Playing Contract bridge online with other people, step by step: the code, the seats, the table rules, and what happens when somebody drops out.
Bridge is four players in two partnerships, partners sitting opposite. The host opens the table, which needs a free account, and shares the six-character code or the link from "Copy link". The other three choose a name and sit down as guests.
The host chooses how long the evening lasts — one, two or three rubbers — and the game starts when four are seated. A rubber is won by the first side to make two games.
Partnerships are decided by the order people sit down: first and third against second and fourth. The lobby lists players in that order, so check it before you deal. If a regular partnership has ended up on opposite sides, the one who needs to move leaves and joins again.
Short of a fourth? The host can seat a bot with "Add an opponent". Be aware that the bots bid very simply and have no system, so a bot partner is better for practising card play than for practising the auction.
Each deal starts with the auction, going round from the dealer. You see every call as it is made and choose yours from the bids still available, or pass, double or redouble when those are allowed. Three passes after a bid end it; four passes at the start throw the deal in.
After the opening lead, the dummy's hand is shown to everybody. The declarer then plays both hands, and the dummy's player simply watches — the table tells them that their partner is playing their cards.
There is no chat at the table, and the site does not know or enforce any bidding system: a bid is only a bid. If your partnership plays a system, agree on it before you start, and tell the opponents what your bids mean — they are entitled to know.
If you play on a call, keep to the old rule: nothing about your hand is said out loud except through your bids and your cards.
After each deal the table shows what it scored and whether a game or the rubber was won, and waits until all four press "Ready for the next hand". If a connection drops, the seat is held for twenty-five seconds and then played by a bot until the player comes back and takes it again.
A player who presses Leave is replaced by a bot for the rest of the game, and hosting passes to whoever has been sitting longest if the host goes. A table nobody plays at for six hours is cleared away.