Minibridge vocabulary | English Bridge Union

Balanced hand	One with a relatively equal number of cards in each suit. No void or singleton, not more than one doubleton.
Board	The container which holds a deal and shows who is dealer. Sometimes called a wallet.
Bonus	Extra points for making a contract, The part score bonus is 50 points and game bonus is 300 points.
Cash	To play a winning card or cards. To ‘cash out’ is to take all your winning cards.
Claim	When the play is clear-cut, declarer may show his/her hand, claiming a stated number of tricks.
Contract	The announcement by declarer of the denomination (trump suit or no trumps) for this deal and the target number of tricks to be won by the declaring side.
Deal	Fifty-two cards distributed so each player has thirteen cards.
Dealer	The player who announces points first on a deal.
Declarer	The player on the side winning the contract who has the most points, or who announced points first. Declarer has responsibility for playing both his/her hand and dummy.
Defeat the contract	To win, in defence, enough tricks so that declarer fails to make the contract. Defenders score 50 points for each undertrick.
Defence	The line of play adopted by the defenders.
Defenders	The two players in opposition to declarer. Often referred to as LHO (left-hand opponent) and RHO (right-hand opponent).
Discarding	Playing another suit (not trumps) when unable to play a card in the suit led, preferably throwing a card that gives helpful information to partner.
Doubleton	A holding of two cards in a suit, often shown by either leading the higher or playing the higher one before the lower.
Drawing trumps	Continuing to lead trumps until opponents have none left – this involves counting the cards played to make sure all opposition trumps have been drawn.
Ducking (hold-up)	Deliberately withholding a high card which could have won a trick.
Dummy	The hand of declarer’s partner which is placed up on the table.
Duplicate competition	Where the result on each deal is determined by comparison with scores achieved by other pairs playing the same deal.
Duplication	Duplication of distribution is when both players in a partnership have the same length in each suit. Duplication of values is when strong holdings in one hand are facing strong values in the same suit in partner’s hand, such as AQ opposite KJ.
Eight-card fit	A combined holding of eight cards in a suit between the two hands of a partnership.
English Bridge Union	The governing body for the game of duplicate bridge in England.
Establishing a suit	To force out the high card held by the opponents and set up winners.
Fourth highest	The lead in a suit of the fourth card from the top. e.g. the lead of the 6 from K J 9 6 4.
Game	Contract whose trick score is 100 points or more
High card points	Values given to high cards as follows: ace=4, king=3, queen=2, jack=1. There are 40 high card points (HCP) in the pack.
Honours	The five highest cards in a suit (ace, king, queen, jack, ten).
Lead	The first card played to a trick.
LHO	Left-hand opponent.
Long suit	A suit of four or more cards in the same hand.
Major suits	Spades and Hearts whose tricks score 30 points each.
Minor suits	Diamonds and Clubs whose tricks score 20 points each.
No trumps	A contract played without trumps. Tricks in no trumps score 40 points for the first trick and 30 points for the next ones.
Opening lead	The card led to the first trick.
Overtrick	A trick made by declarer above the number required for the contract.
Pair	The partnership of two players.
Part score	A contract to take at least 7 tricks, but less than game.
Penalty	Points scored by defenders when declarer fails to make a contract.
RHO	Right-hand opponent.
Side suit	Any suit other than trumps.
Singleton	Holding of only one card in a particular suit.
Trick	Four cards, one from each player, played in clockwise rotation.
Trump	A card in the suit named as trumps by declarer.
Unbalanced hand	Contains a void or singleton or two doubletons.
Void	Holding no cards in a particular suit