INFERENCES. The great strength of the expert lies in his ability to draw correct inferences from the fall of the cards, and to adapt his play to the circumstances.

Inferences from the various systems of leads and returns are too obvious to require further notice; but attention may be called to some that are often overlooked, even by advanced players:

If a suit led is won by Third Hand with King or Ace; and the original leader wins the second round with King or Ace, the adversaries must have the Queen.

If the Third Hand plays Ace first round, he has neither King nor Queen. If he plays Queen on a Ten led, he has no more. If he plays Ace on a King led, he has the Jack alone, or no more.

If the Second Hand plays King first round on a small card led, he has Ace also, or no more. If he plays Ace under the same conditions, he has no more. [See Minneapolis Lead.]

If a suit is led, and neither Third nor Fourth Hand has a card in it above a Nine, the original leader must have A Q 10, and the second player K J. When neither Third nor Fourth Hand holds a card above the Ten, the major and minor tenaces are divided between the leader and the Second Hand. If it can be inferred that the leader held five cards in the suit originally, he holds the minor tenace.

When a player, not an American leader, begins with a Jack and wins the trick, the adversaries may conclude that his partner had two small cards with the Ace, and had not four trumps and another winning card.

When a good player changes his suit, he knows that it will not go round again, or that the command is against him. This is often a valuable hint to the adversaries. When he quits his original suit and leads trumps, without his partner having called, the adversaries may conclude that the suit has been established.

When a player puts Ace on his partner’s Jack led, and does not lead trumps, the adversaries may count on him for only one small card of the suit led.