Aces are better leads than Kings or Queens, for the court cards can be married, and you may never get 100 Aces. Kings are better leads than Queens, especially if the Queens are spades. Jacks are better than either, but the Jack of diamonds should be kept as long as possible. If you have to decide between two combinations, one of which you must sacrifice, lead that which is of the smallest value, or the least likely to be restored. For instance: If your adversary has shown one or two Kings, but no Ace, and you have three of each, you are more likely to get 100 Aces than 80 Kings.
If you hold duplicate cards, especially in trumps, play the one on the table, not the one in your hand.
Brisques. Beginners often overlook the importance of brisques. Every time you allow your adversary to take in a brisque which you might have won, you make a difference of twenty points in the score. While you are hugging three Aces, waiting for a fourth, your adversary may get home all his Tens, and then turn up with your fourth Ace in his hand.
Discarding. It is usually best to settle upon one of two suits or combinations, and to discard the others, for you cannot play for everything. Having once settled on what to play for, it is generally bad policy to change unless something better turns up.
Your adversary’s discards will often be a guide as to the combinations he hopes to make, and will show you that you need not keep certain cards. For instance: If a binocle player discards or plays two heart Kings, it is unlikely that he has either of the Queens, and you may reasonably hope for 60 Queens; but it will be impossible for you to make anything out of your Kings but marriages. In Bézique, where Kings may be of the same suit in fours, you will have a slightly better chance for 80 Kings on account of your adversary’s discards, because he certainly has no more, as he would not break up three Kings.
Declaring. It is often a nice point to decide whether or not you can afford to make minor declarations while holding higher ones in your hand. In Rubicon many players will give up the trump marriage if they have the sequence, especially with a good chance of re-forming it several times with duplicate cards. The number of cards in hand will often be the best guide. In Rubicon, if you held trump sequence and double bézique, it would be better to declare the sequence first, and to lead the card you drew. One of the trump sequence on the table would then be free to regain the lead and declare the double bézique; but if the bézique was declared first, the sequence might have to be broken into to regain the lead. With a plain-suit sequence and four Aces, declare the Aces first. They will then be free to win tricks for the purpose of making other declarations.
It is seldom right to show the bézique cards in other combinations, and four Jacks is a very bad meld, because it shows your adversary that he cannot hope for double bézique. By holding up bézique cards, even if you know they are of no use to you, you may lead your adversary to break up his hand, hoping to draw the card or cards you hold.
Trumps. Small trumps may be used to advantage in winning brisques, but you should keep at least one small trump to get the lead at critical periods of the hand, or to make an important declaration. It is bad policy to trump in to make minor declarations, unless your time is short. It is seldom right to lead the trump Ace, except at the end of the hand, or when you have duplicates, but leading high trumps to prevent an adversary from declaring further is a common stratagem, if you know from the cards in your hand, and those played, that your adversary may get the cards to meld something of importance.
The Last Tricks. Before you play to the last trick, give yourself time to note the cards your adversary has on the table, and compare them with your own, so that you may play the last tricks to advantage. If you wait until after playing to the last trick, he may gather up his cards so quickly that you will be unable to remember them. At Rubicon it is not always advisable to win the last trick. If your adversary is rubiconed in any case, you may add 100 points to your own score by giving him the 50 for the last trick, which may put him across the line into another hundred.