A Revoke is when you don’t follow suit when you can.

There is more to it than this, but this is what usually happens:

A revoke is either Established or Not established.

Dummy or either defender can try to prevent a revoke by partner by asking ‘having none, partner?’ And declarer can also ask a defender. This often stops a revoke becoming established.

A revoke is not established if the player realizes he has revoked and corrects it before he or his partner plays to the next trick.

If it is not established:

• It must be corrected.
• If it is declarer who revokes he simply puts the offending card back in his hand and plays a card of the correct suit.
• When declarer changes his card then cards played afterwards can also be changed.
• If it is a defender who revokes, the offending card becomes a major penalty card (see major penalty card later on) and the defender must play a card of the correct suit.
• When the defender changes his card then cards played afterwards can also be changed.
• If nobody asks about a revoke then it might become established

A revoke is established if the offender or his partner has played to the next trick ~

Once established the revoke trick cannot be changed and stands as played. ~

At the end of the hand the TD will transfer some tricks from the offenders to the non-offenders as follows: ~

Did the offender or his partner win any tricks after the revoke?  Yes / No ~

If ‘yes’ then one trick is transferred. ~

Additionally, did the offender win the trick on which he revoked? (You can only do this by trumping to win the trick when you should not).  Yes / No ~

If ‘yes’, then another trick is transferred. ~

Examples

In each case South is declarer.
~

1) South is in 4♥ ~

South leads ♥4, West plays ♥8, North plays ♥K, East plays ♠6 ~

North leads ♥A. East says ‘oops, I should have played a heart’. The revoke is not established because neither East nor his partner has played to the next trick. The revoke trick must be corrected. East must play his heart and the ♠6 become a major penalty card. And North doesn’t have to lead ♥A to the next trick if he doesn’t want to.
~

2) South is in 4♥ ~

South leads ♥4, West plays ♥8, North plays ♥K, East plays ♠6 ~

North leads ♥A, East plays ♥2. South says to East ‘you have revoked’. The revoke is established because East has played to the next trick. Did East with the revoke trick? No. Did either East or West win any tricks later on? We don’t know that but if they do one trick is transferred. ~

3) South is in 4♥ ~

South leads ♠A, West plays ♠5, North follows with ♠7, East plays ♥6. ~

East now leads to the next trick. ~

The revoke is established. East won the revoke trick by trumping so that trick will be transferred. If East/West win another trick then a second trick will go. ~

4) South is in 3NT ~

West leads ♥A, North follows with ♥2, East plays ♥6 and South plays ♠7. ~

West leads ♥K, North follows with ♥3. Then South says ‘oh, bother I should have played a heart.’ ~

The revoke is established because offender’s partner (in this case dummy) has played to the next trick. Providing the declaring side win a trick during the rest of the play, one trick is transferred. ~

You will see that in ‘not trumps’ it can only be at most one trick transferred. ~

The object of this law (and all bridge laws) is to restore the damage done by the infraction – what the law calls ‘restoring equity’. ~

Sometimes the rectification doesn’t fully do the job.

Example

5) Suppose declarer is in 6NT and has just one entry to dummy, which has ♦AKQ8765. Declarer plays off A, K and Q but right hand opponent (RHO), who has ♦J94, discards on the 3^rd round instead of playing the jack. When declarer plays the ♦8, RHO wins with his jack. In this case declarer has been prevented from winning tricks with ♦8765. Instead of making seven diamond tricks he only makes three.

Under the revoke law the rectification is one trick.

When this damages declarer – perhaps the opponents cash their set up suit – the TD can give FOUR tricks back to declarer because this restores equity.

Major penalty card (MPC)

Only defenders have MPCs.

A MPC is left face up on the table and must be played at the first legal opportunity (whether following suit, leading, discarding or trumping)

If the partner has the lead, the declarer can :

• Ask the leader to lead the suit of the MPC – the MPC is then picked up.
• Ask the leader not to lead the suit of the MPC until he loses the lead and gets it back later on – the MPC is picked up.
• Tell the leader to lead any card he wishes. The MPC stays down on the table.