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 KQ8x. 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:T E:6 S:J W:— | south | |
| 2 | south | S:A W:— N:— E:8 | south | |
| 3 | south | S:2 W:— N:— E:Q | east | |
| 4 | south | S:3 W:— N:— E:K | east | yes |
| 5 | south | S:4 W:— N:— E:— | south | yes |
| 6 | south | S:5 W:— N:— E:— | south | |
| 7 | south | S:7 W:— N:— E:— | south | |
| 8 | south | S:9 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 9-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.