Bridge lessons · Lesson 15 of 26
Raising Partner
Updated 16 October 2026
Once partner opens a major and you hold three or more cards in it, the trump suit is settled before you have said a word, and what is left is to show how strong you are. Add dummy points for short side suits to your high card points and let the total choose the level. Raise to two with 6 to 9 and to three with 10 to 12. Holding 13 or more, bid a new suit first and game next.
Do you have support?
Partner's 1♥ or 1♠ promises five cards. Three cards of your own make eight between you, the size of fit that plays well as trumps, so three is enough to raise. Four cards make nine, which is better still.
Fewer than three cards is not support. Then you look for a different reply, a new suit or 1NT, which keeps the auction going while the side searches for another home. Those replies are the subject of lesson 16.
Counting dummy points
When you raise, you will usually be dummy, and a short suit in dummy is worth more than its high cards. Once dummy runs out of a suit, its trumps can ruff that suit and win extra tricks, as you saw in lesson 11. So after you have found support, add dummy points for every short side suit to your high card points.
Say partner opens 1♥ and you hold ♠K1086 ♥Q73 ♦9 ♣J8642. You have 6 high card points, and the singleton diamond adds 3, for 9 in all. Count dummy points only when you have support. Without a fit, a short suit is a weakness, because there are no spare trumps to ruff with.
How high to raise
Two of the major and three of the major are the raises you will make most often.
| Your total | Raise | After 1♠ | Opener next |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 to 9 | Simple raise | 2♠ | Usually passes |
| 10 to 12 | Limit raise | 3♠ | Passes with 12 to 14, bids game with more |
| 13 or more | A new suit first | 2♣ or 2♦ | Must bid again, and you then bid 4♠ |
The simple raise says you have support and not much more. Opener goes on only with a strong hand. The limit raise is an invitation. Opener adds the side's points and bids game when they reach about 25, which means a little more than a minimum opening. With 13 or more, the side has enough for game and perhaps a slam, so do not jump straight to game. Bid a new suit first, as in lesson 16. Partner must bid again, and at your next turn you bid game in partner's major. Many players use Jacoby 2NT for these hands instead, a 2NT reply that shows four-card support and at least an opening hand. Slam bidding comes in lesson 21.
The jump straight to game, 1♠ - 4♠, shows a different hand: five or more trumps, a singleton or a void, and fewer than 10 high card points. A hand like that can often take ten tricks on its shape alone, and the high bid leaves the opponents little room to find their own suit. Opener, holding a normal opening, passes.
Raising a minor
A fit in a minor pays less, because 3NT needs two tricks fewer than five of a minor. Look first for a major to bid or for a notrump reply. Raise partner's minor only when neither fits, holding five cards for 1♣ or four or more for 1♦. Each raise of a minor uses the same point range as the matching raise of a major.
Watch it in a deal
You are South and open 1♠. Follow the auction, then the first five tricks.
South opens 1♠ with 15 points and five spades. North holds four spades and 11 high card points, plus 1 for the doubleton heart, 12 in all. That is a limit raise to 3♠. South is above a minimum and accepts by bidding 4♠.
The habit to keep
When partner opens a major, count your cards in it first. Three or more means you will raise. Then your points, counted with the shortness, decide between two and three. A game-going hand starts with a new suit, and the jump to four is kept for a weak hand with five trumps and a short suit. Showing support at once matters more than showing your own suits, because the fit is what the whole auction is looking for.
For the invitation in more depth, see limit raises. For other ways to value a hand, see hand evaluation.
Practice: raising partner
Eight quick questions on what you just read.