Bridge Bidding with Imperfect Information

Abstract

Multiplayer games with imperfect information, such as Bridge, are especially challenging for game theory researchers. Although several algorithmic techniques have been successfully applied to the card play phase of the game, bidding requires a much different approach. We have shown that a special form of a neural network, called a self-organizing map (SOM), can be used to effectively bid no trump hands. The characteristic boundary that forms between resulting neighboring nodes in a SOM is an ideal mechanism for modeling the imprecise and ambiguous nature of the game