LogFAQs > #948951098

in bridge, the four suits have an inherent rank when you're bidding. for example, a bid to win 8 tricks with Hearts as trump is a "higher" bid than a bid to win 8 tricks with Diamonds, because hearts > diamonds.

There's also a 5th option - no trump - which outranks any suit.

No Trump > Spades > Hearts > Diamonds > Clubs

so, beginning from the very minimum bid possible and working up, it would go

1 club
1 diamond
1 heart
1 spade
1 no trump
2 clubs
2 diamonds
2 hearts
2 spades
2 no trump

etc.

all the way up to the holy grail which is 7 no trump

why is 7 the highest bid when there are 13 tricks played per hand? They just subtract 6 to keep the numbers smaller, because by bidding in the first place you're asserting that your side will win a majority of tricks (a.k.a. 7). so a bid of "one diamond" means you will win 7 tricks with diamonds as trump. "two clubs" means you will win 8 tricks with clubs as trump. etc. thus a bid of 7 no trump means you will win every single trick without even needing to rely on any single suit as trump.