Counting Points vs. Counting Tricks in Bridge
Every bridge player knows how to count high card points. Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2, Jack = 1. You learned it in your first lesson, and you use it every time you pick up your cards. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: points don’t take tricks.
That sounds crazy, right? We open with 12 points, respond with 6, bid game with 25. Points are everywhere in bridge. Yet the moment dummy hits the table, points become almost irrelevant. What matters now is tricks—and the player who figures this out faster than their opponents wins more often.
The High Card Points Fallacy
High card points are a brilliant shorthand for hand evaluation during bidding. They compress complex information into a single number that’s easy to communicate. Partner opens 1NT showing 15-17 HCP, you have 10, you know you’re in the game zone. Simple math, consistent results.
But here’s what HCP actually measure: potential. They estimate the trick-taking power of your hand based on decades of statistical analysis. Most of the time, 25-26 HCP produces 9 tricks in notrump. Most of the time, 33+ HCP makes a slam. Most of the time.
The problem starts when players forget that points are just a proxy. They look at dummy and think “we have 26 points, this should make” instead of thinking “can we actually take 10 tricks?” The former is bidding thinking; the latter is playing thinking.
Consider these two hands:
Hand A:
♠️ AKQ
♥️ 432
♦️ 765
♣️ 8765
Hand B:
♠️ J109876
♥️ 432
♦️ 765
♣️ 8
Hand A has 10 HCP. Hand B has 1 HCP. Which would you rather have as declarer in 4♠️? Hand A looks better until you count tricks. Hand A offers exactly three spade tricks. Hand B, with its six-card suit, offers six spade tricks once you draw trumps (assuming normal breaks). The one-point hand outperforms the ten-point hand by three full tricks.
This isn’t a contrived example—it’s the daily reality of bridge. Shape, suit length, card combinations, and card position matter more than raw points once the bidding ends.
When Points Matter: The Bidding Phase
Don’t misunderstand—points aren’t useless. During the bidding, they’re essential. You can’t see all four hands, you can’t count actual tricks, and you need a common language with partner. HCP provide that language.
Points tell you when to open. With 12+ HCP, you’ve got enough potential trick-taking power to start the conversation. Fewer than that, and statistically, your side probably doesn’t have enough combined strength for game.
Points guide your responses. Partner opens 1♥️, you have 6-9 HCP, you make a simple raise. This tells partner you’ve got something but not a lot. With 10-12, you jump. With 13+, you start thinking about slam.
Points help gauge combined strength. Partner opens 1NT showing 15-17, you have 10—that’s 25-27 combined, right in the game zone. You can bid 3NT with confidence even if your suits are terrible, because statistically, that point range produces game most of the time.
The key phrase: most of the time. Points work because they’re right often enough to be useful. But they’re a bidding tool, not a playing tool.
When Tricks Matter: The Playing Phase
The instant dummy comes down, your mindset must shift. You’re no longer estimating potential—you’re counting reality. Can I take nine tricks in notrump? Can I take ten tricks in spades? Not “do we have enough points for this” but “where are my actual tricks?”
This shift separates average declarers from good ones. Average declarers look at dummy, feel good about the combined point count, and start playing. Good declarers count tricks before playing to the first trick.
In 3NT, count your top tricks. “I have five club tricks, two spade tricks, that’s seven—I need two more.” Now you have a plan. Maybe you need to develop hearts, maybe you need to duck a diamond to create an entry, maybe you need to finesse the spade queen.
In suit contracts, count your losers. “I have two heart losers, one diamond loser, one club loser—four losers total, one too many for game.” Now you can see what you need to do: ruff a heart in dummy, set up a discard on dummy’s diamonds, or finesse the club king.
Points don’t appear in this thinking at all. You might have 28 HCP and still have four inescapable losers. You might have 23 HCP and have only two losers. Points did their job during bidding—they got you to a reasonable contract. Now tricks determine whether you make it.
Counting Winners in Notrump
Notrump is the simplest context for counting tricks because you count winners directly. As declarer, before you play from dummy to trick one, count your top tricks—the ones you can cash without giving up the lead.
Let’s say you’re in 3NT and this is your combined holding:
Declarer:
♠️ K32
♥️ A65
♦️ AKQ32
♣️ 76
Dummy:
♠️ A65
♥️ K32
♦️ 876
♣️ AKQ2
Top tricks: two spades (A-K), two hearts (A-K), three diamonds (A-K-Q), three clubs (A-K-Q). That’s ten tricks. You can claim. You have 26 HCP, but you didn’t make 3NT because you had 26 points—you made it because you had ten winners.
