Your Bridge Glossary: A Long List of Short-Hand
by Alex J. Coyne © Great Bridge Links
Great Bridge Links has covered the basics of must-know bridge terms before, but it seems that wasn’t quite enough, so Alex has put together for us another list covering some of the acronyms, abbreviations and shorthand you might come across playing bridge both online and at the local club.
Where will you find this kind of shorthand? These should all come in handy on message boards, chat rooms, forums, bridge books and during online play – especially when you’re playing online. The list also includes clubs, associations and unions – but of course, not all of them by a long shot.
The list below is for short hand terms and acronyms only. For a good solid Bridge Dictionary, be sure to visit the Bridge World Magazine
TIP: Press CTRL+F to bring up the Find function on your browser if you need to find something in a hurry!
A
ABA
American Bridge Association
ABF
Australian Bridge Federation
ABTA
American Bridge Teachers’ Association
ACBL
American Contract Bridge League
AI
Authorized Information
B
BAM
Board-a-Match
BAWA
Bridge Association of Western Australia
BBA
Bedfordshire Bridge Association or Burley Bridge Association
BBO
Bridge Base Online
BD
Board of Directors (also BoD)
BFI
Bridge Federation of India
BIT
Break in Tempo
BOOT
Bid Out Of Turn
BRB
Be Right Back – a common term when playing online and typically signifies a bathroom or beverage break.
C
CACBF
Caribbean and Central American Bridge Federation
CBA
Chennai Bridge Association
CBF
Canadian Bridge Federation
CBLT
Contract Bridge League of Thailand
CCBA
Chicago Contract Bridge Association
CHO
Centre-Hand Opponent
CIBA
Central Indiana Bridge Association
COOT
Call Out Of Turn
D
DAB
Directional Asking Bid
DBAA
Duplicate Bridge Association of Atlanta
DEPO
Double Even Pass Odd
DONT
Double Opponent’s No Trump
DOPE
Double Zero Pass Even
DOPI
Double Zero Pass One
E
EBL
European Bridge League
EBU
European Bridge Union
EMBA
Eastern Massachusetts Bridge Association
G
GNT
Grand National Teams
GNYBA
Greater New York Bridge Association
GSF
Grand Slam Force
H
HCP
High Card Points
HUM
Highly Unusual Method
HKCBA
Hong Kong Contract Bridge Association
I
IB
Insufficient Bid
IMP
International Match Point
IOC
International Olympic Committee
IPBM
International Popular Bridge Monthly
L
LBA
Louisiana Bridge Association
LHO
Left Hand Opponent
LOL
Little Old Lady. OK, Alex, this can also mean Laughing Out Loud! Be sure to double check before being insulted! LOL (Jude)
LTC
Losing Trick Count
M
MBA
Maryland Bridge Association
MCBA
Malaysian Contract Bridge Association
MB
Misbid
MUD
Middle-Up-Down
MVBA
Miami Valley Bridge Association
N
NAP
North American Open Pairs
NBB
Nederlandse Bridge Bond
NHBA
New Hampshire Bridge Association
NSWBA
New South Wales Bridge Association
NT
No Trump
NMF
New Minor Forcing
NOS
Non Offending Side
NVBA
North Virginia Bridge Association
NZB
New-Zealand Bridge
O
OS
Offending Side
P
PLOOT
Play Out Of Turn
POOT
Pass Out of Turn
R
RA
Regulating Authority
RHO
Right Hand Opponent
RLB
Real Life Bridge (as opposed to playing online)
S
SABA
South Australian Bridge Association
SABF
South African Bridge Federation
SAWBA
South African Woman’s Bridge Association
SAYC
Standard American Yellow Card
SBU
Scottish Bridge Union
SCBA
Singapore Contract Bridge Association
SCCBA
Sussex County Contract Bridge Association
SO
Sponsoring Organizations
STAC
Sectional Tournaments at Clubs
SPS
Suit Preference Signal
T
TAP
Teacher Accreditation Program (offered by the ACBL)
TD
Tournament Director
TYP
Thank You Partner
U
UI
Unauthorized Information
USBC
United States Bridge Championships
USBF
United States Bridge Federation
UPH
Unpassed Hand
V
VBA
Victorian Bridge Association
VP
Victory Points
W
WBF
World Bridge Federation
WBFLC
World Bridge Federation Laws Committee
WCBA
Wiltshire County Bridge Association
WWBA
West Wales Bridge Association
Y
YCBA
Yorkshire Contract Bridge Association
YCBC
Young Chelsea Bridge Club
Z
ZT
Zero Tolerance
Casino Dictionary
No list of card terms is complete without a nod to casino card games and we’ve found a great website with a comprehensive dictionary. Learn all these terms and you’re on your way! Visit Casinopedia and click on Casino Dictionary.