Card combinations

J opposite Q987xxxxx

Difficulty: Trivial

Playing for 7 tricks.

Best line makes it
78.0%
Entries, this line
2
to dummy, on the deal below
Entries, worst case
3
the most it can need

Nothing to decide

No card a layout rewards loses odds here. The figure is the break, or the one line that reaches the target, and every other card throws a trick away outright. This is a page to look up, and the doors never pose it as a problem.

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 A and East KT. 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:T S:Q W:A west
2 south S:2 W:— N:— E:K east yes
3 south S:3 W:— N:— E:— south yes
4 south S:4 W:— N:— E:— south
5 south S:5 W:— N:— E:— south
6 south S:6 W:— N:— E:— south
7 south S:7 W:— N:— E:— south
8 south S:8 W:— N:— E:— south
9 south S:9 W:— N:— E:— south

More 10-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.