How BEST to play this suit?

The experts seem to know just how to play the contract exactly right. Some of that is playing suits in the proper way to avoid losers that might not be apparent from the beginning.

Take this hand from Tuesday:
Dummy:
♠Q543

Declarer:
♠AKT7

You are Declarer in a contract of 4♠. The whole contract depends on playing the trump suit for NO LOSERS! How do you play the suit?

Think about it. This is tough.

If one opponent has all FIVE trump you will have a loser for sure.

If the trump split evenly (3-2) it doesn't really matter how you play the suit. You will not have any losers.

You have no idea how the trump is breaking. There were no clues from the auction. No opponent looked especially pleased you got to game in ♠. How do you play the suit?

Show Answer

The only holding that matters is if the trumps are 4-1 with the missing J9♠ to be with the four card holding.

If this holding is on your left you will have to lose a trump.

If this holding is on your right you do NOT have to lose a trump.

So because of this you need to play for RHO to (maybe) having four to the ♠J9.

But how do you know whether they do or do not?

You COULD start by playing the Q♠ and then a low ♠ to the T♠. This will ensure you take all the tricks if RHO has four to the ♠J9.

But what if LHO has J92? You look very silly then. You could have just played the ♠A, ♠K and Q♠ and made the contract!

Hmmmm.

The proper way to play the suit is this:

Start by playing the ♠A (or ♠K) from your hand first. Then play a low ♠ towards the ♠Q. AT THIS POINT if everyone follows suit to the trump then you can play your remaining high honour and you have no trump losers.

However if, when playing a low ♠ towards your ♠Q in Dummy, your LHO shows out of ♠ (they play another suit) then you KNOW your RHO has four to the ♠J. You can win the Q♠ in Dummy and play a low ♠ towards the ♠KT for NO LOSERS!

Watch for holdings that contain Tens. Without the Ten (say the Ten was the 2♠) it wouldn't matter how you played that suit. You'd need the suit to break 3-2.

Eight Ever, Nine Never

Before reading this post make sure you know what a finesse is. Click here if you don't.

Grab a deck of cards and play along.

"Eight Ever, Nine Never" is a catchy slogan that people in bridge use to remember whether or not to finesse an opponent for a missing Queen.

Let's look at this holding.

Dummy:
♠AJT62

Declarer:
♠K943

I have nine cards in the ♠ suit and I am missing the Q♠. I don't want to lose any tricks in this suit. What is my best way of doing this?

I order to figure out the best way I should probably go over all my options.

Option 1:

I assume that my LHO has the Q♠.

	Dummy ♠AJT62
LHO ♠Q??		RHO ♠???
	Declarer ♠K943

I start by playing the K♠ from my hand and then playing a low ♠ towards Dummy's J♠.

Option 2:

I assume that my RHO has the Q♠.

	Dummy ♠AJT62
LHO ♠???		RHO ♠Q??
	Declarer ♠K943

I start by playing the A♠ from Dummy and then playing a low ♠ towards my 9♠.

Option 3:

I assume that either opponent has the doubleton Q♠. That means they only have 2 cards in the ♠ suit and one of them is the Q♠.

	Dummy ♠AJT62
LHO ♠Q? or ♠??		RHO ♠?? or ♠Q?
	Declarer ♠K943

It doesn't really matter how I play the suit here. I can start by playing the A♠ from Dummy and then playing a low ♠ towards my K♠ or I can play the K♠ and then a low ♠ towards my A♠.

Hmmm. It's quite a bit easier to decide what to do if you only have one choice. I have three choices. Which is best?

This is where the "Eight Ever, Nine Never" rule helps me remember. Basically this says if I have EIGHT cards in the suit I should EVER (or always) finesse for the Queen. If I have NINE cards in the suit I should NEVER finesse for the Queen. By not finessing that means I play out my high cards and hope the missing Queen drops underneath one of them.

So in this example:
Dummy:
♠AJT62

Declarer:
♠K943

I play the A♠ and K♠ and hope that the Q♠ drops underneath one of them. I don't even care which one because I am pretty easy going when opponents drop their high cards underneath mine.

How about another example?

What is the best way to avoid any losers in this suit?

Dummy:
♠AJ62

Declarer:
♠K943

Again I need to find the Q♠. This time I don't have as many choices.

Option 1

I can assume my LHO has the Q♠.

	Dummy ♠AJ62
LHO ♠Q??		RHO ♠??
	Declarer ♠K943

With this holding I will play the K♠ first and then a low ♠ towards my J♠ in Dummy.

Option 2:

	Dummy ♠AJ62
LHO ♠Q? or ???		RHO ♠??? or Q?
	Declarer ♠K943

Play the A♠ and the K♠ and hope the Q♠ drops underneath one of them.

