[Lesh18]

Hi

Having played Bridge for a while now, I have realised I am still very hesitant at counting losers. I have a set of questions about this:

1) Do I have to count them in the first place? Can't I just count winners only (even in a trump contract)?
2) How do I know whether my hand or the dummy's should be deemed the master hand?
3) Should I ever count losers in my trump suit? and most importantly
4) How should I actually count losers?

If you know a good website, article or some software explaining counting losers, that would be highly appreciated as well. I don't think it's too difficult it just wasn't explained to be well yet.

Thanks a lot!

[Fluffy]

Lesh18, on 2013-October-03, 16:04, said:

1) Do I have to count them in the first place? Can't I just count winners only (even in a trump contract)?

You should count them, the reason is that it is easier to count losers than winners (they are way less) when you are in a trump high level contract. If you are in a partscore, or have too few trumps winners is probably better.

Lesh18, on 2013-October-03, 16:04, said:

2) How do I know whether my hand or the dummy's should be deemed the master hand?

The one with less losers is master. 90%+ of the time that is the hand with the most trumps. 4-4 Fits are the hardest.

Lesh18, on 2013-October-03, 16:04, said:

3) Should I ever count losers in my trump suit? and most importantly

Sure, the point of counting losers is to address which cards you can afford to lose to make your contract, and which ones you need to get rid of somehow.

Lesh18, on 2013-October-03, 16:04, said:

4) How should I actually count losers?

You can mentally color all your cards into 4 categories: solid winners, solid losers, possible losers (doubleton versus AQxx in dummy the most typicial) and losers that could be avoided by play.

The 4th category is the most important, if you can ruff losers in dummy you have to see if you can afford to draw trumps before that (normally you don't), if you can pitch losers on dummy's winners you need to see if you should do it before or after drawing trumps, and also be careful about entries etc. also very important is to spot those opportunities in time.

[Stephen Tu]

IMO in the long run you have to count both winners and losers if you want to be any good. Sometimes you count enough winners, but if you examine more carefully you have too many losers; you end up having to throw away your winners or maybe you have lost trump control and your winners get ruffed. Counting only losers doesn't always work either, because there are hands where losers can effectively combine, that work when you just win enough tricks first.

As for how to do these things, I recommend getting a copy of Bill Root's "How to play a bridge hand" which I think is the clearest, easiest, best book for learning declarer play for intermediate players. Mollo & Gardner's "Card Play Technique" is also very good.

[lowerline]

In a no-trump contract I count my winners. Sometimes, when preparing for an endplay, I will count my losers (because it would be silly if they can cash one trick too many).
In a trump contract, I count my losers. However, I will always count my winners when planning a cross-ruff.

Steven

[barmar]

lowerline, on 2013-October-04, 03:47, said:

In a no-trump contract I count my winners.

That's the common advice: Count losers in suits, winners in NT.

In a suit contract, you can turn a loser into a winner by trumping it if the other hand is short in the suit. You need to count losers to determine whether it's safe to draw trumps early, or you have to use them for ruffing first.

In NT, you can't do much about losers, the race is between the two sides to develop their winners as quickly as possible.

[johnu]

Lesh18, on 2013-October-03, 16:04, said:

1) Do I have to count them in the first place? Can't I just count winners only (even in a trump contract)?

Are you in such a hurry that counting both winners and losers takes too long? If you can consistently count your high card points and count the cards in your suits this shouldn't be too difficult. IMHO, if you want to advance beyond a low intermediate player you have to do both. What good will it do you to set up enough winners to make your contract (or defeat declarer's contract) only to have the opponents take enough tricks to beat you when another line of play would limit the opponent's tricks and allow you to make?

[CSGibson]

Always count both winners and losers (along with considering the information from the auction and lead) before making a plan. Always make a plan before calling a card from dummy. Try to do all of your counting without using your fingers or moving your lips, because the opponents can and will use it to their advantage if they notice.

Both winners and losers can change your plan - if you have too many quick losers, you need to be aware of that before surrendering a tempo - you might even have to risk one of your winners, or risk creating another loser to make one of the quick losers go away. On the other hand, if you don't have enough winners, then you have to make a plan to create more. In making that plan, you frequently have to manage your entries.

Declarer play at its base is about tempo, entries, and, when playing against humans, psychology. A big part of managing those factors is counting winners and losers, as those bring into focus what your objectives are on any particular hand. If you fail to consider those factors at once, you may inadvertently limit your resources by playing an ill-considered card.

As for the rest, Fluffy gave a great answer.

[Zelandakh]

Lesh18, on 2013-October-03, 16:04, said:

1) Do I have to count them in the first place? Can't I just count winners only (even in a trump contract)?

In addition to the other excellent replies, it is quite easy to show that this will not work with an example. You hold

♠ AKQJT987
♥ 32
♦ 54
♣ 6

opposite

♠ 6
♥ 54
♦ 32
♣ AKQJT987

and are playing in spades (or clubs). You have 16 winners but the defence are likely to take 4 tricks before you can even start. In other words, winners + losers does not necessarily add up to 13.

Having a count on winners and losers can have a serious impact on how you play a hand. Fow example, if you hold Axx in hand and Qx in dummy and can afford to give up a trick to take 2, you might decide to play a small card to the queen hoping the king is on your left. But if you cannot afford to lose any trick in the suit you need to try something else - and sometimes there are alternatives here to play the suit for 0 losers.

The simple truth is that bridge is a thinking game and you will be rewarded for taking the time to think about the hand. The process that Fluffy describes is part of that and it is better to get into the habit of doing this sooner rather than later.

[barmar]

Zelandakh, on 2013-October-08, 04:57, said:

In addition to the other excellent replies, it is quite easy to show that this will not work with an example. You hold

♠ AKQJT987
♥ 32
♦ 54
♣ 6

opposite

♠ 6
♥ 54
♦ 32
♣ AKQJT987

and are playing in spades (or clubs). You have 16 winners but the defence are likely to take 4 tricks before you can even start.

If they take the first 4 tricks, it doesn't really matter what you count.

More important is how you plan your play if they lead a club when you're playing 4♠. You have to count your losers, and also notice that there's no entry back to the clubs after you draw trumps. So you have to play a second round of clubs immediately, to discard one of the red losers. If one of them ruffs this, the hand was unmakeable.