Take-out Doubles in Bridge

Play through the hand featured in the video:

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Double is the most useful and underused bid in Bridge, as it can be utilised in so many situations that aren’t covered by overcalls. However it is a tricky bid as it has two different meanings, Take-out and Penalty. If you follow these guidelines you won’t go wrong:

  • If partner has PASSED (or not yet bid), Double is for Take-out
  • If partner has BID, Double is for Penalties (see Lesson 2)

The Take-out Double

This is the most common and useful Double. It is used when the opposition have bid a suit and you Double, asking partner to bid their longest suit.

A Double shows:
Shortage in opener’s suit i.e. a void, singleton or doubleton
Opening points i.e. 12+
Support for the other three suits (at least 3 cards in each)

NB Prefer to overcall a good 5 card major suit rather than doubling.

Watch the video and then try playing through the hand below:

Responding to Partner’s Take-out Double

When partner makes a Take-out Double you must bid at all costs, unless of course the next person Bids and then the Double is cancelled. This means that sometimes you will have to bid with no points at all! When responding to a Double you can jump to show more points.

  • 0 – 8 points bid your suit at the lowest level
  • 9 – 12 points bid your suit with a jump
  • 13+ points bid your suit to the game level
Lesson tags: bidding, double, takeout double
Back to: Take-out, Penalty, Further Uses, & Protective Doubles in Bridge – Free Lessons