I remember the first time I was asked to make a contract bid. You don’t forget a trauma like that. I’d played maybe two trick-takers — ever — and suddenly I was being asked a question for which there was no right answer. “Dan,” she said, “Now tell us how many tricks you’ll win.” I stared at her like she was nuts. She was nuts, right? What did she think I was, a precog? The only prediction I could make for my future was that I was about to lose yet another trick-taking game.

My personal journey with trick-takers has been fraught. In part one of this letter to my past self, we discussed the innate simplicity of the genre. In part two, things took a darker turn with triumph suits. Both of those experiences pale in comparison to today’s topic: contract bidding. Or, how trick-takers are secretly the toughest genre of card game in existence.

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