With ace and others in a suit, if you do not play the ace second in hand, the dealer may win the trick and discard his worthless cards in that suit. The second-hand play of an ace is particularly necessary later in the hand, and when the trumps are against you.
When you play before the dealer follow the same general rules as to covering an honour, and as to playing the lower of two honours in sequence. If dummy holds an ace and others of a suit, and you hold K J x play the king second hand. With small cards of a suit in dummy and ace queen and others in your own hand, the ace should be played second in hand.
INFERENCES
There is no subject in Whist or Bridge so interesting as that of inferences. Each card that is played carries with it some information that will often render valuable aid to the play of the hand.
To be able to read the cards correctly, and to draw the proper inferences, requires not only experience, but a certain amount of inherent card genius. The beginner marvels at the amount of information obtained by the expert, wondering how it can possibly be secured. To the average person who sits down to watch a game of Bridge there is nothing more demoralising than to see how readily the good player finds out the location of most of the high cards, and, in many cases, even the distribution of the various suits.
Strange as it may seem, writers on Bridge and Whist have, as a rule, devoted little space to this almost inexhaustible subject. A good-sized book could be written entirely on inferences; and let no one be discouraged at his lack of skill in this direction, for, even among the good players, errors are very common. The best Bridge players, however, are undoubtedly those who can draw inferences quickly and correctly.
THE VALUE OF INFORMATION
When playing against the dealer, give your partner all possible information. Any deception or play of false cards, any irregular lead that is not conventional, will often react to the benefit of the dealer.
Information may be given by leading correctly, by taking a trick as cheaply as possible, by discarding properly, by correct second-hand play, and by returning or not returning your partner’s lead.