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199er Pairs - An ACBL tourney where all players must have fewer than 200 masterpoints.
 

OBAR - Acronym for Opponent's Bid And Raise, often described in the context of a competitive auction.  See Responsive Double
 

OBM - Abbreviation for Old Black Magic

OBOOT - Abbreviation for Opening Bid Out Of Turn

Rubber

Duplicate

Object of the Game -

Laws

Obligation to Pass - The Laws requires the offender's partner to pass during their next turn or throughout the remainder of the auction in certain circumstance, technically known as an Enforced Pass:

Enforced Pass

Action in violation of obligation to pass - 37
Adjusted score for damage resulting from - 23
Affecting right to review auction - 20
After bid out of rotation - 31
After double out of rotation - 32
After exposed card - 24
After irregularity - 23
After pass out of rotation - 30
After redouble out of rotation - 32
Condonation of action in violation of obligation to pass - 35

Play

Obligatory Finesse - The declarer's second lead of a low card from a long suit, anticipating opponents must play their remaining high cards, allowing declarer to promote tricks in a long suit.  This strategy is most effective when the declarer holds a minority of the honors in a long suit.
 

Obligatory Falsecard - A deliberately misleading play signal that is more likely to confuse the opponents regarding the side's holdings.  See Details

Obvious Suit Preference Signal - In situations when normal signals have no apparent value,  clearly the defenders should use an alternative signaling method.  See Details.
 

Ocho - The colloquial term referring to the 8 (eight-spot) card. See Card Names
 

General

Odd - Referring to the number of:

Odd Even Discard - See Conventions

General

Odds - See Probabilities

Card Distribution (remaining two hands)
Hand Distribution (suits within a hand)
High Card Point Count (HCPs in one hand)
Miscellaneous Probabilities (assorted interesting odds)
Number of Cards (card quantity in a suit)
Posteriori Probability (example when additional information is known)
Suit Combinations (best lead and plays)
Expected Controls (based on HCP)

Also see books on Probabilities
 

Odd Trick - In Rubber Bridge, a trick won after winning 6 cumulative tricks (the book).

Play

Oden Rule - From the acronym ODd-evEN, an aid to assist declarer transport to the correct hand in situations such as repeated finesses or ruffs.  To end up in the master hand when the an even number of tricks must be taken, as 4 Spades (10 tricks), win the first trick in the non-master hand; to end up in the master hand when an odd number of tricks are required, as 3 Notrump (9 tricks), win the first trick in the master hand.  Summary:

Off - Failing to make the desired contract.

Offender - The player not in compliance with the Laws (Law 12, 16, 72).

General

Offense -

General

Official Encyclopedia Of Bridge - The ACBL's comprehensive book of facts about bridge and of bridge personalities since the inception of the game.  Fascinating bridge facts, hands, anecdotes, bridge terms, and more. Includes the lives and times of the world's best players, and the history of the game. Over 1,000 pages.  As of 2004, the Encyclopedia was in the 6th edition.
 

Official Score - The authorized score posted by the Director at a Duplicate Bridge tournament, factoring all players scores, ratings, and application of the Laws.

Bidding

Official System - A system of bidding in opposition to the then popular system created and successfully promoted by Ely Culbertson.  The Official System group included Milton Work, Sidney Lenz, Wilbur Whitehead, Winfield Liggett Jr., and Dudley Courtenay, with Advisors including
Shepard Barclay, Fred French, Henry Jaeger, Madeleine Kerwin, and  E.V. Shepard.  However, after Culbertson's 8,980 point win over 150 games against Sidney Lentz in the 1931 "Bridge Battle of the Century", the Official System gave way to Culberton's systems ("Blue Book", "Orange Book", etc).
 

Off Shape - A hand pattern not containing complementary distribution, typically one with shortages in an unbid suit.  See Offshape Double
 

Offside - An opponent card that is unfavorably located, such as a tenace holding destined to fail if a finesse is attempted.

Offside Double - A penalty double, especially when declaring side stretched to bid game, indicating length in opponent's trump suit. 
 

Offshape Double - A takeout double not conforming to normal length expected in unbid suits (3+ cards).  See Minimum Offshape Takeout Double

Ogier - Jack of Spades , referring to the J, the loyal Knight from Charlemagne.  See History of Cards and Card Names
 

Ogust - See Conventions

OKB - Abbreviation for OKBridge

OKBridge - See Bridge Service Providers

OLB - Abbreviation for On Line Bridge [to distinguish from Face-to-face bridge]
 

OLOOT - Abbreviation for Opening Lead Out Of Turn

Duplicate

Olympiad - A premiere World Team Bridge Championship focusing on team events (Team Olympiad), held every four years since 1960.  Pair events (Pair Olympiad) have also been held two years after each team event, beginning 1962, although certain team games are also held during the same period as pair events.
 

Duplicate

Omar Sharif World Individual Championship - An individual tournament held in 1990 at Atlantic City, New Jersey with a total purse of $200,000.   The event was the first time the ACBL sanctioned a tournament offering a cash prize.  Zia Mahmood won the $40,000 first place award and Fred Hamilton came in second.  Third place winner, P.O. Sundelin narrowly slipped out of first place when his partner Peter Pender pulled a wrong card in an easy game contract.  View the hand.

General

On -

1 Club System (Strong/Forcing) - See Conventions.

100 Honors - Referring to a 100 point bonus score awarded in Rubber Bridge when holding four of the five trump honors.
 

150 Aces -  Referring to a 150 point bonus score awarded in Rubber Bridge when holding all four Aces in a Notrump contract.
 

