How do you play Honeymoon Bridge?

Deal 13 cards to each player. The remaining 26 cards form a face-down stock. Players alternate drawing from the stock (the top card goes face-up, the other player may take it, otherwise the first player takes it). Once the stock is depleted, both players have 13 cards and bidding begins — standard bridge bidding. The higher bidder becomes declarer, plays their hand normally, and the other hand becomes dummy (face-up). Score follows standard bridge.

What is the difference between Honeymoon Bridge and regular Bridge?

Regular Bridge requires 4 players in partnerships. Honeymoon Bridge adapts this for 2 players using a drawing phase: before bidding, players take turns drawing cards from the remaining deck to build their hand to 13 cards. Bidding and play then proceed like standard bridge, with declarer's partner's hand placed face-up as dummy. The core trick-taking and bidding mechanics are identical.

Is Honeymoon Bridge hard to learn?

It's harder than most two-player card games. You need to understand bridge bidding (suit ranking, no-trump, doubles, redoubles) and trick-taking (following suit, using trumps). If you're new to bridge entirely, expect a learning curve across your first 3-5 games. If you already know standard Bridge, Honeymoon Bridge takes about 5 minutes to learn — it's just the 2-player adaptation.

Honeymoon Bridge Rules — How to Play for 2 Players

Honeymoon Bridge is the 2-player version of Contract Bridge. All the bidding and trick-taking stays. What changes is how you build your hand before you start.

What You Need

One standard 52-card deck. Paper and pencil for scoring (or a bridge scoring app).

Setup

Shuffle the deck. Deal 13 cards to each player. Set the remaining 26 cards face-down between you as the stock.

The Drawing Phase

Before any bidding happens, players build their hands by drawing from the stock. This is what makes Honeymoon Bridge different from regular Bridge.

Flip the top card of the stock face-up. The non-dealer may take it. If they decline, the dealer takes it. Either way, the player who took the face-up card then draws the next card from the stock face-down (not shown to the opponent).

Alternate turns drawing until the stock is exhausted. Both players now hold 13 cards.

During the drawing phase, track what cards your opponent picks up — it's visible information when they take the face-up card. This shapes your bidding.

Bidding

Standard contract bridge bidding applies. The dealer bids first. Bids are contracts to win a certain number of tricks beyond 6 in a named suit (or no-trump). Suits rank: clubs (lowest), diamonds, hearts, spades, no-trump (highest).

Each bid must be higher than the previous one — either more tricks or the same number of tricks in a higher denomination. You can also pass, double (challenging your opponent's contract), or redouble (if your bid was doubled).

Bidding ends when two consecutive passes follow any bid. The final bid becomes the contract.

If you're new to bridge bidding, the key first thing to learn: standard opening bids (1NT = 15-17 high card points, suit bids at the 1-level = 12+ HCP with 5+ cards in the suit).

Play

The player who made the final bid is the declarer. The other player is the defender.

Declarer's partner in regular bridge would be the dummy — but there's no partner here. Instead, the defender places their hand face-up on the table. The declarer plays both hands: their own and the defender's exposed hand.

The defender plays their cards only as directed by the declarer. The declarer announces which card to play from the face-up hand, then plays from their own hand.

Tricks work as in standard bridge: the lead player starts a suit, others must follow suit if able. Highest card in the led suit wins unless trump is played. Trump beats all non-trump cards.

Scoring

Standard contract bridge scoring applies. Making your contract scores points based on the bid level and denomination. Failing costs the opponent points (undertrick penalties). Doubling and redoubling multiply both the scores and the penalties.

Rubber Bridge scoring is the most common at home: play until one side wins two games (100+ points below the line). The first rubber winner gets a bonus.

Why the Drawing Phase Matters

In regular Bridge, you can't see your partner's hand before bidding. In Honeymoon Bridge, the drawing phase gives you partial information about your opponent's hand — every card they take face-up is known. Skilled players use this to infer their opponent's likely distribution and adjust their bidding accordingly.

The face-down draws are still hidden. But the face-up card choices, combined with what you hold, let you estimate your opponent's hand range before a single bid is made.

Learning Bridge Basics

Honeymoon Bridge is the best way to practice Bridge alone or with one other person. The card play is identical to the real game. Bidding with 2 players requires more adjustment than playing, but the fundamentals transfer directly.

If you want something closer to standard Bridge at a table, German Whist has a similar drawing phase and trick-taking structure, but simpler bidding. Good stepping stone.

Related Games

Other trick-taking card games that work well at 2: Gin Rummy for a faster card game with a similar "build your hand" feel, Cribbage for a classic two-player structure, and Piquet if you want the deepest two-player card game available with a standard deck.