Before I had an Option that my RHO has the Q♠. That would not help me here unless it is a doubleton Q and I am already taking that one into account.

So what is the best way for me to play this suit?

Remember "Eight Ever, Nine Never"?

Here I have EIGHT cards in the suit. That means it is best for me to always finesse for the Queen. I assume the holding is Option 1.

So in this example:

Dummy:
♠AJ62

Declarer:
♠K943

I play the K♠ and a low ♠ towards the J♠ in Dummy. I hope my LHO has three ♠ to the Q♠.

Question: Does this always work? Will my finesses always win?
Answer: No. That would make life too easy and predictable. Where's the fun in that? It is just your BEST percentage play.

Question: Should I always do this?
Answer: No, of course not. Again that would be too easy. There are quite a few factors to take into account. Sometimes it is safe to let in one opponent but not the other. Then you might finesse the Queen into them. Maybe one opponent bid and you think they should have the Queen to justify their bidding. Sometimes one opponent does something to let you know they have quite a few cards in another suit which means they are probably short in your suit. Maybe you can't finesse because the suit might block. These kinds of complex thinking are probably for a little later on in your bridge career. For this stage always using "Eight Ever, Nine Never" is probably the best way to go.

Test your knowledge:

I strongly urge you to grab a deck of cards and play along when you do these examples. It will really help you learn and a few of these are quite tricky. If you try to play them out you might change your original answer to a better one.

Will you or will you not finesse for the Queen in these examples?

First state if you will finesse for the Queen or play for the Queen to drop under your high cards. Then say what card you will play first and then what card you will play second.

Example 1

Dummy:
♠KJ82

Declarer:
♠A943



Example 2

Dummy:
♠AKJ82

Declarer:
♠T943



Example 3

Dummy:
♠AJ8762

Declarer:
♠K43



Example 4

Dummy:
♠AJ862

Declarer:
♠K43



Example 5

Dummy:
♠JT862

Declarer:
♠AK43



Example 6

Dummy:
♠AJ86

Declarer:
♠K43



Example 7

Dummy:
♠JT862

Declarer:
♠AK743



Example 8

Dummy:
♠AJ8

Declarer:
♠K43



Example 9

Dummy:
♠AJ82

Declarer:
♠KT43



Example 10

Dummy:
♠JT7652

Declarer:
♠AK3



Example 11

Dummy:
♠KJ8

Declarer:
♠A43



Example 12

Dummy:
♠AKJ82

Declarer:
♠743



Example 13

Dummy:
♠97842

Declarer:
♠AKJ63



Example 14

Dummy:
♠JT94

Declarer:
♠AK63



Example 15

Dummy:
♠J542

Declarer:
♠AK63

More Suit Combinations

Before reading this post make sure you know what a finesse is. Click here if you don't.

Try playing along at home. Deal out the cards and play it out yourself! That is the best way to learn.

I need to take 3 tricks in this suit. How do I do it?

Dummy:
♠AJ2

Declarer:
♠K43

Hmmm. I have 2 tricks for sure. The A♠ and the K♠. If only that J♠ was the Q♠! But it isn't and I need to score a trick with the J♠. That's my only shot for taking 3 tricks.

I have a couple of chances here. I can play the A♠ and the K♠ and hope that the Q♠ drops underneath one of them. This would mean that one of the opponents only had 2 ♠ and one of them was the Q♠. Not very likely. My other chance is to finesse the J♠. Yes, finesses are not only for Kings and Queens. Other cards can get finessed also.

In order to figure out what way to finesse I now have to think a little bit. Who do I want to have the Q♠? Does it matter? How will I play the suit?

So let's think about this. If I give the Queen to my RHO I can play the J♠ and then my RHO will have to play their Q♠. Then I can win with my K♠. I've found the Queen!

While this is true that I have found the Q♠, it is also true that this did not help me at all. I now have this left:

Dummy:
♠A2

Declarer:
♠43

There is no way my 4♠ will ever be good. This did not work at all.

Okay, let's switch that to my LHO having the Q♠. Now I can play my J♠ from Dummy and play low.

Oh wait. That doesn't work either. My LHO just wins the Q♠.

Try dealing out the cards and figuring this out yourself. Give one opponent three cards and the other opponent four cards. Either one can have the Queen. Then play the suit out so that you get three tricks. If it doesn't work giving the Queen to one opponent, give it to the other opponent. If at any point you play your J♠ and the next player to play has the Q♠ they will cover your J♠ with their Q♠.

So in the end you need to tell me which opponent you gave the Queen to (RHO or LHO) and how you played the suit. That means which card did you play first and then what did you do.

Suit Combinations

Before reading this post make sure you know what a finesse is. Click here and here if you don't.

Try playing along at home. Deal out the cards and play it out yourself! That is the best way to learn.

