Duplicate is a form of bridge in which there's no luck - only your skill at bidding and play counts. There's no luck in duplicate because everyone plays the same cards - literally. A standard session of duplicate includes 26 hands and takes about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Each hand is played independently of all the others - there's no carryover, partials on, honors, etc. Each hand is a separate contest. Since the points and bids won't be distributed equally, there is a separate contest for East & West and for North & South. Everyone has an equal chance to be the winner because you only compete with others sitting the same way you do -- E/W or N/S. Since you all play the same cards, there's no luck involved. The Heart of Duplicate. You score points by bidding and making contracts or setting your opponents, but the whole point in duplicate is to score more points than your competition on each hand. Your competition is the pairs sitting the same direction as you - N/S or E/W. Scoring 430 instead of 420 can get you a big win on a hand. So can scoring a minus 100 at 3 Spades, going down one, instead of letting your opponents make 3 Hearts for a minus 110 your way. Those 10 points are the most important ones in duplicate. These kinds of hands are the heart of duplicate -- every hand, no matter how weak or strong, is an equal contest. There's never a dull hand in Duplicate. Competitive bridge is a social game. The more people in a game or tournament, the better it is. At National Tournaments there may be 25,000 tables of bridge played over a 12 day period. At a small club or private game, there will be two or three tables of play.The bigger the game, the more players you can beat and the more points you can earn toward becoming a Life Master. The measure of skill in duplicate is the number of Master Points you accumulate. The only way to get them is to earn them in organized competitive play at clubs or tournaments.
It Means Cards Aren't Dealt Repeatedly. The term 'duplicate' refers to the fact that, when playing competitive bridge, tricks are not gathered in front of the person who won them. The cards in duplicate bridge are arranged so that many pairs play the same cards during a duplicate session. To do this, the hands are 'duplicated', i.e., pre-dealt, and not collected an shuffled by the players. It means No Luck -- Just Skill. In that way, whoever gets the best result out of a given hand or set of hands is the winner. Luck is taken out of the picture because it doesn't matter at duplicate who 'gets the better cards' - every N/S and E/W pair plays exactly the same hands. This is why duplicate is such a challenge -- only the best player wins a hand or a session.
Duplicate bridge is total involvement. There are almost no distractions at duplicate. There is no loud talk; no interruptions; little interest in anything except bridge. It is a social game because there are lots of people. However it's not like party bridge, because it's so intense - just bridge: no party. After Duplicate -- Talk, Talk, Talk. After a session, there's lots of party --: talk and discussions and occasionally a minor argument. Sometimes there are lessons for your partner: "Why didn't you finesse the other way and keep the dangerous hand out of the lead ? If you would have, we'd be first instead of third", etc., etc. Duplicate bridge players are not all alike. They are young, old, wealthy, poor; healthy and ailing: all ages, sizes, colors and temperaments. Some are brilliant and some are slow, but none of this matters at duplicate. The only thing that matters is how well you and your partner play compared to the others that play your way that particular day. To enter and play a duplicate session, you pay your fee, you sit down and play -- you look at your scores when you're done to see where you finished. That's it. There's no 'real' reward -- no prizes, no money; no trophies. You can earn 'Master Points', which are given out by the American Contract Bridge League at Clubs and tournaments. They mean absolutely nothing to anyone except other duplicate player. "How many master points do you have ?". But you can't buy them. You have to earn them in sanctioned play against worthwhile opponents.
That's the challenge of duplicate bridge.
(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998 All Rights Reserved