Dummy Play Basics: Your Guide to Playing as Declarer

You’ve just won the auction. Congratulations! The opening lead is on the table, and your partner’s hand is about to come down as dummy. Now what?

This is where dummy play begins—and where many players, even experienced ones, make their biggest mistakes. The good news? Most of those mistakes happen in the first few seconds of the hand, before you’ve even played to trick one.

Let’s fix that.

What Is Dummy Play?

Dummy play is the art of controlling two hands—yours (the declarer) and your partner’s (the dummy)—to make your contract. Once the opening lead is made and dummy comes down, you’re in charge of both hands. You decide which card to play from dummy and which card to play from your own hand.

Think of it like playing chess against two opponents. You’re seeing half the cards (yours and dummy’s), while the defenders are each seeing only their own hand. That’s a huge advantage—but only if you use it properly.

Your goal is simple: make your contract. In notrump, that usually means developing enough tricks from your combined assets. In suit contracts, it means controlling losers and finding ways to dispose of them.

The key word here is “plan.” You’re not just playing cards—you’re executing a strategy.

Stop! Don’t Touch That Card

Here’s the single most important rule of declarer play: Stop and make a plan before you play to the first trick.

Sounds obvious, right? Yet this is where most players go wrong. They see dummy, maybe count a few winners, and start playing. Big mistake.

The opening lead is on the table. Dummy is visible. You have all the information you need. Take your time. Count your tricks. Think about where the danger is. Make a plan.

Professional players might spend 20-30 seconds (or more) planning a hand before playing to trick one. Club players often play in 2 seconds. Guess who makes more contracts?

Don’t be that player who wins the first trick, cashes a few winners, and then realizes too late they had no way to get back to dummy for the rest of the good cards.

Counting Winners in Notrump

In notrump contracts, you count winners. It’s straightforward: how many tricks can I take with the cards I have right now?

Let’s say you’re in 3NT, needing nine tricks. Here’s your combined holding:

Spades: A-K-Q-3-2 opposite 7-6-5
Hearts: A-4-3 opposite K-Q-2
Diamonds: A-K-5-4-3 opposite 7-6
Clubs: 8-3 opposite A-K-Q-4

Count your tricks suit by suit:

♠️ Spades: Three tricks (A, K, Q)
♥️ Hearts: Three tricks (A, K, Q)
♦️ Diamonds: Two tricks (A, K)
♣️ Clubs: Three tricks (A, K, Q)

Total: 11 tricks. You’re not just making 3NT—you’re making 11 tricks for an overtrick or two.

But wait. Can you actually take all those tricks? Look at your entries. After you cash the ♣️A-K-Q in dummy, can you get back to dummy to cash the remaining club? Do you have enough entries to use all your winners?

This is where planning matters. You might have 11 winners, but if you cash them in the wrong order, you’ll strand winners in one hand and make only nine tricks.

The winner-counting process:

Count your sure tricks (cards that will win immediately)
Count your almost-sure tricks (cards that will likely win after you knock out an honor)
Add them up
If you’re short of your contract, identify where you can develop extra tricks

In the example above, you have enough winners. Your plan is simple: cash them carefully, watching your entries.

But what if you only had eight tricks? Then you need a plan to develop a ninth. Maybe you need to force out their ♠️J to establish a fourth spade trick. Maybe you need to lead toward an honor in one suit. Maybe you need to hope for a 3-3 break somewhere.

Whatever the answer, find it before you play to trick one.

Counting Losers in Suit Contracts

Suit contracts work differently. Instead of counting winners, you count losers.

You’re in 4♠️, needing ten tricks. That means you can afford three losers. Count them from your hand (declarer’s hand, not dummy):

Your hand:
♠️ A-K-J-5-4
♥️ 7-3
♦️ A-8-6-4
♣️ K-5

Dummy:
♠️ Q-9-3
♥️ A-K-6
♦️ 9-7-2
♣️ A-8-6-3

Count your losers from your hand:

♠️ Spades: No losers (you have A-K, dummy has Q)
♥️ Hearts: Two losers (7-3 in your hand)
♦️ Diamonds: Two losers (8-6-4 after the ace)
♣️ Clubs: One loser (K in your hand, A in dummy, but they have the Q)

Total: Five losers. You can afford three. You need to eliminate two losers.

