Blum on Bridge Handling Card Combinations Part 1
	Have you ever had this problem as declarer: how to play suit combinations? Nah, not you. Not much! I'm going to make a wry attempt in as simplified terms as possible to help you over a hurdle that is undoubtedly the most common problem hand after hand a declarer most overcome. I was just on the phone with my longtime friend Bernace (Bernie) DeYoung. Bernie is just short of attaining 10,000 masterpoints and is, as you would expect, one of the games top players. Though she still plays competitively, DeYoung teaches nearly full time at the Banyan Bridge Club in Hollywood, Florida. Bernie says that rather than giving her students memory tests she uses a side door to make the declarer think more. For example, J4 is practically useless unless the queen is involved, sort of like to win one also needs a good partner. Tens, nines and eights can be terribly important both in the auction and play, as we will see later. Bernie has her students make the elementary play of covering an honor with an honor to show how the lesser cards can be promoted within the suit. When making the decision with a middling 8 or 9 points to accept an invitation to 3NT any one of three features is a cause to accept. (1) Holding a five-card suit (2) holding two four card suits (3) a predominance of tens and nines. This leads us into various card combinations, many of which make use of those valuable cards under the jack. When making a choice about which card to play several factors become most important. You may need only to secure the contract at IMPs (also party bridge). At match play, if in a superior contract that you feel the rest of the field missed it also, may only be necessary to fulfill your contract. The opposite could occur. You may be in the wrong contract such as 3NT when the rest of the field is in four of a major suit. 3NT only scores 400 points where as four hearts or spades scores 420. Thus, it becomes imperative to garner that extra trick at no-trump. We also will assume that no adverse bidding has taken place. For example, should one of the opponents have either opened the bidding or made a competitive overcall that opponent would hold the preponderance of points or a long suit in the case of an overcall. OK, enough said. Let's get to the meat of the situation. We'll begin quite simply assuming in all cases dummy holds the greater length. You are declarer. Holding eight cards, AKQ84-J32 (oh, see the important 8). Cash the jack in case lho is void. The chance of success is 98 percent. Let's now take combinations where the defense has the jack. Holding five cards AKQ10-4 to secure four tricks finesse the 10, a 50 percent chance. However, holding six cards it becomes a bit different. To make the maximum five tricks holding AKQ105-4 finesse the 10, a 31 percent probability. Needing only four tricks finessing the 10 will give you an 81 percent chance, not bad. Adding the important nine, AKQ109-4. It is fractionally better, 36 percent, to play the top honors for the maximum five tricks. Keep in mind that holding a singleton, you can only finesse once. Thus, though a finesse normally works half the time you can only do it once so the odds of dropping the jack are reduced. Let's change our six cards holding to AKQ10-43. Our doubleton adds a bit of flavor. Your maximum 50 percent chance is to cash the queen and then finesse the 10. Suppose we change the holding slightly to AKQ9-43. To obtain four tricks, finessing the nine hoping that lho holds J10 is only a 24 percent probability but must be done immediately. Notice cashing the queen first just ain't gonna do it. Two interesting six card holdings are AK105-Q4 and AK95-Q4. With holding one, again cash the queen and finesse the ten, 50-50. However, holding the second hand play the queen-king-ace hoping the jack and ten fall in three rounds. Unfortunately this provides only an 11 percent chance. There is an exception. Cash the queen and finesse the nine if an honor drops on your right. When declarer and dummy have seven cards between them missing the jack many more holdings come into the mix. We'll begin but continue with additional seven card holdings next week. AKQ1095-4 simply play off the top honors giving you a 54 percent chance to drop the jack gaining the maximum six tricks. Without the nine, AKQ1065-4 you still have a 52 percent chance to obtain six tricks by cashing the top honors. Needing only five tricks finessing the ten will give you an excellent 91 percent chance to secure your contract. At IMPs you may only need four tricks. The safety play is to finesse the ten in case rho is void. It's a 99 percent probability.