Free Online Bridge Learning Resources: Websites, Videos, and Apps

Books cost money. Teachers cost more money. Private lessons cost a lot of money.

But you can learn bridge for free. Not just the basics—actual good instruction, from expert players, available online right now.

Here’s what’s worth your time.

Websites: Free Lessons and Articles

Richard Pavlicek’s Website

URL: rpbridge.net

The internet’s hidden gem. Pavlicek has been posting free bridge content since the 1990s. The site looks ancient. The content is gold.

What’s there:

Thousands of practice problems (bidding, play, defense)
Complete lesson series on every major convention
Statistical analysis of different plays
Quizzes organized by difficulty
Monthly puzzle contests

The problems are harder than you expect. Don’t get discouraged. Work through them slowly. The explanations teach you not just what’s right, but why wrong answers fail.

Start with the “Learning Bridge” section if you’re new. Move to “Practice and Improvement” once you know the basics.

Bridge Guys

URL: bridgeguys.com

Larry Cohen and friends offer free lessons, articles, and videos.

Why it’s useful:

Clear explanations without jargon
Focused on practical situations you’ll actually face
Regular new content
Free access to many of Cohen’s teaching materials

The “Law of Total Tricks” articles alone justify bookmarking this site. Cohen explains competitive bidding better than anyone.

The lesson archives have 100+ articles covering everything from basic conventions to advanced competitive decisions.

Karen Walker’s Bridge Library

URL: bridgelibrary.com

Walker writes the clearest bridge instruction available online. Her articles assume you’re intelligent but not expert.

Best sections:

Convention lessons (Jacoby 2NT, splinters, fourth-suit forcing)
Bidding decision guides
Partnership agreement worksheets
System summary cards you can print and use

The partnership agreement PDFs are particularly valuable. Print them, fill them out with your regular partner, and you’ll prevent 80% of misunderstandings.

Great Bridge Links (Jane’s Bridge Site)

URL: prairienet.org/bridge

A comprehensive directory of bridge resources. Not lessons itself, but links to thousands of free lesson sites, practice tools, and articles.

Use this when you’re looking for something specific. Need help with balancing? Jane’s site will link you to 10+ free articles on the topic.

BridgeHands

URL: bridgehands.com

Free articles on bidding systems, conventions, and card play. The articles are dense and assume you know the basics.

Strongest areas:

System comparisons (Standard vs. 2/1 vs. Precision)
Convention deep dives
Historical context for why conventions developed

This isn’t for beginners. But if you’re comfortable with standard bidding and want to understand why systems evolved the way they did, this site delivers.

Bridge Winners

URL: bridgewinners.com

A forum and article site for serious players. Free to read, registration required to comment.

What makes it special:

Active forums where experts answer questions
Daily problems with expert commentary
Articles from world champions
Tournament reports and analysis

The community is opinionated. People argue. That’s good. You see expert-level disagreements and learn that bridge doesn’t have one right answer for every problem.

YouTube Channels: Free Video Instruction

Larry Cohen Bridge

Channel: @larrycobridge

Cohen is one of the best bridge teachers alive. His YouTube channel has 500+ free videos covering bidding, play, and defense.

Best playlists:

“Bidding Lessons” (start here if you’re learning)
“Law of Total Tricks Explained”
“Common Mistakes”

Cohen’s teaching style is conversational. He doesn’t talk down to you, but he doesn’t assume you’re expert either.

New videos appear weekly. Subscribe and watch one per week as part of your practice routine.

Gavin Wolpert Bridge

Channel: @bridgewithgavin

Wolpert is a world-class player who teaches online. His YouTube channel has hundreds of free lessons.

Why it’s excellent:

Clear board-by-board analysis
Covers both bidding and play
Shows expert thought process in real time
Regular Q&A videos answering subscriber questions

The “Hand of the Day” series is perfect for daily practice. Watch the setup, pause, make your decision, then hear Wolpert’s analysis.

BBO Vugraph Broadcasts

Channel: Bridge Base Online (live streams)

Watch world championships live. The best players in the world, with expert commentary, completely free.

How to watch productively:

Pick a seat to follow (North, South, East, or West)
Pause before critical decisions
Make your choice
See what the expert did
Listen to commentary explaining why

This is how you learn expert-level bridge. Not from books, but from watching experts play.

Bernard Magee Bridge

Channel: @bernardmageebridge

Magee is a British international who teaches clearly and thoroughly.

Strength areas:

Basic card play technique
Common defensive situations
Simple explanations of complex concepts

His accent is delightful. His explanations are crystal clear. If you’re struggling with a concept from a book, search Magee’s channel. He probably has a video explaining it.

Mike Lawrence Bridge

Channel: @mikelawrencebridge

Lawrence wrote some of the best bridge books ever published. His YouTube channel extends that teaching to video.

Best content:

Competitive bidding decisions
Opening lead selection
Hand evaluation

Lawrence doesn’t post often, but every video is worth watching. His analysis shows you how experts think through problems.

Mobile Apps: Practice in Your Pocket

BBO (Bridge Base Online)

Platform: iOS, Android, Web Cost: Free (with optional premium features)

The largest online bridge platform. Thousands of games running 24/7.

Free features:

Play with robots or humans
Practice hands
Watch Vugraph broadcasts
Join free tournaments
Review hand records after play

The robot opponents are decent for practice. The human opponents range from beginner to world champion.

Start with “casual play” games. Move to tournament play once you’re comfortable.

Funbridge

Platform: iOS, Android Cost: Free tier available

Daily practice deals scored against thousands of other players worldwide.

