Slam-seeking conventions Slam-seeking conventions Slam-seeking conventions are codified artificial bids used in the card game contract bridge. Bidding and making a small slam (12 tricks) or grand slam (13 tricks) yields high bonuses ranging from 500 to 1500 points. However, the risk is also high as failure to fulfill the slam contract also means failure to score the bonus points for a game (300-500). Conventions have been devised to maximise the opportunity for success whilst minimising the risk of failure. Contract bridge bidding systems are mainly "natural" (most bids have an obvious meaning) or "artificial" (many bids have a meaning unrelated to
Boston (card game) in a contract to win at least eight tricks between them. The higher bid of Independence offers to win at least eight tricks playing solo. In either way, there is an extra bonus for winning all thirteen tricks formerly called "la vole", but now "le chelem", from English "Slam". All bids are solo, the lowest being to take four tricks in any suit. Each may be over-called by bidding higher number of tricks, or the same number in a better suit. For this purpose a better suit is that of Preference, previously determined by turning the last card of the