Bridge is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table.
For purposes of scoring and reference, each player is identified by one of the points of the compass and thus, North and South play against East and West. The game consists of several hands (or deals), each progressing through four phases: dealing the cards – generally done by computer in competitive events, the bidding (also referred to as auction), playing the hand, and scoring the results.
Dealing the cards and scoring the results are procedural activities while the bidding and playing the hand are the two actively competitive phases of the sport.
