Popular. Bridge is a popular national sport in American schools, and many foreign universities, especially those in Europe and America, have offered bridge courses. Rules of Bridge: To play bridge, you need four players first, and use the standard 52 decks of cards (no ghost cards). Four players need to form two groups of partnerships. The seats of the four players are east, south, west and north, with the east and west as one side and the north and south as the other. The two sides played as rivals.