One Eye (Jack) - The colloquial term referring to the J (Jack of Hearts) and J (Jack of Spades).  See Card Names
 

150 Honors - Referring to a 150 point bonus score awarded in Rubber Bridge when holding all five trump honors.
 

Bidding

 1 Notrump Opening - The requirement for a 1 Notrump opening bid includes a balanced hand with defined strength.

See Director Tech File (Opening with singleton and voids)
 

Bidding

1 Notrump Rebid - A 1 Notrump rebid typically limits the opener's hand to minimum strength, lacking a major suit fit with partner.  For instance, 1 Notrump opening bid playing 15-17 points, a 1 Notrump rebid usually shows 12-14 points (perhaps 15-16 with an unbalanced hand or a poor values).  However, if a pair plays 11-14 point opening values, their 1 Notrump rebid would show 15-17 points (alertable).
 

Bidding

1 Notrump Response - A 1 Notrump response to partner's opening bid generally denies a major suit and shows a minimum of 5-6 points, with an upper range defined by their system.  Popular systems such as Standard American use 6-10 points, while Forcing Notrump systems such as the 2/1 system use a 6-12 point range since responder's 2 level bid promises opening values.
 

1/1 Response - A higher ranking bid of a new suit in response to partner's opening bid, generally showing 6+ points with an upper threshold determined by partnership conventions (strong/weak jump shifts).
 

One Round Force - A call that compels partner not to pass, unless an opponent makes an interceding bid; the partner makes a best effort to further describe attributes of their hand.

1 Spot - Referring to the Ace. See Example

One Spot - A colloquial term referring to the Aces.  See Example

One Suiter - A hand containing a long 6+ card suit and less than 4 cards in remaining suits.
 

One Suit Squeeze - A play tactic containing elements of a squeeze and a throw-in.  See Example

Online Bridge - See Bridge Service Providers

Onside - A tenace holding with opponent's intermediate card to the right of the split honors, providing a finesse opportunity.  See Example

OOT - Abbreviation for Out Of Turn

General

Duplicate

Open -

Opener - The first player to make a bid in the auction.  Technically, the four positions at the table are: opener - overcaller - responder - advancer. See Example

Laws

Opening Lead - Choosing the best opening lead requires careful consideration of bidding, holdings, and other relevant factors.  See Details

Face down - See Law 41
Face up - See Law 41
Misinformation affecting - See Law 47
Premature - See Law 24
Retraction of - See Law 47
Right to make - See Law 41

Laws

Opening Lead Out Of Turn - When an opening lead is faced out of turn, and offender's partner leads face down, the Director requires the face down lead to be retracted. 

Out of turn - See Law 47  48  53  54
Out of turn, accepted - See Law 53

Opponents - The adverse players of the other partnership, whether the pair seated opposite the players at the table, or oriented in the same position at another table in a team event.

Opponents' Suit - The suit bid or inferred by opponents' calls, leads, or play, especially when Opponents' Bid And Raise (OBAR) a suit.

Opposition - The adverse players of the other partnership, whether the pair seated opposite the players at the table, or oriented in the same position at another table in a team event.

Play

Optimum Strategy - The overcall game plan by defender or declarer to maximize the side's assets, producing the most tricks attainable based on an acceptable risk.  Factors considered in determining the optimum strategy include calls, bidding inferences, leads and signals, cards played, player strengths, tentative score, and other factors.  See Environmental Factors.

Optional Double - See Conventions

Option - A player opportunity to choose one of several actions (bids or plays), depending on the current circumstances.

Laws

Options Of Player After Irregularity -

Consultation with partner prohibited - See Law 10
Discretion of director - See Law 12
Explanation by director - See Law 9  10  11

Orange Club - A strong Club system created by Bobby Wolff and James Jacoby in the 1970's, and later adopted by Bobby Wolff and Bob Hamman. 

Original Bid - The opening bid in the auction.

Os - Abbreviation for Offenders

OS - Abbreviation for Offending Side

OTOH - Abbreviation for On The Other Hand

Our Contract/Hand - To indicate the final contract belongs with the pair's side.

General
 

Laws
 

Out -

Jargon

Out of the Blue - A surprising, unanticipated call that may or may not follow partnership agreements.  Example:

Also see Conventions: Advance Cuebid

Out of Turn - A  call or play not accordance with Law 57.

Out on a Limb - Referring to a player's seemingly risky call or play.

Play

Over - Typically referenced when the Right Hand Opponent holds losing honors behind (over) the preceding player.  Here South is over East's tenaces.

         x x x

x x x                K J x

         A Q 10 x

Overbid - To bid beyond the level a partnership can reasonably attain, potentially in a competitive auction or misguided slam auction.

Overbidder - A player who habitually bids beyond the level of the partnership's assets (strength, length, risk/reward, vulnerability).  See Distribution Points and Environmental Factors.

Overboard - See Overbid

Overcall - A players bid at a level higher than that of an opponent who has opened the bidding. See Convention Card Instructions

Also see Books on Overcalls

Overcaller - The opponent making a bid after the opener.  Technically, the four positions at the table are: opener - overcaller - responder - advancer.  See Example

Overcall in Opponent's Major Suit - See Michaels Cuebid, Cuebid, Sandwich Overcall

Overruff - To play a higher trump than an opponent, who are both out of the suit lead.

Overtake - To play a higher ranking card than partner's winning card, perhaps to develop additional tricks by playing through opponent's strength, providing ruffing opportunity to partner, unblocking, or similar tactics.

Overtaking Squeeze -  A variation of the Triple Squeeze, where Left Hand Opponent's discard determines which suit/s to pitch or play from the other hand.  See Example

Overtrick - A trick or tricks more than the contract requirement.

Overtrump - To play a higher trump than an opponent, who are both out of the suit lead.

OWES  - The acronym Odd Weak, Even Stronger, referring to the strategy of relaxing preemptive bid requirements in the odd (first and third) seat while playing sounder preempts in even (second and fourth) seats.

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