I need to take 2 tricks in this suit. How do I do it?

Dummy:
♠A32

Declarer:
♠Q54

Hmmm. I have 1 trick for sure. The A♠. If only that Q♠ was the K♠! But it isn't and I need to score a trick with the Q♠. That's my only shot for taking 2 tricks.

Try dealing out the cards and figuring this out yourself. Give one opponent three cards and the other opponent three cards. Either one can have the King. Then play the suit out so that you get two tricks. If it doesn't work when you give the King to one opponent, give it to the other opponent. If at any point you play your Q♠ and the next player to play has the K♠ they will cover your Q♠ with their K♠.

When you have figured it out read further.

How about I try finessing the Q♠? Finesses are good.

I'm going to give the K♠ to my RHO.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠J96		RHO ♠KT8
	Declarer ♠Q54

So I play the Q♠ from my hand and then when my LHO plays low I play low. But now my RHO wins my Q♠ with their K♠. That didn't work.

Since that didn't work, I'm going to give the K♠ to my LHO.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠KT8		RHO ♠J96
	Declarer ♠Q54

So I play the Q♠ from my hand and then my LHO plays the K♠. I now have to win the A♠. Hmmm. That didn't work either.

But I gave the K♠ to both opponents and neither time did I win a trick with my Q♠. That means that it doesn't matter who has the K♠. I will never win a trick with the Q♠!

That can't be right. Hmmmm. Maybe the problem is not which opponent has the K♠ but whether or not I should start by playing my Q♠ first. Maybe that's the problem.

Okay, I know from finessing I need to have the K♠ sitting underneath the A♠. That means that the K♠ needs to be with my LHO. So let's try that.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠KT8		RHO ♠J96
	Declarer ♠Q54

Instead of playing the Q♠ I will play a low ♠ from my hand towards the A♠ in Dummy. That won. Now I play a low ♠ towards the Q♠ in my hand. That lost since I have the K♠ to my LHO.

I'm trying this again. I WILL conquer this suit combination!!! This time I will give the K♠ to my RHO.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠J96		RHO ♠KT8
	Declarer ♠Q54

I will play a low ♠ from my hand towards the A♠ in Dummy. That won. Now I play a low ♠ towards the Q♠ in my hand. Oh, oh. I can see that my RHO has a problem right now. Since they have the K♠ they are in big trouble! What will they do? If they play a low ♠ I will win my Q♠. If they play their K♠ I will play a low ♠ and then will win my Q♠ later on! It doesn't matter what they decide to do I will win two tricks! I figured it out!

The solution is to start by cashing the A♠ in Dummy and then play a low card towards the Q♠ in my hand and hope that my RHO holds the K♠.

This is a little confusing though. I do remember from before with the finesse I wanted the high cards sitting underneath my high cards. So if the Ace was in Dummy I needed the King to be with my LHO. Then when they played their King I could win their King with my Ace. Now this seems reversed. I want the King to be sitting after the Ace. So if the Ace is in Dummy I want the King to be with my RHO. Not quite sure why. There must be some sort of reason...

While looking at this post on finesses I noticed one thing. I had better cards in my hand. This time I had the Q54 and last time I had the QJT. Maybe that makes a difference.

Let's investigate.

So I have this holding:

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠K54		RHO ♠876
	Declarer ♠QJT

In this situation when I lead the Q♠ from my hand and LHO covers with the K♠ my Jack and Ten are good. It really helps me to have the King sitting underneath my Ace because now I can promote my Jack and Ten if LHO holds the King. Promoting means just what you think it does. Once the Queen, King and Ace are gone the Jack gets to be the boss. It will now be the highest card out there. The Ten will be the next best card.

	Dummy ♠A32
LHO ♠KJT		RHO ♠876
	Declarer ♠Q54

In this situation when I lead the Q♠ from my hand and LHO covers with the K♠ this does not help me at all. It does NOT promote any of my other high cards because I have no other high cards.

So in this situation I can't hope for the King to be sitting overtop of my Queen. That does me no good at all. I need the Queen to be sitting in a place where they play AFTER the opponent with the King. So my opponent has to decide to play (or not to play) their King first. That way if they decide to play their King I play low and my Queen becomes good. If they decide not to play their King I play my Queen and win.

Maybe the best way to think about how to play the suit is to think of what will happen if you play your high card (in both these cases the Queen) and the next player to play covers that card with a higher one (in both these cases the King.)

If helps you if they cover your honour with their honour then play the suit that way. If it does NOT help you at all when they cover you'd better play the suit the other way.

Summary:
When you have this holding:

Dummy:
♠A32

Declarer:
♠Q54

and need to take 2 tricks in this suit start by playing the Ace and then a low card towards the Queen.