Duplicate bridge is a popular competitive variation of contract bridge where the same set of predetermined card deals is played by multiple competitors. Scoring is based on how well your pair performs on those specific cards compared to others, virtually eliminating the element of luck.

Instead of the cards being freshly shuffled and dealt at the table, they are dealt and placed into a special tray or container called a "board". As the tournament progresses, these boards are passed from table to table, allowing multiple sets of players to play the exact same hand.

Since everyone plays the identical hand, you aren't trying to amass the highest total points, but rather trying to beat the scores of other North-South or East-West pairs who played the same board. Points are awarded in a format called "matchpoints" (usually awarding 1 point for every pair you beat, and 0.5 for a tie), or through the "International Match Point" (IMP) system used in team play.

By removing the luck of the draw, duplicate bridge emphasizes pure skill. A run of terrible cards won't necessarily result in a loss, as your goal is simply to achieve a better outcome with those poor cards than your opponents did on the same board.