65 ACOL Bridge Practice Hands


Our interactive Acol Bridge lessons include the 65 practice hands listed below. These bridge hands are constructed so that if you bid correctly and have applied the the rules you should make your contract. They are graduated with the earlier hands being easier gradually increasing in complexity. You can play these guided hands (and over 300 more) in a free trial our members area.

Competitive Bidding Practice Hands

1b. Responding to your partner’s overcall – What to Bid when your partner overcalls
2d. Support Doubles

  1. Overcalling -when the opposition have opened the bidding
  2. Intermediate Level Overcalls

Play of The Cards Practice Hands
2h. Card Play -Should I finesse or play for ‘The Drop’

  1. Counting Your Winning Tricks – In No Trump Contracts
  2. Count your losing tricks – In a suit contract
  3. Planning the play of your hand – In No Trumps
  4. Ruffing and trump suits
  5. Leading up to your Honor Cards
  6. Card counting
  7. Establishing small cards
  8. Play the Honor From the Short Hand First
  9. Ruffing
  10. Entries
  11. Ducking
  12. The Finesse
  13. Playing for the Queen of a suit to Drop
  14. Discovery Plays
  15. Odds of your lead being ruffed v.s. cards out
  16. Squeeze plays

Click on the title to play the Practice Hands from the Acol Lessons
2a. Openers first bid- In 1H you can make 9 tricks – try it yourself!
2b. Opening 1NT -see if you can make 12 tricks !
2c. Open a Preferred Minor or Lower ranking of 2 four card suits
3a. Responding to Partner’s Opening Bid – Showing Preference
3b. Responders Bid with suit support for partner
3b.i. Responding to Partner’s opening bid with 4 card support
3c. Responding NoTrumps to partners opening suit bid
3d. Responder Raises a NoTrump Opening Bid
3e. Responder uses Stayman and asks about openers major suit holdings after a 1NT opening bid
4a. Openers Rebid in a Suit
4a.i. Opener bids twice – Partner shows preference for their suit
4b. Openers NoTrump Rebid
4e. Weak responses to Partner’s 1NT opening
5a. Responding to Openers NoTrump Rebid
5b. Responding to Opener’s Rebid in a Suit
5c. Stopping in Part Game – How do I know when to stop bidding?
6a. Bidding to Game
6b. Which Game is it best to be in
6c.a. Practice playing when all seats are vulnerable (Vul)
6c.b. Practice when All Seats are Not Vul.
6c.c. Practice playing when North-South are Vul. and East-West are Not Vul.
6c.d. The opposition double you – an exciting game: N-S = Not Vulnerable E-W=Vulnerable
7b. Negative Responses to Partners opening 2C bid
7c. Responding Positively to an Opening Strong Club bid
7b. Weak two bids
9a. To pre-empt or not to preempt
9b. Weak Two PreEmptive Bids
2d. Part game contracts

  1. Responding with a medium hand 10-12 points
  2. Responder has a strong hand (13+ points)
  3. Strong 2 Clubs Opening Bid
  4. Responding to a strong 2NT opening bid
  5. Responding to a 2 opening bid
  6. Weak Freak 3
  7. Four level opening bids
  8. Preemptive bidding from both sides
  9. Responding to a 3 level opening bid
  10. Weak 2 Pre-empts
  11. 3 Level Opening Bids
  12. Opening at the 4 level
  13. Responding to a 3 level pre-empt

Bridge Conventions
3e. Responder uses Stayman and asks about openers major suit holdings after a 1NT opening bid
5A. Practice Jacoby Transfers