What’s free:

5 deals per day
Beginner and intermediate tournaments
Basic statistics and hand review
Community forums

The free tier is enough for daily practice. You see how you played compared to everyone else who played the same hands.

Good for practicing declarer play specifically. Less useful for bidding practice since you bid against a computer.

Bridge Baron

Platform: iOS, Android, Desktop Cost: Free demo version

The demo version gives you access to 40 lessons and hundreds of practice hands.

Free content:

Basic bidding lessons
Card play tutorials
Defensive play instruction
Practice hands with analysis

The lessons are dated (the app is old) but the fundamentals don’t change. Useful for beginners learning the basics.

Online Practice Tools

BridgeDoctor

URL: bridgedoctor.com

Free bidding practice. The site gives you a hand, you make your bid, it tells you if you’re right.

Works through thousands of situations systematically. Perfect for drilling specific conventions until they’re automatic.

Bridge Composer

URL: bridgecomposer.com

Generate random bridge hands with specific constraints. Want to practice hands where you have 15-17 HCP and a 5-card major? This tool deals them for you.

Free to use. No account required.

Pair this with a partner for practice sessions. Deal hands matching specific situations you want to work on.

Bridge Tutor by Teukolsky

URL: pas.rochester.edu/~steve/bridge

Steve Teukolsky’s collection of free bridge teaching software.

Programs available:

Bidding practice (2/1, Standard, Precision)
Opening lead practice
Card play problems
Defensive problems

Download the programs, run them locally. They’re not pretty, but they’re effective.

Podcasts and Audio

Bridgewinners Podcast

Platform: Apple Podcasts, Spotify

Monthly podcast featuring interviews with top players, discussion of bridge hands, and theoretical debates.

Not instructional in the traditional sense. More like listening to experts talk shop. You learn by exposure to how they think about the game.

The Final Trick Podcast

Platform: Apple Podcasts, Spotify

More casual than Bridgewinners. Covers bridge news, personality interviews, and hand analysis.

Good for listening during commutes. You won’t learn specific techniques, but you’ll absorb bridge culture and hear different perspectives on the game.

Free Tournaments and Play Opportunities

ACBL Virtual Clubs

Platform: Bridge Base Online Cost: Small entry fee (usually $3-6)

Okay, not completely free, but close. Virtual club games let you play tournament bridge from home against serious players.

The hand records are available after play. You can review every board and see how other pairs bid and played the same hands.

Free Speedball Games (BBO)

Platform: Bridge Base Online Cost: Free

Fast-paced games where each board has a short time limit. Good for practicing quick decision-making and getting lots of reps.

Less serious than club games. More serious than casual play. Right in the middle for improving.

How to Use These Resources Effectively

Don’t try to use everything. You’ll overwhelm yourself and quit.

For beginners:

Start with Richard Pavlicek’s learning section
Watch Larry Cohen’s YouTube basics
Play practice hands on BBO
Do 3-5 problems daily

For intermediate players:

Karen Walker’s partnership agreements
Gavin Wolpert’s hand analysis
Funbridge daily challenges
Bridge Winners forum for specific questions

For advanced players:

Bridge Winners advanced problems
Vugraph broadcasts
Mike Lawrence videos
BBO tournament play for testing

Pick 2-3 resources. Use them consistently for three months. Then reassess and add more if needed.

The Cost-Benefit Reality

These free resources cover 90% of what you’d get from paid lessons. The 10% you’re missing:

Personalized feedback on your specific mistakes
Custom practice plans based on your weaknesses
Real-time answers to questions
Partnership coaching

If you can afford a teacher, hire one. The feedback accelerates learning significantly.

But if you can’t, these free resources will take you surprisingly far. Players have reached Life Master using nothing but free online materials.

What’s Not Worth Your Time

YouTube channels to skip:

Anything promising “secrets” or “tricks the pros don’t want you to know”
Channels with production value but no substance
Videos that are just someone’s casual game recordings with no analysis

Websites to avoid:

Sites that promise to “revolutionize” how you think about bridge
Anywhere that requires payment before showing you any content
Forums that are mostly arguments and no instruction

Apps that waste time:

Solitaire bridge games (you’re not playing real bridge)
Apps that teach “simplified” bridge (learn real bridge or don’t bother)
Anything that promises you’ll be expert in 30 days

The Free Learning Path

Month 1-2:

Richard Pavlicek’s basic lessons
Larry Cohen YouTube basics
BBO practice with robots

Month 3-4:

Karen Walker’s convention lessons
Gavin Wolpert hand analysis
Funbridge daily deals

Month 5-6:

Bridge Winners daily problems
Vugraph watching
BBO tournament play

Month 7+:

Bridge Winners advanced content
Mike Lawrence videos
Regular tournament play with hand review

By month 6, you’ll be a competent player. By month 12, you’ll be competitive at clubs. All using free resources.

The Commitment Required

Free doesn’t mean easy. These resources still require time and discipline.

Minimum effective dose:

15 minutes daily (problems or video)
2 practice sessions per week
30 minutes weekly reviewing hands

That’s 3-4 hours per week. Doable for anyone serious about improvement.

More time = faster improvement. But consistency matters more than volume. Daily 15-minute practice beats weekly 2-hour cramming sessions.

Start Here

Right now, before you do anything else:

Bookmark Richard Pavlicek’s website
Subscribe to Larry Cohen’s YouTube channel
Download BBO and create an account
Do three practice problems

That’s it. Don’t overthink it. Just start.

Everything you need to become a good bridge player is available online, free, right now. The only question is whether you’ll use it.

Most people won’t. They’ll bookmark these resources and never come back.

Don’t be most people. Open Richard Pavlicek’s site and do one problem. That’s how learning starts.