Understanding Bags

Bags are overtricks — tricks your team wins above your combined bid.

Example

  • Your team bids 7
  • Your team takes 9 tricks
  • You made your bid (+70 points) and gained 2 bags (+2 points)
  • Those 2 bags add to your running bag total

The Bags Penalty

Bag Accumulation Result
1-9 bags total +1 point per bag (cumulative across rounds)
10 bags −100 point penalty, bags reset
10+ bags Penalty + excess carries over

Why It’s Devastating

Consider gaining 2 bags per round over 5 rounds:

  • 5 rounds × 2 bags = 10 bags
  • Points gained: +10 (from the bags themselves)
  • Penalty: −100
  • Net loss: −90 points

That’s the equivalent of failing a 9-trick contract — for what seemed like “good” play.

Tracking Bags

Keep Count Every Round

Round Bid Taken Bags This Round Total Bags
1 7 8 1 1
2 6 8 2 3
3 8 9 1 4
4 7 7 0 4
5 6 9 3 7

At 7 bags, you’re 3 away from the penalty. Time to be very careful.

Bag Avoidance Techniques

1. Bid Higher

The simplest solution: raise your bid to match your expected tricks.

  • If you consistently take 2 more tricks than you bid, you’re underbidding
  • A higher bid converts bags into base score (+10 per bid trick)
  • Risk: failing the higher bid costs bid × −10

2. Stop Winning After Making Your Contract

Once your team has enough tricks:

  • Play your lowest cards — don’t try to win
  • Don’t trump when opponents lead
  • Sluff instead of trumping when void in a suit
  • Let opponents take the remaining tricks

3. “Feed” Your Opponents

When you don’t need more tricks:

  • Lead suits where opponents have high cards
  • Play under their leads instead of over
  • Give them opportunities to win tricks you don’t want

4. Communicate Through Play

If you’ve made your bid:

  • Playing unusually low cards signals to your partner: “We’re done, stop winning”
  • Your partner should recognize this and also play low

The Bag Danger Zone

Current Bags Risk Level Strategy
0-4 Low Bid normally
5-6 Moderate Be mindful of overtricks
7-8 High Actively avoid bags
9 Critical One bag = penalty — bid very precisely

At 9 Bags

When sitting at 9 bags, every single extra trick costs your team 101 points (1 point for the bag, −100 for the penalty).

Strategy at 9 bags:

  • Bid one higher than normal to absorb a potential overtrick into your contract
  • Play extremely carefully after making your bid
  • Coordinate with your partner — both players must avoid winning extras

Strategic Bagging

Sometimes bags are intentional:

When Bags Are Acceptable

  • Protecting a Nil partner: You may need to win extra tricks to cover them
  • Setting opponents: Taking tricks to prevent opponents from making their contract
  • Low bag count: If you have 0-3 bags, a few extras aren’t urgent

When to Accept Bags

  • The alternative is worse (letting opponents score, failing your contract)
  • You have a low bag count (plenty of buffer)
  • It’s late in the game and the penalty won’t matter (you’ll win first)

Bag Math

Cost Comparison

Action Point Impact
1 bag (not at 10) +1 point
1 bag (at 9 bags, triggering penalty) +1 −100 = −99
Failing a 5-bid −50
Making a 5-bid +50

Key insight: The 10th bag is far more costly than failing most contracts. At 9 bags, it’s better to risk failing your bid than to take an extra trick.