Bridge lessons · Lesson 3 of 26
Trumps
Updated 16 October 2026
A trump suit is one suit made stronger than the other three for a whole deal. Any trump beats any card of a side suit, so the 2 of trumps can beat an ace. You must still follow suit when you can, and trumps come out only when a player cannot follow. The side holding more trumps usually draws the opponents' trumps early, so they cannot ruff its winners.
What is a trump suit?
On most deals the auction ends with one suit named as trumps, and that suit keeps its rank until the last trick of the deal. The suits that are not trumps are called side suits, and on the next deal the trump suit may be different, or there may be none at all, which is the notrump game you met in the last lesson.
The rule of following suit does not change. If a side suit is led and you hold a card of it, you must play that suit, even if you would much rather play a trump. How the auction picks the trump suit is a subject for later lessons. For now, the deal tells you which suit it is.
Ruffing: trumping when you are out of a suit
When a side suit is led and you have none of it left, you have a choice. You may discard, as in notrump, or you may play a trump. Playing a trump is called ruffing, or simply trumping. A ruff wins the trick unless somebody plays a higher trump after you.
So there are now two ways to win a trick. If nobody plays a trump, the highest card of the suit led wins, as before. If one or more trumps are played, the highest trump wins, and the cards of the suit led no longer count.
| Lead | Second | Third | Fourth | Won by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♦A | ♦5 | ♥2 | ♦9 | The ♥2, the only trump |
| ♣K | ♣A | ♣4 | ♣7 | The ♣A, nobody trumped |
| ♠8 | ♥3 | ♥J | ♠Q | The ♥J, the higher trump |
| ♥6 | ♥10 | ♠4 | ♥9 | The ♥10, trumps were led |
As the last row shows, trumps can be led like any other suit. Then everyone must follow with a trump if they have one, and the highest trump wins as usual.
Overruffing
Sometimes two players are out of the suit led. If the first one ruffs, the second may play a higher trump and take the trick away. This is called overruffing. Only a player with none of the suit led may do it. If you can follow suit, you have to, and your trumps stay in your hand.
Overruffs are one reason players ruff with a high trump when they can spare it. A ruff with the 2 is cheap, but if the next player is also out of the suit and holds the 4, the ruff has bought nothing.
Why trumps change the count
In notrump, an ace is a sure trick. With a trump suit it is sure only while the other side can still follow. Once an opponent runs out of that suit, your ace can be ruffed and the trick goes to them. Your own shortages work the same way. A void in a side suit turns a long run of the opponents' winners into tricks for your trumps.
This is why the side holding more trumps usually wants to draw trumps early, leading the trump suit until the opponents have none left. After that their trumps can no longer ruff your winners, and your remaining trumps are free to win tricks on their own. Count the trumps as they are played, since you only need to keep drawing them while an opponent still has one.
Step through the start of a deal with spades as trumps. Watch the small trumps win tricks that aces and kings could not.
Spades are trumps. North and South hold eight of them between them, East-West only five. West plays first.
What to watch for
At every trick, ask two questions. Can I follow suit? If yes, the trumps in your hand do not matter on this trick. If not, decide between a ruff and a discard, and before ruffing, look at whether a later player could overruff you. Keep track of how many trumps have gone, and when you hold the long trumps, draw the opponents' trumps before they can ruff your winners.
For more on the rules of play, see bridge rules, and the words used at the table are collected in bridge terms.
Practice: trumps
Eight quick questions on what you just read.