More often, you won’t have enough top tricks. You open 1NT, partner raises to 3NT, and dummy comes down with:
Declarer:
♠️ AJ3
♥️ K54
♦️ AQ32
♣️ K76
Dummy:
♠️ K52
♥️ A32
♦️ 876
♣️ AQ52
Top tricks: three spades (A-K-J? No—only A-K until you force out the queen), two hearts (A-K), one diamond (Ace), two clubs (A-K). That’s seven certain tricks. You need two more.
Where will they come from? Maybe diamonds if the finesse works. Maybe clubs if they break 3-3. Maybe an extra spade if the queen drops. This is bridge counting tricks—identifying what you have and what you need to develop.
You have 26 HCP again, but unlike the first example, they’re not arranged to give you ten top tricks. You’ll need to work for this one.
Counting Losers in Suit Contracts
Suit contracts flip the counting. Instead of winners, count losers. The standard approach: look at declarer’s hand and count losers in each suit, assuming you can use dummy’s winners and ruffing power.
You’re in 4♠️ with:
Declarer:
♠️ AKQ654
♥️ 73
♦️ A32
♣️ 65
Dummy:
♠️ J73
♥️ AK2
♦️ 876
♣️ A732
Count losers in your hand (declarer): zero spade losers (A-K-Q covers everything), two heart losers (two small cards, dummy has A-K so they’re covered—actually zero), two diamond losers (you have A, but 32 are losers until you see dummy’s holding—dummy has small cards, so you have two diamond losers), two club losers (two small cards, dummy has the ace so one is covered—one club loser).
Wait, let me recount properly. You count losers in your hand (declarer) assuming you can use dummy:
- ♠️: 0 losers (you have AKQ654)
- ♥️: 2 losers (73), but dummy has AK, so 0 losers
- ♦️: 2 losers (32), dummy has 876, so still 2 losers
- ♣️: 2 losers (65), dummy has A732, so 1 loser (the ace covers one)
Total: 3 losers. You can afford 3 losers in game (13 tricks - 10 needed = 3 losers allowed). You’re in good shape.
But what if dummy had been:
Dummy:
♠️ J73
♥️ 542
♦️ K76
♣️ A732
Now recount:
- ♠️: 0 losers
- ♥️: 2 losers (dummy can’t help)
- ♦️: 2 losers, but dummy has K so 1 loser
- ♣️: 1 loser (dummy has A)
Total: 4 losers. One too many. Now you need to find a way to eliminate a loser—maybe ruff a heart in dummy, maybe the diamond finesse works, maybe clubs break well and you can discard a diamond.
Same contract, similar HCP, different trick-count reality.
The Mental Shift from Bidding to Playing
The hardest part isn’t learning to count tricks—it’s remembering to make the mental shift. Players spend the entire auction thinking in points, then dummy comes down and they’re still in points mode.
“We have 27 points, this should be cold” is a danger signal. It means you’re still thinking like a bidder. A declarer thinks “I have eight top tricks, I need one more—where will it come from?”
This shift needs to happen before you play to trick one. The opening lead comes, dummy appears, and you pause. Not a long pause—10-15 seconds is enough—but a real pause where you count. In notrump, count winners. In suits, count losers. Make a plan.
Tournament players do this automatically. You’ll see them stare at dummy for a few seconds, apparently doing nothing, before they touch a card. They’re counting. They’re planning. They’re shifting from bidding brain to playing brain.
Club players often skip this step. They see dummy, feel good (or bad) about the overall strength, and start playing based on vague impressions. “Dummy’s pretty good, I should be fine.” That’s how you go down in cold contracts.
Example Hands: The Point-Trick Disconnect
Example 1: The Anemic 26
You bid to 3NT with 26 HCP:
Declarer:
♠️ QJ10
♥️ QJ10
♦️ QJ10
♣️ QJ109
Dummy:
♠️ 432
♥️ 432
♦️ 432
♣️ AK32
You have 26 HCP (14 + 12). Count your tricks: zero spades (you need to force out A-K), zero hearts (need to force out A-K), zero diamonds (need to force out A-K), three clubs (A-K-Q). Three tricks.
