The Majority Rule

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Often, knowledge of how one suit breaks will change your odds in the play of another. For example:

NORTH 
 K J x x 

SOUTH
 A x x x x

 
You cash the ace and lead toward the dummy; West follows low. Since East has twelve unknown cards to his partner’s eleven, he is a slight favorite to hold the queen. So, the percentage play is to go up. But if you know that East started with, say, five clubs to his partner’s three, the percentage play is to finesse. It is now West who has more unknown cards.

That combination is easy, since there is no lie of the cards where both plays succeed. If West has the queen, you must finesse; if East has it, you must go up. All you have to do is decide who is more likely to hold the queen, then play him for it. Unfortunately, not all combinations are so easy.

NORTH 
 A x x 

SOUTH
 K Q 10 9 x 

Here, it would scarcely be right to finesse West for the jack simply because he is more likely to hold it. Since most of the time the jack will…Click Here to continue Reading