Card combinations

J8 opposite AK9xxx

Difficulty: Hard

Playing for 4 tricks.

Best line makes it
100.0%
Entries, this line
2
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 — and East QT7xx. 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:9 W:— north
2 north N:8 E:T S:K W:— south
3 south S:A W:— N:— E:6 south
4 south S:2 W:— N:— E:7 east
5 south S:3 W:— N:— E:Q east yes
6 south S:4 W:— N:— E:— south yes

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.