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Bridge can be as bad as NASA for confusing acronyms and lingo! Welcome to the Jargon Jungle - a glossary of bridge terms designed to help you hack your way through to a better understanding of the game of bridge. Just click on the first letter of the word you wish to find! Each letter of the alphabet reloads the page.

Also, if you would like to suggest a term not presently included on the list, or see a correction that needs to be made, please contact us.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

ACOL: A bidding system popular outside of the United States based on weak NT's and four-card major suit openers.

Alert: A signal that you give to your opponents (or they to you) to announce that a bid just made has an unusual meaning. Under ACBL rules this is typically performed at the time the call is made (with the exception of slam bidding) and by the partner of the player making the alertable call.

Asking Bid: A category of bids which allow a player to ask her partner to further describe his hand. The term is usually used to describe a sequence where one player is looking for slam but is concerned about two losers in a particular suit. By using a specialized asking bid (there are a variety of them) her partner can show first round control in a suit (Ace or void), second round control in a suit (King or singleton) or no control in a suit. Technically, even Stayman is an asking bid.

Astro: A convention to show certain 2 suited hands over opponents 1NT opener. A bid of 2C shows hearts and a minor; a bid of 2D shows spades and another suit. A bid of 3C shows both minors, and a 3D bid shows diamonds and hearts. There are also variations to these bids.

In pinpoint Astro, double shows majors, 2C shows clubs and hearts, 2D shows diamonds and spades, 3D shows minors and 3D shows diamonds and hearts. 2H and 2S are natural.

One variation now called Brozel is centered on the heart suit where 2C shows clubs and hearts, 2D shows diamonds and hearts, 2H shows majors, 2S shows spades and a minor and 2NT shows minors.
Also

Auction: Another term for bidding. ("The auction on that hand was very interesting.")

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