Many suggestions have been made to make Bridge suitable for three players. The most satisfactory is Towie but what has become known as Cut-throat Bridge is the original and the simplest of the three-handed variations.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

This game is specifically designated for three players unable to find a fourth for Bridge.

CARDS

The full pack of 52 cards is used. The players take seats at random and after drawing for deal, shuffling and cutting in the usual way, the dealer deals 13 cards each to the three players and to a fourth hand that is temporarily set aside.

THE PLAY

The auction, beginning with the dealer, is conducted as in the parent game, and when a player’s bid, double or redouble has been passed by the other two players, the player on his left leads to the first trick.

The poker player who has obtained the final contract then sorts the fourth hand, spreads it in front of him on the table, and plays it as his dummy, against the other two players in partnership with each other.

The play and scoring are the same as in the parent game, except that if a player loses his contract both his opponents score the penalty points. The winner of a rubber receives a bonus of 700 points if neither opponent has won a game, but 500 points if either has.

Very clearly the game is a gamble, because the players must bid in the hope of finding the cards they need in the dummy hand.

A variation designed to make the game less speculative is for every online poker player to be dealt 17 cards and the 52nd card face downwards to the dummy. After looking at their cards, and before bidding them, every player contributes four of them, face downwards, to the dummy. This way every player knows four out of the 13 cards that he is bidding for.

In another variation, instead of bidding for the dummy, an agreed number of deals (that must be divisible by three) is played, and, in turn, every player plays the dummy against the other two playing in partnership.

In this variation rubbers are not played, but the player who bids and makes poker game scores a bonus of 300 points. There is no vulnerability.

Games for Five or More Players