Look at your options:

Discard losers on dummy’s hearts: Dummy has ♥️A-K. After you draw trumps, you can throw two diamond losers on those hearts.
Ruff a heart in dummy: You could also ruff your third diamond in dummy, but you’d still have a club loser.

The best plan? Draw trumps (they’re solid), cash the ♥️A-K, and pitch two diamond losers. Now you’re down to three losers total. Contract made.

The loser-counting process:

Count losers in your hand only (not dummy)
Count only in the first three cards of each suit
Total them up
If you have too many losers, find ways to eliminate them (ruffing in dummy, discarding on winners, or finessing)

The Basic Plan: Where Are Your Tricks Coming From?

Every hand needs a plan. Here’s the framework:

For Notrump:

Do I have enough tricks?
If yes: In what order should I cash them? (Watch your entries!)
If no: Where can I develop extra tricks? What suits should I attack?

For Suit Contracts:

How many losers do I have?
Can I afford that many?
If no: How do I eliminate losers? (Ruffing, discarding, finessing?)
Should I draw trumps first, or do I need dummy’s trumps for ruffing?

The plan isn’t complicated. You’re answering three questions:

What’s my problem? (Not enough tricks, too many losers, bad breaks, etc.)
What’s my solution? (Develop a suit, ruff losers, pitch losers, finesse, etc.)
What could go wrong? (Running out of entries, defenders ruffing my winners, bad breaks)

Answer these before you play to trick one. Not after.

Transportation: The Entry Problem

You can have all the winners in the world, but if you can’t get to them, they’re worthless.

Entries are the roads between your hand and dummy. Every time you need to lead from a specific hand, you need an entry to that hand.

Common entry problems:

Stranded winners: You have four good clubs in dummy, but after cashing two, you can’t get back to dummy for the other two.
Wrong hand: You need to lead toward your ♥️K-Q (so you can finesse), but you’re in the wrong hand and have no way to get to dummy.
Running out of entries: You need to lead from dummy three times to set up a suit, but dummy only has two entries.

Entry management tips:

Count your entries before you start playing. How many times can you get to dummy? How many times do you need to?
Use entries efficiently. If dummy has ♠️A-K-Q and ♦️A, don’t waste the ♦️A as an entry when you still have spade entries available.
Preserve entries to the weak hand. If one hand has all the entries and the other has none, be careful not to waste the entries.
Think ahead. If you need to be in dummy for trick seven, make sure you have an entry saved for trick seven.

Example Hands: Planning in Action

Let’s put this all together with some real examples.

Example 1: Notrump Planning

Contract: 3NT
Lead: ♠️Q

Your hand:
♠️ A-3-2
♥️ K-7-4
♦️ A-K-Q-J-4
♣️ 8-5

Dummy:
♠️ K-5-4
♥️ A-6-3
♦️ 7-6-3
♣️ A-K-Q-J

Plan:

Count winners: ♠️ 2, ♥️ 2, ♦️ 5, ♣️ 4 = 13 tricks!
Entry check: Can you cash all 13? Yes! You have plenty of entries.
Order: Win the ♠️A (or K), cash ♦️A-K-Q-J-4, cross to ♣️A-K-Q-J, then cash your remaining winners.

Easy hand, right? But if you carelessly cashed all five diamonds first, you might not have an entry back to your hand to reach the ♠️A or ♥️K. Always think about entries.

Example 2: Drawing Trumps vs. Ruffing

Contract: 4♥️
Lead: ♠️K

Your hand:
♠️ 7-3
♥️ A-K-Q-J-4
♦️ K-6-5
♣️ A-8-3

Dummy:
♠️ 8-6-5
♥️ 9-5-3
♦️ A-Q-4
♣️ K-Q-7-6

Plan:

Count losers: ♠️ 2, ♥️ 0, ♦️ 1, ♣️ 1 = 4 losers (one too many!)
Solution: Ruff your third spade in dummy.
Danger: If you draw all the trumps first, you can’t ruff anything in dummy!

The right play: Win the ♠️A (wait, you don’t have it—they led the king, so duck!), win the spade continuation, cash ♥️A-K (drawing some trumps but not all), then ruff your last spade with dummy’s ♥️9. Now draw the last trump and claim.

