For more than 25 years, players from around the world have come to BBO to play bridge, practice, learn, teach, kibitz, compete and spend time with friends. Along the way, BBO became much more than a website. It became a club—in fact, the largest bridge club in the world.
If you play on BBO, you are already a member of this club.
From August 17, we are making this idea of membership more explicit. BBO will introduce several membership plans, offering different levels of access depending on how you use BBO and how much you want to contribute to the club.
There will be three plans: Basic, Basic No Ads, and Premium.
People use BBO in very different ways. Some stop by for a few hands. Some mostly play in their local club’s or federation’s online games. Some enjoy ACBL-sanctioned tournaments or BXP events. Others spend hours every day playing Social Bridge, Challenges, free tournaments and solitaire games.
The new membership plans are designed to reflect those different ways of being part of BBO.
Choose the one that fits how you play.
Includes 6 deals (hands) a day across eligible free games.
The same as Basic, but without ads.
As a Premium member, you play with no daily cap and get everything BBO offers.
Compare all three membership plans →
In the areas covered by the Basic allowance, you can play 6 free hands each day. This includes activities such as Social Bridge, free tournaments, free Challenges and some solitaire games. The allowance resets each day.
Many other areas of BBO remain open and unlimited to everyone, including Just Play Bridge, Bridge Master, MiniBridge, bidding and teaching tables, some free tourneys, kibitzing and Vugraph.
For many BBO players, their regular bridge activity already takes place in games that use BB$, for example ACBL-sanctioned games, BXP events, Virtual Club games and other paid tournaments. If that describes you, you do not need to purchase Premium membership in order to continue playing these games.
Paid games and activities that use BB$ will continue to work just as they do today, even if you remain on the free Basic membership.
Premium is mainly for players who want broader access to BBO’s free-play areas and the additional features included with the membership.
We want every player to have a chance to experience the new membership system before deciding which level is right for them. When the plans launch, every BBO player will receive a complimentary period of Premium membership. Depending on your history and activity on BBO, the complimentary period may range from one month to one year. Many longtime, active and highly engaged members will receive complimentary yearly Premium membership that can renew each year.
There is nothing you need to sign up for. Your complimentary Premium will be activated on your account. No credit card is required, and you will not be charged automatically when your complimentary period ends. We will let you know which complimentary membership applies to your account.
A club is sustained by its members. People contribute to BBO in many ways. They play, teach, direct, organize games, bring friends to bridge, help beginners and build communities that have sometimes been meeting here for decades. Membership adds another way to contribute. Players who choose a paid membership receive broader access and additional features, while their membership also helps support the club itself: this allows us to keep developing bridge for the next 25 years, improving the playing experience, developing new tools and games, and investing in the future of online bridge.
BBO will continue to welcome players whether they choose a paid membership or not. You can stay with the free Basic membership. You can choose Basic No Ads if you simply prefer an ad-free experience. Or, if BBO is a larger part of your bridge life, you can choose Premium for broader access to BBO’s free-play areas and additional features. And if most of your bridge is in paid tournaments and events, you can simply continue playing those games as you always have. The membership level may be different. The club is the same.