Editing Contract bridge (section)

=== Auction ===
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="width:220px; border:1px"
|- style="font-size:90%"
| valign="top" halign="center"|
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; width:218px; border:0.5px"
|-
!West||North||East||South
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:120%;"
|+ {{center|'''Example auction'''}}
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:120%;"
| || ||1{{diamonds}}||1{{Hearts}}
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:120%;"
|1{{Spades}}||2{{clubs}}||2{{Spades}}||3{{Clubs}}
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:120%;"
|4{{spades}}||Pass||4NT||Pass
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:120%;"
|5{{diamonds}}||Pass||6{{spades}}||Pass
|- style="text-align:center; font-size:120%;"
|Pass||Pass || ||
|} East-West and North–South compete for the contract. East-West prevail, specifying the trump suit (spades) and the minimum number of tricks beyond six which they must win, six.
|}
The dealer opens the auction and can make the first call, and the auction proceeds clockwise.{{Efn|e.g., if North is the dealer, they make a call, then the auction continues with East, South, West, and so on.}} When it is their turn to call, a player may pass{{snd}}but can enter into the bidding later{{snd}}or bid a contract, specifying the level of their contract and either the trump suit or ''no trump'' (the denomination), provided that it is higher than the last bid by any player, including their partner.{{Sfn|Gibson|1974|p=135}} All bids promise to take a number of tricks in excess of six, so a bid must be between one (seven tricks) and seven (thirteen tricks). A bid is higher than another bid if either the level is greater (e.g., 2{{clubs}} over 1NT) or the denomination is higher at the same level, with the order being in ascending (or alphabetical) order: {{clubs}}, {{diamonds}}, {{hearts}}, {{spades}}, and NT (no trump) (e.g., 3{{spades}} over 3{{diamonds}}).{{Sfn|Gibson|1974|p=135}} Calls may be made orally or with a bidding box.

If the last bid was by the opposing partnership, one may also {{gcb|double}} the opponents' bid, increasing the penalties for undertricks, but also increasing the reward for making the contract. Doubling does not carry to future bids by the opponents unless future bids are doubled again. A player on the opposing partnership being doubled may also {{gcb|redouble}}, which increases the penalties and rewards further.{{Sfn|Gibson|1974|pp=135&ndash;136}} Players may not see their partner's hand during the auction, only their own. There exist many bidding conventions that assign agreed meanings to various calls to assist players in reaching an optimal contract (or obstruct the opponents).<ref name="law40">[[#rubberlaws|Laws of Rubber Bridge]], Law 40, pp. 18&ndash;19.</ref>

The auction ends when, after a player bids, doubles, or redoubles, every other player has passed, in which case the action proceeds to the play; or every player has passed and no bid has been made, in which case the round is considered to be "passed out" and not played.<ref name="law22"/>