Play Some BishDaily Challenge Recap
Five Hearts and the Jack: An Easy Call, an Easy Win
After a few awkward hands, this one is a gift. You hold the Ace, Jack and 10 of hearts, and the kitty makes it five trumps. The only question is how best to spend them.
The hand
Your first six cards are the Ace, Jack, 10 and 7 of hearts, the 9 of diamonds, and the Jack of clubs. Four hearts with the Ace and Jack is the kind of hand the game rates highly.
The kitty is the Ace of spades, the 7 of spades and the 8 of hearts. The 8 makes it five trumps. The Ace of spades is a bonus.
The line that wins
The hard AI, playing all four seats with the cards face up, won six of nine tricks and finished 129 to 33.
Tricks 1 and 2: give up the side cards
Opponent 1 leads the Ace of diamonds and then the Ace of clubs. You throw your 9 of diamonds and the Jack of clubs, small cards you did not need. Losing two tricks cheaply is fine.
Trick 3: the Jack arrives
Opponent 1 leads the 10 of clubs and you have none left. Trump with the Jack of hearts. The trick is worth 33 points.
Trick 7: a small trump for Partner
Lead the 8 of hearts and let your Partner's Nine win it, 14 points. Leading a small trump into your Partner's strength is how you share the work.
Trick 9: end with the Ace
Your last card is the Ace of hearts, and the final trick is worth 38 with the bonus.
Where it's easy to go wrong
There is little to go wrong here, but the other suits show what a bad call looks like. Diamonds loses 46 to 116, spades loses 76 to 86, and clubs loses 79 to 83. Hearts is the only suit where you hold real power.
The takeaway
With five trumps including the Jack and Ace, call it and play it out. Throw your useless side cards early, and keep the Ace of trump for the last trick. See when to call trump for what else makes a call easy.