[Mikeylike]

All the cards in a sequence have the same power to take tricks. Should a AKQ be worth 12 points? If not, what?

[billyjef]

Mikeylike, on 2019-June-06, 18:01, said:

All the cards in a sequence have the same power to take tricks. Should a AKQ be worth 12 points? If not, what?

Not being sarcastic, then AKQJT98765432 should = 52 points?

Points aren't real, tricks won are. Points help us predict the trick taking power of certain cards (honors) but then situational relativity needs to be assessed somehow, and that is multiple and changing.

Certainly, if you are on opening lead, and the contract is notrump AKQ stiff is worth 3 tricks, thus 3 aces. If the cards aren't stiff, then they could be worth more. But if you aren't on lead, then their relative values are more speculative. And, if the contract is in a suit, then they could be worth nothing. But of course, you don't want to value them as nothing when first evaluating the hand...only as the hand progress's will you know their true value.

For example, AKQ against a suit contract, each card after the ace has a lesser chance of realizing it's full value, increased chance of being trumped.

Much of the bridge world finds comfort in the Work count system; some treat it as written in stone, others see it for it's relative evaluation that it actually is, and except it as "good enough." And even others use a variety of evaluation techniques other than Work.

[barmar]

Point values aren't absolute. Any lesson on hand evaluation will tell you to upgrade the value of suits with touching honors, honors in long suits, and tenaces.

Losing trick count tends to make these adjustments automatically. A suit headed by AKQ is a zero-loser suit. But you can't use LTC by itself, either -- freak hands have few losers, but they don't always have lots of trick-taking power -- it usually depends on how the suit fit with partner's hand.

Good hand evaluation requires looking at many different features of the hand, and updating your evaluation as the auction progresses.