Online bridge is still new to a lot of people – and many of these people are still unfamiliar to the plays, nuances and niches of bridge as newcomers to the game. 

New players should be encouraged as much as possible. It also helps when someone you know points you in the direction of the right resources to learn. For a new bridge player, that someone might very well be you.   

But what are the right resources? 

For newcomers, I consider good learning resources to be ones that cover the core concepts of bridge (scoring, bidding, play and more) without overwhelming them with the more advanced ideas right at the beginning. 

Here are 5 great ways to introduce online bridge to newcomers. 

1. Just Declare First

Just Declare is one of the best ways to introduce someone to the basics of bridge for the first time without the experience feeling overwhelming or overly complicated – which is what stops many newcomers from truly exploring the game.

A few rounds of Just Declare is enough to practically show someone, “Hey, this is bridge!” as a way to grab their interest.

Happened to hook a player? Great! More complicated resources can follow after this point, but the initial “hook” is important – and Just Declare is one way to do it.  

2. YouTube Tutorials (for BBO) 

Encourage any new or novice bridge player to type search terms related to bridge into their search engine – and of course, guide them on what some of these terms are. 

“Contract bridge” is a popular search term to start with, but there are a thousand other ones. 

If you’re trying to teach someone the tricks surrounding using BBO, many of our users have also been kind enough to create BBO-specific tutorials: Find these by typing either “Bridge Base Online” or “Bridge Base” as a search key.

Beyond tutorials, YouTube also has plenty of lessons with more uploaded daily thanks to kind bridge users everywhere.

3. For Players of Other Games

Players who transition from any other card games through to bridge will find the introduction of the “trick” or “pack” useful as a concept. 

Before hitting them with bidding intricacies, try introducing the trick first – and leading to everything else from there. (Again, Just Declare and other forms of bridge available on BBO is great for this.) 

A great deal of other players already know the concept of a trick when it comes to cards, whether or not they realize it, and it’s a nice way to smooth over to everything else.

4. The BBO Forums

Any questions? 

Most people new to bridge will have either a few questions or a whole lot of them. The BBO forum is a great way to search for any threads where the question might have already been asked – or of course, add their own.

Direct players to the BBO Forums for anything else they’d like to know.

5. The ACBL Website 

The American Contract Bridge League website feels a lot like reaching the end of the rainbow for any new bridge player. I know it was for me.

Their website contains plenty of great resources, including guides to online play, guides to regular play, links to the rules of bridge, links to newsletters, lessons and everything else. 

Good luck!