The partnership card game Contract Bridge has its roots in the early 1500s when trick-taking games, such as Whist, appeared on the scene in Europe. For several centuries, Whist was the most popular trick-playing game in Europe.
Biritch, or Russian Whist
In the 1800s, Biritch (also known as Russian Whist) developed as an offshoot from Whist, and this game eventually gave birth to Contract Bridge. The oldest surviving rules for Biritch are from the year 1886.
Britich differed from Whist in several notable ways. The dealer got to choose the trump suit or nominate their parter to make the choice, there was a call of no trumps (biritch) and the dealer´s partner hand became dummy. It is also interesting for us modern-day Bridge players to see that in Biritch, points were scored above and below the line, it was possible to double and re-double the score, and slam bonuses existed. To score a game I one deal required three odd tricks in no trumps, four in hearts, or five in diamonds. It was not possible to do it at all, undoubled, in clubs or spades.
Why is it called Bridge?
The name Bridge is believed to be a corruption of the name Biritch.
Royal auction bridge / Auction bridge
In the late 1800s, Biritch, Bridge and Bridge-Whist were played on both sides of the Atlantic. In the early years of the 20th century, this led to the creation of Auction Bridge, also known as Royal Auction Bridge. In this game, players are allowed to participate in an auction to determine the contract and declarer, and the object of the game is to make as many tricks (or more) as were contracted. Failure to reach the contracted number of tricks will result in penalties.
Modern Contract Bridge
The modern-style Contract Bridge that we play today rose out of Auction Bridge, partly thanks to the very rich railroad executive Harold Stirling Vanderbilt who helped innovate the scoring of Auction Bridge.
In modern Contract Bridge, only the tricks contracted for are counted below the line towards game and slam. This rule change instantly made the bidding aspect of Bridge more challenging.
Another important aspect of Contract Bridge is vulnerability, i.e. the difference in penalty size for partnerships that have or have not won one game. The introduction of vulnerability discouraged the practice of carrying out sacrifice bidding to protect the lead in a rubber.
Once Vanderbilt had published his rules in 1925, his version of bridge quickly outcompeted the other forms. Within a few years, anyone who said Bridge meant Contract Bridge.
Online gambling and why online casinos are better than land based casinos
It is fun
The most important reason to gamble in online casinos is that it is very fun. It offers the same fun as a regular land-based casino without all the hassles such as drunks, loud people, spilt drinks and so on. Playing in an online casino is like having a world-class casino all to yourself.
2 Better odds
Online casinos often provide better odds than land-based casinos. Some table games are the same but slot machines and many other games generally offer a lot better odds online. Many slot machines in Las Vegas return 80-90% of the money. In online casinos, this number can be as high as 99%. The return to player is different for every game but most online casinos will feature a lot of games that offer a 98% return or better. Information about the return of different slot is widely available online.
3 You can play from anywhere
You can play in an online casino from anywhere. If you chose an online casino with a good mobile casino (Read LeoVegas review or Casumo review) then you can play anywhere and anytime as long as you got your phone with you. You can play while waiting for the next meeting and while on the subway going home. It is very convenient and provides unrivalled access.
If you want to play in a land-based casino you have to visit that casino to play their games.
4 A larger selection of games
Online casino offer game selections that are greatly superior to those you find in a land-based casino. There are many online casinos that feature well over 1000 different games. Some come close to 2000. Land-based casinos offer a smaller selection of games.
5 Small stakes
Online casinos do not have to pay any dealers and can, therefore, allow you to play a lot lower stakes than you can do in a land-based casino. Any game in a regular land-based casino has to pay for the salary of the dealer as well as for the floor space it occupies. This forces regular casinos to have high minimum bets. Otherwise, the game will lose money. An online casino does not have this problem. It costs next to nothing to feature a table and they can, therefore, offer very low stakes. It is easy to find casinos that allow you to bet USD 0.1 on blackjack, roulette and other table games. Some online casinos even allow you to bet USD 0.01.
The minimum bet in a regular casino is often USD 5 or 10.
6 Rare games
Online casinos allow you to play rare games that can be almost impossible to find in a regular casino. Online casinos have unlimited floor space and will, therefore, try to offer as many games as possible. This is not the case for a land-based casino that have limited space and need to prioritize the games that give the highest return. It is, therefore, easier to find rare games in online casinos than it is in land-based casinos.
7 Big jackpots
Online casinos give you the chance to win very large jackpots. There are slot machines that are available in a large number of different online casinos and all these slot machines in all casinos contribute to the same jackpot. The jackpot can be won in any casino that features the game. It is very common to see online casino jackpots that are worth more than USD 5 million. They sometimes grow close to USD 20 million.
Examples of games that feature large jackpots include Mega Moolah, Hall of Gods, Gladiator and Mega fortune.
8 You get a bonus
Almost all online casinos will give you a bonus when you join the casino. These bonuses can sometimes be worth many thousand dollars. Most welcome bonuses are worth a few hundred. These bonuses will help you to get a large bankroll when playing. A larger bankroll makes it easier to win money. Other common types of casino bonuses include the refill bonus, the no deposit bonus and free spins.
You can read more about casino bonuses here or find the best online casino promotions.
9 No dress code
You can play online casino games from everywhere and there is no dress code. You can play it from your bed, from the toilette or from wherever you want. You never have to worry about dressing in a certain way or what others are going to think. You can focus 100% on enjoying yourself and the games you play.
10 Easy to learn how to play
It is a lot easier to learn how to play different casino games in an online casino then it is in a regular casino. When you play in an online casino you will be able to play more games faster. This allows you to gain experience quickly. Another reason that it is easier to learn to play in an online casino is that you can have a strategy guide open and read in it while playing. There is no rush to make a decision and there are no other players that will get made if you play slowly. You can take your time, analyse each hand and read the guide to decide the best action to take. This allows you to learn how to play every hand perfectly. You might play slowly for the first hour but you will soon start playing faster due to you learning how to act in each case. Most online casinos allow you to play for free so that you do not have to risk ‘, nor lose, any money while learning a game.