Card combinations

A98 opposite KT7x

Difficulty: Medium

Playing for 3 tricks.

Best line makes it
81.59%
Entries, this line
0
to dummy, on the deal below
Entries, worst case
3
the most it can need

Play it yourself

The line below is one playthrough against one deal. To ask what a different card would have been worth — or what happens when the king sits the other way — take the same cards to the explorer, where you play all four hands and every card you could choose is priced. Nothing there is recorded.

The line

Played against West x and East QJxxx. Not the likeliest lie — the one that defeats the most careless play, which is the one worth showing.

Lead Cards Won by Entry
1 south S:T W:6 N:A E:3 north
2 north N:8 E:4 S:2 W:— north
3 north N:9 E:J S:K W:— south
4 south S:7 W:— N:— E:Q east

The same cards, a different target

A different number of tricks is a different problem, with its own best line.

More 7-card combinations · Browse the catalogue

Odds are the share of lies on which this line guarantees the target against best defence — the card that hurts you most, whether or not it is the card a book would play. An entry is counted each time the lead has to change hands, in either direction. The first lead is free from either hand — you broach the suit from wherever you are.