H
- Hand
- 1) The 13 cards held by one player on a deal.
- 2) A deal or board.
- 3) Ordinally, a player counting in rotation from dealer or first hand. For example, "Third hand bid 1♠."
- Hand pattern
- See distribution.
- Hand record
- A document that lists the cards in each hand of every board played in a duplicate bridge session. Often, hand records also list contracts each partnership can make with double dummy declarer play and double dummy defense.
- Help-suit game try
- The bid of a side suit after a single raise, used to help partner evaluate game prospects when opener's hand is roughly a trick stronger than a minimum opening. For example, after 1♥ - 2♥, opener might rebid 3♣ with a side club suit or a strong club fragment. The bid tells partner where high cards will be most helpful, and requests partner to take positive action, such a direct jump to game, with strength in that suit. Otherwise, the bid requests partner to sign off (in this example, by bidding 3♥). See short-suit game try and game try.
- Hesitation
- A brief pause before a bid or play, considered somewhat shorter than a Huddle.
- High-low signal
- See Echo.
- High card
- 1) An honor card.
- 2) The highest-ranking card in a suit at any point during the play.
- High card points (HCP)
- A method for evaluating a hand's strength, where every honor card is assigned a numeric value. See Hand evaluation.
- Hold
- 1) To keep declarer to a particular number of tricks, usually the number required to make the contract.
- 2) To have in one's hand a particular card or set of cards.
- 3) (Of a card) To win a trick although a higher card is outstanding.
- Hold up
- 1) (Verb) To defer taking a winning card until an advantageous point in the hand, usually in reference to tricks that the opponents have led to. There are various purposes for holding up a winner, but it is frequently done to force the opponents to use their entries too soon.
- 2) (Noun) The act of holding up a winner.
- Holding
- 1) The cards in a player's hand at a particular point in the play (often, at the start of the play).
- 2) The cards in a specific suit in a player's hand.
- Honor or honour (card)
- An ace, king, queen, jack or ten.
- Honor or honour bonus
- At rubber bridge and Chicago, a scoring bonus. The bonus is 100 points for one hand holding four of the five trump suit honors. The bonus is 150 points for all five trump suit honors, or all four aces in a notrump contract.
- Honor or honour tricks (also known as quick tricks)
- A method of hand evaluation used in the Culbertson system, which assigns point values to honors and combinations of honors. AK is two honor tricks, AQ is 1½ honor tricks, A or KQ is 1 honor trick, and Kx is ½ honor trick.
- Hook
- (Slang) Finesse (noun or verb).
- House player
- An employee of a bridge club who is available as a fourth.
- Howell movement
- A pairs tournament movement where each pair typically plays against all or most of the other pairs, and there is a single set of winners. Most of the pairs will move to a different position at the end of each round.
- Huddle
- 1) (Noun) A pause prior to a bid or play of longer than usual duration.
- 2) (Verb) To take that lengthy pause.
- HUM
- Acronym for Highly Unusual Methods.
Read more about this topic: Glossary Of Contract Bridge Terms