Card combinations

T9 opposite AKJxxxx

Difficulty: Medium

Playing for 7 tricks.

Best line makes it
53.13%
Entries, this line
0
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 Q8 and East 7x. 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:9 E:6 S:K W:8 south
2 south S:A W:Q N:T E:7 south
3 south S:2 W:— N:— E:— south
4 south S:3 W:— N:— E:— south
5 south S:4 W:— N:— E:— south
6 south S:5 W:— N:— E:— south
7 south S:J W:— N:— E:— south

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.