You need to develop everything. You’ll have to give up the lead repeatedly, and opponents will run their suit first. This might go down despite having more than enough points for game. The points are there but they’re all middle cards—they have potential, but they don’t take tricks until you develop them, and you don’t have time.
Example 2: The Muscular 23
You bid to 3NT with only 23 HCP:
Declarer:
♠️ AK
♥️ AK
♦️ AKQJ10
♣️ 432
Dummy:
♠️ 432
♥️ 432
♦️ 432
♣️ AK76
You have 23 HCP (20 + 3). Count your tricks: two spades, two hearts, five diamonds, two clubs. Eleven tricks. You’re making 3NT with two overtricks. You barely have enough points for game, but your tricks are concentrated in long suits with high cards—they take tricks immediately.
Example 3: The Suit Contract Illusion
You’re in 4♥️:
Declarer:
♠️ AK3
♥️ KQ1098
♦️ AKQ
♣️ 32
Dummy:
♠️ 432
♥️ AJ32
♦️ 432
♣️ AK4
You have 30 HCP. That’s enough for slam, right? Count losers: zero spades, zero hearts (you have 10 trumps including KQ1098 and AJ32), zero diamonds, one club. One loser! You’re making 6♥️ easily.
Now change dummy slightly:
Dummy:
♠️ QJ2
♥️ AJ32
♦️ 432
♣️ QJ4
Still 30 HCP. Count losers: zero spades (covered by A-K), zero hearts, zero diamonds, two clubs (32 in hand, QJ4 in dummy still leaves two potential losers if they have A-K). Actually wait—you have 32 in hand, dummy has QJ4. The QJ might win a trick each if opponents have AK, but you still have two small clubs, so opponents can take two club tricks. Two losers—making exactly 4♥️, not slam.
Same points, wildly different trick-taking power based on how those points are distributed.
Common Counting Mistakes
Mistake #1: Counting the same trick twice
You have ♦️AKQ in hand and ♦️432 in dummy. That’s three tricks, not six. Beginners sometimes count “three diamond tricks in my hand and I can ruff diamonds in dummy”—but you can’t both cash your honors and ruff the suit.
Mistake #2: Assuming perfect breaks
You have ♣️AKQ32 opposite ♣️4. That’s potentially five tricks if clubs break 3-3, but only 63% of the time. When counting your sure tricks, you can only count three. The other two are maybes.
Mistake #3: Forgetting about entries
You have ♦️AKQJ10 in dummy but no entry to get there. Those aren’t five tricks—they’re zero tricks until you create an entry. Tricks don’t count if you can’t reach them.
Mistake #4: Ignoring the opening lead
The opponents lead the ♠️K. You have ♠️432 in hand and ♠️765 in dummy. You just lost three spade tricks before you could even start your plan. Count what you can make after losing what you must lose.
Mistake #5: Staying in bidding mode
“We have 28 points, partner, how did we go down?” Because you had four inescapable losers and couldn’t create the discards you needed. Points got you to the contract—tricks determine if you make it.
Mistake #6: Not recounting after new information
You counted nine tricks in 3NT. Then the clubs broke badly and you only have eight. Recount! Where will the ninth come from now? Players sometimes play on autopilot, following their original plan even after it’s clearly not working.
Mistake #7: Confusing total tricks with our tricks
In competitive auctions, you’ll hear about “total tricks” (combined tricks both sides can take). That’s different from counting your tricks as declarer. Don’t add opponent’s tricks to yours—you’re counting how many you can take, period.
The Bottom Line
Points are for bidding. Tricks are for playing. Know when to use which.
During the auction, count points. Use them to evaluate your hand, communicate with partner, and judge whether you have enough combined strength for game or slam. Points work beautifully for this because they’re consistent, easy to calculate, and surprisingly accurate at predicting trick-taking potential.
But the moment dummy hits the table, switch to counting tricks. In notrump, count your winners and figure out where the missing tricks will come from. In suit contracts, count your losers and figure out how to eliminate the extras. Make this shift automatic, every hand, before you play to trick one.
The player who masters bridge counting tricks—who can shift seamlessly from point-count evaluation during bidding to trick-count planning during play—has learned one of bridge’s most crucial lessons. Points open the door to the contract. Tricks walk through it and score up the game.
Your 26-point game might have twelve tricks or it might have seven. Points won’t tell you which. Only counting tricks will.