Honeymoon Bridge

What You Need

• A standard 52-card deck
• Basic familiarity with Bridge bidding and scoring

Setup

1. Shuffle and deal all 52 cards face-down into two piles of 26 (one pile per player)
2. Each player draws the top 6 cards from their own pile to form their starting hand
3. The remaining 40 cards (26 in the piles plus the widow) wait for the drawing phase

Part 1 — Drawing Phase

1. Players alternate drawing one card per turn
2. On your turn, draw from the top of your own pile or from the central widow pile
3. After drawing, add the card to your hand
4. Continue until both players hold 13 cards

Part 2 — Bidding

1. The player who drew last opens the bidding
2. Bid as in standard Bridge: clubs (♣), diamonds (♦), hearts (♥), spades (♠), or no trump (NT)
3. Each bid must be higher than the previous (by suit rank or level)
4. Bidding continues until one player passes after a bid
5. The final bidder becomes the declarer; their named suit (or NT) is trump

Part 3 — Play

1. The opponent of the declarer leads the first card
2. Players must follow suit if able
3. Highest card of the led suit wins the trick, unless a trump card is played
4. Highest trump beats all non-trump cards
5. Play all 13 tricks

Scoring

• Use standard Bridge scoring: trick values below the line, bonuses above
• Making a game = 100+ points below the line (3NT, 4♥, 4♠, 5♣, or 5♦)
• Small slam = bidding and making 12 tricks (bonus points)
• Grand slam = bidding and making all 13 tricks (highest bonus)
• Rubber = first to win 2 games; play multiple hands for a full rubber

Strategy Tips

• In the drawing phase, track which suits your opponent draws to infer their hand shape
• Drawing from your own pile keeps your holdings hidden; drawing from the widow is more flexible
• Bid conservatively in early rounds until your 13-card hand is fully formed
• Hold long suits through the drawing phase — they become trump potential