(1) Three players take part in a game and four constitute a complete table. Each plays for himself; there are no partners, except as provided in Law 7.
(2) The player who cuts lowest selects his seat and the cards with which he deals first. The player who cuts next lowest sits on the dealer’s left.
(3) The cards are dealt in four packets, one for each of the three players and one for the dummy.[23] The dummy hand is not touched until after the final declaration has been made.
(4) The dealer declares, and the bidding continues as in Auction, except that each player bids exclusively on his own account.
(5) The penalty for a declaration out of turn is that each of the other players receives 50 points in his honour score. A declaration out of turn does not affect the right of the player whose turn it is to declare, unless both he and the other player, either by passing or declaring, accept the improper declaration.
(6) If a player declare out of turn, and the succeeding player either pass or declare, the third player may demand that the mistake be corrected as is provided in Law 5. In such case the player who first declared out of turn is the only one penalized.
(7) The player making the final declaration, i.e., a declaration that has been passed by both of the others, plays his own hand and that of the dummy against the two others, who then, and for that particular hand, assume the relationship of partners.
(8) It is advisable that the game be played at a round table so that the hand of the dummy can be placed in front of the declarer without obliging any player to move; but, in the event of a square table being used, the two players who become the adversaries of the declarer should sit opposite each other, the dummy being opposite the declarer. At the end of the play the original positions should be resumed.
(9) If, after the deal has been completed and before the conclusion of the declaration, any player expose a card, each of his adversaries counts 50 points in his honour score, and the declarer, if he be not the offender, may call upon the player on his left to lead or not to lead the suit of the exposed card. If a card be exposed by the declarer after the final declaration, there is no penalty, but if exposed by an adversary of the declarer, it is subject to the same penalty as in Auction.
(10) If a player double out of turn, each of his adversaries counts 100 points in his respective honour score, and the player whose declaration has been doubled may elect whether the double shall stand. The bidding is then resumed, but if the double shall be disallowed, the declaration may not be doubled by the other player.