BRIDGE AXIOMS
AND LAWS

Copyright, 1907
BY E. P. DUTTON & CO.
The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. U.S.A.

BRIDGE AXIOMS

The best Bridge players are undoubtedly those who can draw inferences quickly and correctly.

Observation is an art enabling one to discover what other people's play conceals—as well as reveals.

Observation always infers, and one inference will lead to another.

Each card played speaks through its silence, and its language must be understood.

To converse intelligently through the medium of the cards, each must be seen as it falls with eyes that grasp its meaning.

Failure to note the play of a card is not lack of memory, but lack of heed.

Situations are kaleidoscopic and constant, and success may only be achieved by being perpetually alert to note them.

All time at Bridge should be devoted earnestly to what confronts a player, not to what is past.

It is better not to play at all, than to play without earnestness.

One careful game is worth any number of slipshod, careless efforts which are disconcerting to your partner, and the delight of your adversaries.

Bridge abounds with situations which must be learned.

Promptness in making a conclusion is a mental inspiration as well as an aid to expeditious play.

Hap-hazard play, first from one suit and then from another, will not induce a successful campaign in Bridge.

Haste and waste are anti-types in Bridge, as they are in everything.

To improve your Bridge, theory and practice must go hand in hand.

Bridge is a game of which much is learned through the mistakes made and heeded.

Do not fail to profit in future games by the mistakes that you discover in present play.

When you see clever plays that are new to you, analyse the motives that underlie them.

The soundest play will sometimes lose, and the worst will sometimes win.

Uniform good play, no matter what the luck may be, will ultimately triumph over bad play.

Tricks heedlessly lost mar the successful enjoyment of Bridge.

That you happily did not lose on a hand, is no palliation for the bad play of which you may have been guilty.

Do not overlook the tricks which may be gained by the use of a little card strategy.

Memory is simply a matter of observation and practice.

Careful Bridge cultivates memory.

What is done with a hand cannot be undone.

A successful partnership game must be based on perfect faith and confidence between partners.

Combined play in Bridge is absolutely essential to success.