How to give count (UDCA)

[bluecalm]

1. How I play and most people in Poland plays:

 

low = even, high = odd. With xxxxx people play anything from the highest to the middle. From xxxx people play the lowest. From 3 almost always the highest unless the highest is important.

 

2. How I think it could be played (not strong opinion about value of this agreement)

 

lowest = xx or xxxxx

highest = xxx

from xxxx play the 2nd lowest

 

It seems to me that 2nd should be good for discarding. No idea what about playing to 1st trick (if count is appropiate signal).

 

Do you have any rules/conventions regarding those in your partnership ?

[inquiry]

2. How I think it could be played (not strong opinion about value of this agreement)

 

lowest = xx or xxxxx

highest = xxx

from xxxx play the 2nd lowest

 

It seems to me that 2nd should be good for discarding. No idea what about playing to 1st trick (if count is appropiate signal).

 

Do you have any rules/conventions regarding those in your partnership ?

 

 

I expect partner to be able to figure out (usually) if I have 2 or 4 or 6, or 3 or 5 based upon the auction, his hand, and dummy. So I am not entirely worried about which spot, I am more concerned about partner being able to read the card as high or low.

 

I always play lowest from even. This is especially important with suits like 9872 for instance.

 

I generally play highest from odd, some exceptions apply. The exception is when the high spot card MIGHT be important for its trick taking ability. For instance, with 95432 I generally play the five, but with 98532 I play the nine although the eight is just as good. From 65432, 75432, or 85432 I would play the highest.

[ArtK78]

Low from even, highest available spot from odd. (I assume that we are discussing count only, not attitude).

 

Anything else creates confusion. Playing low from two or five can only be cleared up if partner knows your approximate count or if you have a chance to clarify with further discards. There is no guarantee of either of these.

[Finch]

When giving count I always play the clearest card I can, so playing upside down count, the bottom from an even number and the highest I can afford from odd. Anything else just adds confusion.

 

It's interesting to discuss which pip you play on the second round to clarify matters.

[gnasher]

When playing high-low from three cards, there are two reasons for playing the highest on the first round: it's easier to read, and it allows you to give suit preference on the second round.

 

When playing low-high from four cards, similar arguments apply. If you play the second lowest, it may be hard to read, and to give suit preference on the next round you would have to be willing to play the highest.