Bridge at Sea · Our Story
Born from a love of bridge — and the sea
Bridge at Sea was created to solve the frustrations every serious bridge player knows from cruise ship play — and to share a different way of scoring the game.
The story behind Bridge at Sea
A frustration familiar to every cruise bridge player
On most cruises, bridge sessions attract just enough players for a single table. One table means no movement, no competition — just four people playing hand after hand with nothing truly at stake.
And when there is only one table, traditional scoring makes it worse: only the declaring side can ever score. A brilliant defensive play that defeats an unbeatable slam goes completely unrecognised.
“A defender produced a brilliant piece of card reading to defeat what looked like an unbeatable slam — and received absolutely no recognition for it. Only the declarer’s side scores. Only the lucky hand wins.”
That didn’t seem right. So Mike Smith — a bridge player with over 40 years’ experience — set about changing it. The result is Bonus Bridge, a scoring system designed for one-table social play that recognises skill on both sides of the table, and Bridge at Sea, the home for everything a cruise bridge player needs.
The app
Bridge Modes Calculator — five formats, one free app
The Bridge at Sea app is a free Progressive Web App (PWA) that runs on any phone, tablet or computer without needing to be downloaded from an app store. Visit the website, add it to your home screen, and it works completely offline — perfect for cruise ships, garden parties, or anywhere without reliable internet.
Kitchen Bridge
Traditional casual scoring with game bonuses. Perfect for a relaxed social game.
Chicago Bridge
Four-deal cycles with fully automatic vulnerability rotation.
Bonus Bridge
A one-table social scoring system for home or cruise ship play. Scores take into account both high card points and hand distribution — so both sides of the table get recognition for what they hold.
Rubber Bridge
The classic game-to-rubber format with full honours scoring.
Duplicate Bridge
Full tournament scoring with matchpoints. 43 movements for 4–20 pairs.
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About Mike Smith
Mike Smith has been playing bridge for over 40 years, first learning at the Javea School of Bridge on the Costa Blanca. Now retired and living in Spain, he plays regularly at the Valleys Bridge Club in Orba and frequently on cruise ships.
The frustrations and joys of cruise ship bridge — the single-table sessions, the unrecognised brilliance of good defence, the lack of proper facilities on most ships — directly inspired the development of Bridge at Sea and the Bonus Bridge scoring system.
Mike developed the Bridge Modes Calculator app to bring proper scoring to every bridge session, wherever you play — and built Bridge at Sea to be the definitive resource for bridge players who love the game and love the sea.