e. No matter
how familiar a player may have been with the old laws, he will find an
examination of the new to be advisable, as the changes are both
numerous and important. If it has not been his practice to keep in
touch with Auction legislation, he should realize that a close
acquaintance with the code which governs the game he is playing will
prove most beneficial.

As the laws speak for themselves, it is not necessary to explain them,
or even to point out the various alterations. The wording in many cases
has been materially changed, in order to clarify and simplify. Some
penalties that seemed too severe have been reduced, and certain
modifications have been made which appear to be in the line of modern
thought. Special attention is called to the elimination of the law
which prevented consultation as to the enforcement of a penalty, and
also of the law which provided that when a wrong penalty was claimed,
none could be enforced. The laws referring to cards exposed after the
completion of the deal, and before the beginning of the play, have been
materially changed, and the law covering insufficient and impossible
declarations has been altered and redrafted. A point worthy of special
attention is Law 52 of the Revised Code. It covers the case, which
occurs with some frequency, of a player making an insufficient bid and
correcting it before action is taken by any other player. Under the old
rule, a declaration once made could not be altered, but now when the
player corrects himself, as, for example, "Two Hearts--I mean three
Hearts"; or "Two Spades--I should say, two Royals," the proper
declaration is allowed without penalty.

The laws follow.

THE LAWS OF AUCTION BRIDGE

THE RUBBER

1. The partners first winning two games win the rubber. If the first
two games decide the rubber, a third is not played.

SCORING

2. A game consists of thirty points obtained by tricks alone, exclusive
of any points counted for honors, chicane, slam, little slam, bonus or
undertricks.

3. Every deal is played out, and any points in excess of the thirty
necessary for the game are counted.

4. When the declarer wins the number of tricks bid, each one above six
counts towards the game: two points when spades are trumps, six when
clubs are trumps, seven when diamonds are trumps, eight when hearts are
trumps, nine when royal spades are trumps and ten when there are no
trumps.

5. Honors are ace, king, queen, knave and ten o