ACBL29 – Declarer: Counting Winners and Losers   Ward Trumbull                

                                                                                               Feb 8, 2012

                                                                                               Page 1 of 4

Definition

      Winners – These are tricks you expect to take because you have high

                        honors in a suit and/or length in a suit.  Typical winners in a

                        suit are:

                                1. Ace, ace-king, ace-king-queen, etc.

                                2. A K Q x x would be counted as 5 winners if there is

                                    a chance for a 5-3-3-2 distribution.

                                3. A K x x x would be counted as 4 winners if there

                                    was a chance for a 5-3-3-2 distribution.

      Losers   - These are cards in a suit that you expect to lose to the

                      opponents because they have the high honors in that suit.

When to Count

1. Trumbull 2 Club Hand

        When you have a strong distributional playing hand and are

        contemplating opening 2 clubs, your hand should have (per Trumbull  

        2 Clubs) enough winners to make game or at least be within one trick

        of making game.  This would be based on one-or-two 5+ cards suits

        in your hand, usually the majors.  You make the decision by counting

        losers in your hand, looking only at the top 3 cards in each suit.

2. When Dummy Is Tabled

       Typically, you count winners or losers (WoL) when you are the

       declarer as soon as the dummy has been tabled.  For those that

       forgot, declarers should use the ARCH checklist (ACBL16).  In this

       case you’re counting WoL between two hands.

 ACBL29 – Declarer: Counting Winners and Losers        Feb 8, 2012

                                                                                                   Page 2 of 4

3. Suit Contracts: You count immediate losers

1. You count losers suit-by-suit.

2. You count losers based only on the top 3 cards (both hands) in

the suit.

3. You count the losers in whichever hand (dummy/declarer)

has the most cards in that suit.

Example 1:  You have a void opposite 3 spot cards in the other

                    hand.  That suit has 3 losers.  When playing the

                      hand, you will hopefully ruff those losers.

  Example 2:  You have jack-ten doubleton opposite ace third.

                      You have 2 losers.

       4. 1 – Count one loser for a doubleton A x or K Q in a suit.

                 Count one loser for a 3 card A Q J.

       5. 2 – Count 2 losers for any other doubleton suit regardless whether

                  or not it has a king, queen or jack.

       6. 3 – Count 3 losers for any 3+ card suit missing the ace, king and

                 queen.  The limit is 3.

       7. For 3+ card suits with some honors, count 1 loser for each missing

           ace, king, queen or jack.  This applies to trump suits too.

           For example:

           A 7 4  opposite  Q 10 8 6 2    –   missing king/jack means 2 losers

           K 5     opposite  J 10 9 8 3     –   missing ace/queen means 2 losers

           6 4 2  opposite  Q 10 9 8 4    --   missing ace/king/jack is 3 losers

       8. Count king x x opposite queen x x as 2 losers.   Still 2 if queen x x x.

  ACBL29 – Declarer: Counting Winners and Losers      Feb 8, 2012

                                                                                                  Page 3 of 4

3. Suit Contracts: You count immediate losers (continued)

       9. If the opening lead is in a suit in which the declarer hand has an

           unprotected king, count that king as a winner, not a loser.      

      Finally, if you have more losers than you can afford to make your  

      contract, you must use the HOW of ARCH to figure how to eliminate

      one-or-more of those losers.

4. Notrump Contracts: You count immediate winners

1. You count winners suit-by-suit.

2. You count winners based only on the top 3 cards (both hands) in

the suit.

3. An ace is 1, an ace-king is 2, an ace-king-queen is 3, etc.

      4.  An ace-queen is only 1, and a king-queen is only 1.

      5.  In 4 X 4 suits, assume honor winners plus 1.  In the case of no

           honors, you count no immediate winners.  For example:

                 A K J 7 opposite 5 4 3 2 - two honor winners plus 1 equals 3.

                                                        - one honor loser (queen)  

      6.  In the case of 5 X 3 suits or 5 X 4 suits, assume honor winners

           plus 2.  For example:

                A Q J 7 6 opposite 9 5 3 - two honor winners plus 2 equals 4

                                                       - one honor loser (the king)

.

                Q 9 7 5 3 opposite K 10 8 6 - one honor winner plus 2 equals 3.

                                                            - two honor losers (the ace-jack)          

   ACBL29 – Declarer: Counting Winners and Losers      Feb 8, 2012

                                                                                                   Page 4 of 4

4. Notrump Contracts: You count immediate winners (continued)

7.  In the case of 6 X 2/3/4 suits, assume honor winners plus 3.

            For example:

                A 9 7 6 5 4 opposite 8 3 - one honor winner plus 3 equals 4.

       8.  If the opening lead is in a suit in which the declarer hand has an

            unprotected king, count that king as a winner.      

      Finally, if your winner count is short of your contract tricks requirement,

      you must use the HOW of ARCH to figure how to get the extra needed

      tricks.