Call out of Turn

If you call out of turn your Left Hand Opponent (LHO) has the right to accept it. If LHO calls, he is deemed to have accepted your call. If the your call is accepted there's no penalty and the auction just continues as if it had been your legal turn.

If LHO does not accept your call then the rules are complicated and the director should be summonsed to sort it out. The rules are slightly different depending on whether or not you passed and whose turn it should have been.

If you pass before anyone else has bid then you must pass at your first legal turn, but there is no further penalty.

If it was RHO's turn:
If you passed, then you must pass after RHO has made his call. If RHO passes then your call, whatever it was, must stand. In both these cases there is no further penalty.

If RHO calls and your call out of turn was not a pass then you can change it to anything you please but... If you bid the same denomination (or even exactly the same bid) as your attempted call of turn, your partner must pass at his next turn. If you change the denomination, or substitute a pass or double for an attempted bid out of turn, partner must pass for the rest of the auction and restrictions may apply the first time he ends up on lead during the play.

If it was partner's turn:
If you passed then you must pass for the remainder of the auction. Partner may pass or bid but may not double or redouble at that turn (although he can later in the auction, if it continues).

If you bid (or doubled or redoubled), partner must pass now and for the rest of the auction and restrictions may apply whenever he ends up on lead.

If it was LHO's turn
If this was not your first call then you've called twice in succession and this is treated as a change of call (see Changing your Call).

If this was your first call (ie. LHO was dealer) and it wasn't a pass then partner must pass for the rest of the auction (if it was a pass then it's a pass before anyone else has bid - see above).


Back Copyright © Keith Sheppard, 2001