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Counting your Winning Tricks
You have won the bidding and you are in No Trumps The opposition make the
opening lead and Dummy lays down their hand on the table. Now you need to count the winners in both hands.
What is a Winner
A winner or winning card is a card that will take the trick when one card from each player has been played. Examples of winning cards are Aces; An Ace and King in the same suit are two winners; The Ace, King and Queen all in the same suit are three winners. Voids can be winners only if you are in a trump suitThe suit of cards with the highest ranking over the other suits in a particular handUsage - A card in the trump suit whose trick-taking power is greater than any other suit card.
In bridge the trump suit is determined by highest bid that wins the contra... More.
Counting Winners
After counting your winners in both hands subtract the total from the number of tricksA round of 4 cards where each player contributes 1 card. There are 13 tricks in a game of bridge. More you bid for. For example, a winning bid of 4S means you need to win 10 tricks. If the winners you count are less than the contractThe final suit and level of bidding sets the number of tricks and the trump suit for the game.This is called the contract. The partnership that wins the bidding can earn the points if they succeed in getting the number of tricks they contracted.The number ... More you bid means you need to use some card play techniques to try to develop more winning tricks.
Calculating Winners
Think about features in the combined hands which will help you develop more winners. Do you have a long suitIs the suit with the greatest number of cards in a hand.This term is not usually used on a suit with fewer than five cards. More with gaps in the honoursSometimes known as face cards or honours , each is worth high card points. They are:
the Ace (A) = 4 HCP
the King (K) = 3 HCP
the Queen (Q) = 2 HCP
the Jack (J) = 1 HCP
and the Ten (10 or T) in each suit
The 10 and 9 card in any suit are k... More? – a hold-up play may make more winners in the suit. Does the biddingThis term is also called the 'auction.' In each online deal, a player is the nominated as the dealer -this title rotates each new game. The dealer is the player who starts the bidding even if its a pass. Players take their turn at bidding in turn and in order ... More tell you that opponents have a long holding in your longest suit? – You may need to finesse against that player to create extra winners. Is it likely that the cards in a suit are evenly divided? – a play to drop opponents cards in the suit.
If the opponents can win the first trick in played a suit then in your counting you have no winners in that suit. The total of your count of winning cards gives you the winning tricks count for DeclarerThe player who during the auction made the first bid the SUIT of the final contract, becomes the declarer. The also play their partners hand which is now renamed 'dummy.'
Declarer plays both their own and dummy's hand. More and Dummy’s hands combined.
The contract is 3NTThis if its bid in the opening position means the opener has 25+ points and a balanced hand. As a sign off bid it means game in No Trumps.
The bid means you have contracted to win at least 9 tricks with no trump suit.
The leading or first card played det... More. Your partner lays down this hand and you see that together have only 6 winning tricks (without losing the lead). You need to develop another three winning tricks in order to make your contract. How can you do this?
Count the Winners you hold in a Suit
| Your Card Holding | Winners in the suit |
|---|---|
| A 8 7 6 5 | 1 |
| K J 4 | 1 maybe 0 |
| J 8 7 6 5 | 0 |
| A K Q 6 5 | 3 |
| A K | 2 |
| K Q 7 6 5 | 1 |
| A Q 7 6 5 | 1 |
| K Q J 10 9 | 2 |
| A K J 10 9 | 2 |
North
West
East
South
Instant Progress Quiz – Check all correct answers
Extra for Experts
A different game on Counting your winners, with questions for community discussion in the comments area below.
PLAYResponses
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In the quiz there are 8 winners, not 9, as only 2 in hearts A,K. If the lead is a club, this contract is in big trouble as opponents can score at least 4 clubs and a diamond when they regain lead.
I only see 2 heart winners also. More importantly, I do not see any explanation about how they get 3 winners in hearts. This does not bode well for this site.
See 2 Heart winners not 3
played 3nt /n..helld up on 1st trick made 10 tricks….
played spades last… was this strong or weak”
dont believe I would have made more if had not held up
don’t see the third heart winner
Can you please explain why in the first hand it says 8 winning tricks is incorrect then in the second one 9 winning tricks is correct when the hands are identical
Declarers hand only showing 12 cards
I do not see the 3 Heart winners. I see only the A and the K.
Return to lessons doesn’t work
Can you tell me more because I have just tested this and it worked on my computer.
I only counted 4 sure winners for a 3NT contract