to watch for.”
18

Tell Me More, or Try Again

  1. Want a longer answer? Press the purple “Tell Me More” button.
  2. Want another try? Press “Try Again.” Your bid is taken back.
  3. Press “Got It” to close the box and keep going.
  4. To pick a different practice, press “Change Practice.”
  5. Practice hands do not change your score in the “Play” game.

Learning Conventions

19

Study a convention

  1. Press the orange “Learn Conventions” tab at the top.
  2. Tap the name of a convention, like “Gerber.”
  3. It opens and shows when to use it, how it works, an example hand, and example bidding.
  4. Tap the name again to close it.
20

Practice it

  1. Under each open convention, press the purple “Practice This” button.
  2. You will get hands made just for that convention, with a coach to help.
  3. In a real game on the “Play” tab, press “Help Me!” when a convention fits. The coach will name it and explain it.

When You Are Done

21

Sign out

  1. Press the gray “Sign Out” button at the top right.
  2. Next time, just sign in again with your email and password.
Start Playing Learn Conventions