Where can I Play Bridge with Friends Online?

by Alex J. Coyne © Great Bridge Links

Friendship is one of life’s most important assets. Even though artificial intelligence can hold up a basic conversation, there’s nothing like playing your favourite game with your favourite people – and it’s especially true for a partnership game like bridge that’s better enjoyed by humans.

Can you play together with friends at the same bridge table online? The answer is YES!

If you’d like to play a game with your friends online, bridge is one of the best games you could choose. Contract bridge allows four people around the same table; thanks to internet bridge platforms players can be anywhere in the world.

Bridge isn’t just for veteran card players. Anyone can enjoy the game anywhere – even if you’ve never played a single hand of bridge before. So you and your friends are learning how to play and you want to know how to play bridge with friends online.

If you’re new to the game of contract bridge, you might want to take a closer look at the rules at our Learn to Play Bridge page. Bridge’s basic rules are simple, though the game itself could fill several books … and has!

Here’s how to play bridge with your friends online using BBO, Bridge Champ, and Funbridge.

Friendship Statistics

Today was supposed to be a Tuesday morning like any other: wake up and have a coffee, and then take a short walk to the store for the week’s necessities. As I walked along the usual path, a barely audible bark caught my attention and the plan for today went off course.

I’m typing this with the sound of little feet running over the tiles: an unexpected foster baby that made me realize how important it can be when a friend crosses your path at a necessary time.

Online bridge is an excellent way to connect with new friends – and maintain friendships over a long distance.

According to a Harvard study, approximately 40% of surveyed people reported having online friendships. More statistics from Pew Research Center reveal that about 43% of US adults surveyed enjoy online gaming – usually with friends.

While these studies aren’t strictly related, their results may indicate that online games are a steady way to maintain your online connections.

The Best Bridge Platforms (for Online Bridge with Friends)

Bridge can be played with a regular playing card deck like most card games. However, one of the great things about bridge is that you can also take your game online – whether you’d like to join a table and meet some friends, or create a table and invite others.

There are many excellent bridge-playing websites out there, but that’s exactly what can make it difficult to choose Your First Bridge Playing Account. To make it easier, we’ve chosen three excellent bridge platforms – ones that are just as great for beginners as they are for experienced players.

These are:

Bridge Champ (bridgechamp.com)
Funbridge (funbridge.com)
Bridge Base Online (bridgebase.com)

Players can access these through their browser, or via almost any smart device. Of course, you’ll have to get your friends to also join. When you’re setting up a table, you’ll all need to be online at the same time.

How to Play Bridge with Friends Online

BridgeChamp

Starting a Table on BridgeChamp

About BridgeChamp

BridgeChamp is one of the newer platforms, and first launched to players in 2023. This platform offers free casual tables for playing with friends, as well as Minibridge and bot play. Players also have access to NFTs (non-fungible tokens; a cryptocurrency) and in-game cryptocurrency rewards.

[What’s Minibridge? You can find the rules for this simplified version of the game at the English Bridge Union or American Contract Bridge League.]

Mouse over to Casual Games, which is either on the left-hand menu if you’re using the browser version – or the bottom menu if you’re on mobile.
Select Option and then Start New Table.
Assign Your Seats by inviting a player and/or filling the seat with a bot player … remember to save a seat for yourself with the Save for Me button!
Click Next to adjust the rules of the table. These are:
- Scoring Method: Matchpoints (MPs), IMPs, or Board-a-Match (BAM).
- Visibility: Choose between Public or Private (by invitation).
- Permissions: Choose whether you’d like public spectators (Kibitzers), chat, and move-undos.

Easy, right?

Funbridge

Starting a Table on Funbridge

About Funbridge

Funbridge was launched in 2004, and soon became one of the best places to play bridge. Like BridgeChamp, players can join or host individual games with their friends. Funbridge also holds daily bridge tournaments, and has other content including a blog (which you can access here).

Select Multiplayer on the home screen (whether using the mobile or browser version!), and then select Create a private table.
Next, Assign Your Seats by selecting from your online contacts, or fill one of the seats with a bot.
For extra fun Funbridge has added options like optional microphone and video connection. You can hear your friends chatter or even see their faces while you play!
Players can also enable (or disable) undoing their moves. This can be a table decision, but it’s always helpful when first learning the interface and the game!

Bridge Base Online (BBO)

About Bridge Base Online

Bridge Base Online (BBO) was first launched in 2001 as a bridge website. Before this, the company sold instructional software – and much like Netflix, initially shipped copies through the mail. Players can join or host games, though can also go down a rabbit hole of other bridge resources including articles (here) and a discussion forum.

Starting a Table on BBO

Visit the main menu and select Play/Watch, and then Casual.
Look for Find Your Own Game, and then select Start a Table.
Select the appropriate Privacy Options for your game:
- Permission Required to Play: Players require approval from the table administrator (that’s you!) to join the game.
- Permission Required to Kibitz: Players require permission to watch the game as kibitzers (spectators). With this on, other BBO users can watch the game.
- Invisible: This setting controls whether your table is visible to BBO users. Set totally private games as invisible.
Next, Reserve Your Seats by entering BBO usernames – or select Robot to fill one (or several) seats with a robot player.
One last step is to Select Your Game Type between Relaxed and Competitive. Competitive games have stricter rules, including a 30-second reminder to play your trick! We recommend Relaxed for friendly games with your friends.