Counting Winners

In bridge when Declarer is playing in any NT contract (1NT, 2NT, 3NT, etc) the first thing they should do is to count their WINNERS. These are tricks that they can take RIGHT AWAY. Declarer then knows how many winners they have and whether or not they need to develop more tricks or just take their winners and give up.

Here are a few examples:
Dummy
♣K9

Declarer
♣AQ3

How many winners does Declarer have in the ♣ suit?

Declarer has THREE tricks in the ♣. They can win the A♣, the K♣ and the Q♣.

Winners can be counted in EITHER hand. So with this holding:
Dummy
♣AQ3

Declarer
♣K9

Declarer still has THREE tricks in the ♣. They can win the A♣, the K♣ and the Q♣.

Another example:
Dummy
♣K9

Declarer
♣AQ

How many winners does Declarer have in the ♣ suit?

Declarer has TWO tricks in the ♣. Even though Declarer has the A♣, the K♣ and the Q♣ (the top three cards in the suit) they only have two tricks in the suit because they have to follow suit! When they play the A♣ from their hand they must play the 9♣ from Dummy. Then when they play the Q♣ from their hand they must play the K♣ in Dummy. Now they have no more ♣. If you don't quite understand try it at home to see. Deal out and play the cards yourself.

Another example:
Dummy
♣KJT9

Declarer
♣Q986

How many winners does Declarer have in the ♣ suit?

Declarer has ZERO winners in the ♣ suit. Winners are tricks you can take RIGHT AWAY. Declarer will have to lose to the A♣ first in order to get winners. Therefore these do not count as winners.

Let's practice. How many winners do you have? Winners can be counted in either hand.

Hand 1

Dummy
♠AJT2

Declarer
♠KQ84



Hand 2

Dummy
♠KT

Declarer
♠A8763



Hand 3

Dummy
♠KQ43

Declarer
♠J2



Hand 4

Dummy
♠K742

Declarer
♠98



Hand 5

Dummy
♠Q7

Declarer
♠A985



Hand 6

Dummy
♠AQ5

Declarer
♠KJ9843



Hand 7

Dummy
♠K6

Declarer
♠AQJT8



Hand 8

Dummy
♠QT8

Declarer
♠J2



Hand 9

Dummy
♠A74

Declarer
♠KQT62



Hand 10

Dummy
♠QJT8

Declarer
♠AK9765



Hand 11

Dummy
♠Q72

Declarer
♠JT8



Hand 12

Dummy
♠AQ5

Declarer
♠KJ43



Hand 13

Dummy
♠54

Declarer
♠Q98



Hand 14

Dummy
♠AQJ

Declarer
♠8654



Hand 15

Dummy
♠AK75

Declarer
♠Q8



Hand 16

Dummy
♠Q3

Declarer
♠A2



Hand 17

Dummy
♠KQ2

Declarer
♠J75



Hand 18

Dummy
♠A86

Declarer
♠KJT9



Hand 19

Dummy
♠AQJ5

Declarer
♠KT96



Hand 20

Dummy
♠AQ92

Declarer
♠K8



Hand 21

Dummy
♠J43

Declarer
♠AKT7



Hand 22

Dummy
♠KQ54

Declarer
♠A2



Hand 23

Dummy
♠97

Declarer
♠AJ53



Hand 24

Dummy
♠AK7

Declarer
♠JT954



Hand 25

Dummy
♠K8

Declarer
♠AQJ74



Hand 26

Dummy
♠AKJ5

Declarer
♠Q984



Hand 27

Dummy
♠K4

Declarer
♠9852



Hand 28

Dummy
♠KQ

Declarer
♠JT9



Hand 29

Dummy
♠K87

Declarer
♠JT65



Hand 30

Dummy
♠AKT8

Declarer
♠QJ9763



Hand 31

Dummy
♠AK86

Declarer
♠T754



Hand 32

Dummy
♠AKJ

Declarer
♠96



Hand 33

Dummy
♠75

Declarer
♠AJ832



Hand 34

Dummy
♠KQ6

Declarer
♠AT5



Hand 35

Dummy
♠QJT8

Declarer
♠K53



Hand 36

Dummy
♠AQJT

Declarer
♠73



Hand 37

Dummy
♠KQ95

Declarer
♠J62



Hand 38

Dummy
♠KJ5

Declarer
♠AQ43



Hand 39

Dummy
♠K52

Declarer
♠AQJ



Hand 40

Dummy
♠AKQ8

Declarer
♠J65



Hand 41

Dummy
♠AK92

Declarer
♠QJ85



Hand 42

Dummy
♠J97

Declarer
♠KQT6



Hand 43

Dummy
♠AK75

Declarer
♠QJT4



Hand 44

Dummy
♠KQJ8

Declarer
♠AT



Hand 45

Dummy
♠A95

Declarer
♠QT3



Hand 46

Dummy
♠AJ8

Declarer
♠K7



Hand 47

Dummy
♠QT7

Declarer
♠AJ854



Hand 48

Dummy
♠AQ93

Declarer
♠K5



Hand 49

Dummy
♠AK87

Declarer
♠92



Hand 50

Dummy
♠A6

Declarer
♠KQ