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 — and East AQ9xx. Not the likeliest lie — the one that defeats the most careless play, which is the one worth showing.
| Lead | Cards | Won by | Entry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | north | N:J E:5 S:2 W:— | north | |
| 2 | south | S:K W:— N:— E:6 | south | yes |
| 3 | south | S:T W:— N:— E:Q | east | |
| 4 | south | S:3 W:— N:— E:9 | east | yes |
| 5 | south | S:4 W:— N:— E:A | east | yes |
| 6 | south | S:7 W:— N:— E:— | south | yes |
| 7 | south | S:8 W:— N:— E:— | south |
The same cards, a different target
A different number of tricks is a different problem, with its own best line.
More 8-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.