Card combinations

JTxx opposite Qxxx

Difficulty: Medium

Playing for 2 tricks.

Best line makes it
83.91%
Entries, this line
1
to dummy, on the deal below
Entries, worst case
2
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 A and East K987. 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:4 W:A N:2 E:7 west
2 north N:T E:8 S:5 W:— north yes
3 north N:J E:9 S:Q W:— south
4 south S:6 W:— N:3 E:K east

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.