The unthinking online poker player who first plays the Ace, on the assumption that it does No-Trumps matter which high card he plays first because the outstanding cards will normally divide three-one or two-two, will lose a trick in the suit whenever North is void and South holds J, 8, 7, 6. It will occur about five times in every hundred.
| West | East |
| A, K, 10, 5,3 | 9, 7, 6 |
If West cannot afford to lose more than one trick in the suit, his is to win either the Ace or King; if both opponents follow suit, he enters East’s hand in a side suit, leads the 7 from the table and if South plays the 8, plays the 10 from his own hand. This protects him against losing two tricks in the suit if South started with Q, J, 8, x.
There is a percentage play or a safety play for almost every combination of a suit, and it may be found by analyzing the division of the remaining cards in the suit.
| West | East |
| ♠ A, K, 4, 2 | ♠ 5, 3 |
| ♥ A, 9, 7 | ♥ 10, 6, 2 |
| ♦ A, 9, 4 | ♦ K, 8, 7 |
| ♣ K, 7, 6 | ♣ A, 10, 5, 4, 3 |
Against West’s contract of Three No-Trumps, North leads a spade. West can make his contract only if he wins four tricks in clubs. After winning the first trick with ♠ K, the right play is for West to win the ♣ K. In North and South both follow suit, west continues with the ♣ 7 and plays the 4 from the dummy if North plays an honour, but the 10 if North plays a low poker card.
If South follows suit, there is only one more outstanding club and it will fall under East’s Ace. If North shows out on the second round of clubs, then South started with Q, J, x, x of the suit and West cannot do anything about it. The directed play, however, guarantees that he will win four tricks in the suit if North originally held Q, J, x, x of the suit.
Most important of all, however, is an ability to count the playing cards. It is not all that difficult, and, in the main, is largely a matter of drawing deductions from the bidding and previous play of the cards, coupled with training oneself to think along the right lines.
| ♠ K, 8 | ||||
| ♥ Q, 10, 4 | ||||
| ♦ 9, 6, 2 | ||||
| ♣ Q, 9, 6, 4, 3 | ||||
| ♠ Q, J, 9 | N | ♠ 10, 7, 5, 4, 2 | ||
| ♥ K, 7 | W | E | ♥ 5, 3 | |
| ♦ Q, 10, 8 | S | ♦ A, K, J, 7, 4 | ||
| ♣ K, J, 10, 8, 5 | ♣ 2 | |||
| ♠ A, 6, 3 | ||||
| ♥ A, J, 9, 8, 6, 2 | ||||
| ♦ 5, 3 | ||||
| ♣ A, 7 | ||||
West deals at love all, and the auction is:
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 ♣ | No Bid | 1 ♦ | 1 ♥ |
| 2 ♦ | 2♥ | 2♠ | 4♥ |
| No Bid | No Bid | No Bid |
West leads diamonds and East wins the first two tricks with the Ace and King of the suit. A third round of diamonds is ruffed by South with the ♥ 8.
As South has lost two poker tricks, it would seem that his contract is doomed, because West, by reason of his opening bid and lacking either the Ace or King of diamonds, must surely be holding the Kings of hearts and clubs.