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
Auction bridge Auction bridge The card game auction bridge, the third step in the evolution of the general game of bridge, was developed from straight bridge (i.e. bridge whist) in 1904. The precursor to contract bridge, its predecessors were whist and bridge whist. Auction bridge trick scoring, bonus scoring, and penalty scoring are radically different from contract bridge, and there is no concept of vulnerability in auction bridge. Bidding rules are nearly the same, although in contract bridge bidding many complex artificial bids and bidding systems have evolved. It is not certain to whom auction bridge should be credited. A letter in