Choosing the Correct Card

Once you've decided which suit to lead, choose the card based on the Standard Table of Opening Leads. The follwing guidelines summarize the table and might be easier to remember:

From a long suit

• With four honors, lead the highest honor.
• With three touching honors or the Jack-Ten-Nine, lead the highest card. The lowest card can be one card weaker. For example, with Queen-Jack-Nine, lead the Queen.
• With the Jack-Ten or Ten-Nine and a higher card, lead the higher touching card.
• Otherwise, lead your fourth-best card

The Ace and King comprise a special case. If you decide to lead a high card from the Ace and King, lead the King when you need to know your partner's opinion, which he will supply with an attitude signal. Lead the Ace when your suit is so good that you want your partner to play his highest card so that you can run the suit with no interruption.