Example 3: Entry Management

Contract: 3NT
Lead: ♠️5

Your hand:
♠️ K-7
♥️ A-9-4
♦️ K-8-6
♣️ A-K-Q-J-10

Dummy:
♠️ A-6-3
♥️ K-8-2
♦️ A-Q-J-10-9
♣️ 7-6

Plan:

Count winners: ♠️ 2, ♥️ 2, ♦️ 1-2, ♣️ 5 = 10-11 tricks
Problem: Dummy has five potential diamond tricks, but only one sure entry (the ♦️A).
Solution: You need to finesse diamonds and repeat it if necessary. That requires multiple entries to dummy.

The right play: Win the ♠️A in dummy (preserving your ♠️K), finesse the ♦️Q (works!), cash ♣️A-K-Q-J-10, then cross back to dummy’s ♠️K… wait, you’re in the wrong hand.

Better plan: Win ♠️A in dummy, finesse ♦️Q, return to dummy with ♥️K, finesse ♦️J, return to dummy with… uh oh, you’re out of entries.

Best plan: Win ♠️K in your hand (saving dummy’s ♠️A), lead a diamond to the queen (finesse), return with a heart to your ace, lead another diamond to dummy’s jack (or nine), and keep using your entries wisely to establish those diamonds while you still have entries to reach them.

This hand is trickier than it looks. Entries matter!

Example 4: Loser-on-Loser Play

Contract: 4♠️
Lead: ♥️K

Your hand:
♠️ A-K-J-9-5-4
♥️ 7-3
♦️ Q-8-5
♣️ A-6

Dummy:
♠️ Q-3
♥️ A-8-2
♦️ K-7-6-4
♣️ 9-8-5-3

Plan:

Count losers: ♠️ 0 (assuming trumps break), ♥️ 1 (after the ace), ♦️ 2, ♣️ 1 = 4 losers (one too many).
Solution: Pitch a loser on dummy’s ♥️A? No, you already counted that you only have one heart loser after the ace.
Better idea: Can you ruff a diamond in dummy? Not really—dummy only has two trumps and you need them.
Best idea: Win ♥️A, draw trumps, then lead toward your ♦️Q. If it wins, pitch a club on dummy’s ♦️K. If not, you might still make it if clubs break well or you can ruff the third diamond.

The point: Sometimes you need to combine techniques. This hand requires both good play in diamonds and a bit of luck.

Common Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

1. Playing too fast
The biggest mistake. Slow down. Make a plan. Think before you play.

2. Not counting
If you don’t count your winners (notrump) or losers (suits), you don’t know what your goal is. Count every time.

3. Drawing trumps without thinking
Sometimes you need dummy’s trumps for ruffing. Don’t automatically draw trumps in suit contracts.

4. Cashing winners in the wrong order
You have the tricks, but you cash them in a way that blocks the suit or runs you out of entries. Plan the order.

5. Forgetting about entries
The classic error: establishing a suit in dummy, then having no way to get there.

6. Taking finesses you don’t need
If you have enough tricks without risking a finesse, don’t take it. Make your contract the safe way.

7. Forgetting to count the opponents’ cards
If they’ve shown out of a suit, or you know they have certain cards based on the bidding, use that information.

Quick Checklist for Declarer

Before you play to trick one, ask yourself:

✅ Have I counted?

Winners (notrump) or losers (suits)?

✅ Do I have enough?

Enough tricks to make my contract?
If not, where will I find them?

✅ What’s my plan?

Draw trumps or ruff losers?
Develop a suit or cash winners?
Finesse or play safe?

✅ Can I execute it?

Do I have enough entries?
What if the cards don’t break well?
What’s my backup plan?

✅ What could go wrong?

Bad breaks?
Defensive ruffs?
Running out of entries?

If you can answer these questions, you’ve done your job as declarer. The rest is just execution.

Final Thoughts

Dummy play isn’t about memorizing hundreds of positions or playing like a computer. It’s about discipline. Stop. Count. Plan. Execute.

The difference between a good declarer and a mediocre one isn’t talent—it’s patience. Good declarers take their time. They count their tricks. They make a plan before they play to the first trick.

You can too.

Next time you’re declarer, try this: Before you touch a card from dummy, close your eyes and count your tricks (or losers). Say the plan out loud in your head. Then execute it.

You’ll be amazed how many more contracts you make.