Deal 1
 
 
 
♠ ?
?
?
♣ ?
 
 WEST  NORTH  EAST  SOUTH
1pass BID 
 

You are South and it is your bid.
Decide what you would say, then click on BID .
   
  ♠ Q 5 3
7 6 2
A K 4
♣ 8 7 4 2
 

 
Deal 1
 
 
 
♠ J 8 6
A 9 8
8 6 5 3
♣ A K Q
 
 WEST  NORTH  EAST  SOUTH
1pass1NT
passpasspass

Do not be tempted to say 2, even with such good 3-card help. To support partner's minor suit opening you should have at least 4 cards in the suit. Remember he may have opened a 3-card suit.

Instead you bid 1NT showing a balanced 6-10 point hand with no 4-card Major suit. Partner passes.

South plays 1NT. West leads the ♠4. East wins the ♠A, then plays the ♠9. West takes his ♠K and leads another ♠, East discarding a .

Make a Plan, then click NEXT .
   
  ♠ Q 5 3
7 6 2
A K 4
♣ 8 7 4 2
 

 
Deal 1
 
 
 
♠ J 8 6
A 9 8
8 6 5 3
♣ A K Q
  South plays 1NT. West leads the ♠4. East wins the ♠A, then plays the ♠9. West takes his ♠K and leads another ♠, East discarding a .

To make a PLAN for a Notrump contract you should count your winners.

Winners: ♠ 1 : 1 : 2 : ♣ 3 : Total = 7

For this deal you see that you already have all the winners you need to make the contract. So you just want to be sure you don't do something stupid that would jeopardize those winners.

You win the ♠Q, then lead to the ♣A, ♣K, ♣Q. Everybody follows suit to these three tricks. Next you take the A. Then you play a small to your K, then play your A. You have now won your required 7 tricks, but you have a bonus. Since all the ♣s except the ♣8 have been played your ♣8 is now high and you make an overtrick.

Click NEXT to see the complete deal.
   
  ♠ Q 5 3
7 6 2
A K 4
♣ 8 7 4 2
 

 
Deal 1
 
 
 
♠ J 8 6
A 9 8
8 6 5 3
♣ A K Q
  This is an example of a straightforward hand where you should take your winners.

But even with this type of hand you should make sure you take them in the right order. Here, if you had played the A and K BEFORE you played the ♣ A K Q you would have had no entry back to the fourth ♣ in your hand. In this case it was only an overtrick, in other deals it could make the difference between making and going down.

 Deal 2 
♠ K 10 7 4 2
K J 3
9 7
♣ 9 6 5
♠ A 9
Q 10 5 4
Q J 10 2
♣ J 10 3
  ♠ Q 5 3
7 6 2
A K 4
♣ 8 7 4 2