Player A - K♠, 10♦, 8♠, 6♠, 6♣, 5♥, 4♥, 3♠, 3♦, 2♣, A♦
Player B - 7♦, 6♦, 5♦, 4♦, 10♥, 9♣, 9♠, 7♠, 5♠, A♠

Conditions: the knock card is the K♠. Player B is in jeopardy on all three games. Because of his large loss on the previous hand, he is in the position of having to protect the games while at the same time playing catch up. Player A, of course, wants to win the game and prevent his opponent from recovering the advantage.

Play of the Hand:

Player A – Discards the K♠.

Player B – Going to the stock, he selects the J♦ and discards it since, with the fine offensive hand that he has, he cannot afford to play ultra-safe at the first pick.

Player A – Picks the A♥ from the deck and discards the 10♦.

Player B – Picks from the stock the Q♦ and now has a choice of discarding that Queen which can only be used for Queens or the 10♥, which can only be used for the heart run....

Player A - 8♠, 8♥, 8♣, K♣, K♦, Q♦, Q♥, 7♠, 6♣, 5♣, A♥
Player B - J♥, J♦, 10♦, 9♣, 9♥, 6♠, 5♠, 3♠, 4♦, 2♠

Conditions: This is a hand being played in the middle stages of a game. Both of the players are on all three games and although the hand is being played as a double hand with a 5♦ as the knock card, neither of the players is actually vulnerable. They would both like to win a maximum on the hand and at the same time keep from losing an abnormally high number of points.

Play of the Hand:

Player A – Having an unusually fine offensive hand, he discards the A♥.

Player B – Going to the deck he pulls the 2♣ and discards his most useless card, the 4♦.

Player A – Picks the 7♦ from the deck. Now that every card in his hand is matched offensively, he must decide which way to break the hand. His best offensive combinations centers on his 5, 6, and 7. Therefore, it is most advisable that...

Player A - 3♥, 3♣, 3♦, K♥, 10♦, 9♠, 8♣, 6♦, 4♦, 2♥, A♣
Player B - J♣, J♦, 7♠, 5♠, 4♥, 4♣, 3♠, 2♣, A♥, A♠

Conditions: This is a must-gin hand with both players on the score. The dealer is vulnerable on two games.

Play of the Hand:

Player A – His first discard is the A♣ rather than the K♥ because if the K♥ were picked, he would have no way of knowing which way it was being used and could wind up in a position of having to hold too many useless cards against this pick. The A♣ however, could only be used one way.

Player B – Takes the discard and throws the 2♣. Even though he has definitely indicated Aces, the 2♣ represents the only card in his hand which can be used only one way. He follows this play with the 4♣, a reasonably safe card, as well as a salesman for the 4♠.

Player A – Going to the deck, he pulls the K♠ and discards the 2♥.

Player B – Picks form the deck...

Player A - K♠, K♦, K♣, 10♦, 10♣, 10♥, Q♥, 9♥, 7♥, 5♥, 2♥
Player B - 7♣, 6♣, 5♣, J♦, 9♣. 8♠, 7♦, 6♥, 3♦, A♦

Conditions: The knock is the 6♣. Both players are on all games so they are automatically playing double. The scores are in the general area of 70 to 100 points in each game so that neither player is really vulnerable, nor are they concerned with counts. Each player is concerned primarily with winning his hand with as many points as possible,

Play of the Hand:

Player A – With six melded cards, he obviously will play with the hope of buying the 6♥ or 8♥ and knocking on the first or second card, expecting to reap a tremendous count. In playing along these lines he will discard the Q♥ which is completely useless to him. There is no other card in his hand that is actually safer without giving up one of his major chances to go down immediately.

Player B – Picks from the deck the J♠. The safest...

Player A - K♣, K♥, J♥, J♦, 9♦, 7♦, 7♥, 5♦, 3♠, A♠, A♥
Player B - K♦, Q♥, 10♠, 10♥, 9♠, 8♣, 5♥, 4♥, 4♦, 3♦

Conditions: The knock is the 2♠ and the score stands as follows – Player A has a total of 176 points in the first game, 153 points in the second game and 140 points in the third game. Since the winning score in this situation is 250 points, before any play is made Player B has a most serious problem in counts. Since gin is automatically 50 points which would bring Player A’s score up to 127, Player B must be under a count of 12 in order to stay in the first game, under 24 for the second game, and under 30 for the third game. He will therefore play with the primary intention of getting under a count of 12, or perhaps 24, but at the very least 30, as quickly as possible. His secondary concern is to win the hand. As you can see the odds are as high as eight to one for Player A and eight to one against Player B. Therefore...

Player A - K♠, J♠, 10♣, 9♥, 8♥, 7♣, 6♠, 6♦, 4♦, 2♣, A♠
Player B - Q♦, Q♠, Q♥, 9♣, 7♠, 5♦, 5♣, 4♣, 3♥, 2♠

Conditions: Opening deal of a game and the knock card is 8♠.

Play of the Hand:

Player A – His hand does have some offensive value. It has a matched K♠, J♠, which is a one-way combination, an 8♥, 9♥ which is a two-way combination and a 6♠, 6♦, and 4♦, which is a three-way combination. If lucky, the hand could be knocked in as little as three picks. Since there are three cards in his hand adding up to seven points, these three cards by themselves represent an additional offensive value against the eight-point knock. With such a hand it would not be wise on the first discard to break any of these combinations. The choice of play should be strictly between the 7♣ and the 10♣. Both these cards also represent some value as salesman, since he is looking for the 7♥ and the 10♥. The 7♣...

Player A - K♦, Q♦, 10♦, 10♠, 9♣, 8♣, 7♦, 7♠, 4♦, 3♦, A♦
Player B - Q♣, J♣, 10♣, 9♦, 8♠, 8♥, 7♣, 6♣, 3♣, A♥

Conditions: Opening deal of a game and the knock card is 8♦.

General Comments: Both hands are definitely of the offensive type. Although Player A has no melds, every card in the hand is matched to at least one other. Player B has one meld and two other combinations of matching cards.

Play of the Hand:

Player A – He must discard, but realizes that any other card thrown will result in the loss of at least one offensive opportunity. Since one must be sacrificed, he should give up the one that affords the least chance and, at the same time, has some defensive value. The pair of 10’s and pair of 7’s are double offensive values to the 8♣, and 9♣. The same 7♣ or 10♣ that would give us a club sequence would also give us a meld of 7’s and 10’s. Since the cards could not be used in both...

Player A - K♣, K♦, J♣, J♦, 10♦, 10♠, 8♣, 4♦, 3♦, 2♠, A♣
Player B - K♥, 8♠, 8♥, 7♠, 7♣, 6♣, 5♦, 4♣, 4♠, 3♠

Conditions: The knock card is the A♦, which means that this is a must gin hand. Player B is on a schneid with the score against him 210 to nothing. He therefore has a count of 14 to protect both the game and the schneid.

General Comment: Player A, who has his opponent on the schneid, will take advantage of every offensive possibility, not only to gin his own hand but to keep his opponent over the count. This requires additional skills such as forcing his opponent to break his hand when the occasion warrants picking unneeded cards. Player B on the schneid must play his hand primarily to get under the count and secondly to win it. There are times when he will violate this order of importance. For instance, if he has an exceptionally fine gin hand with five or six open ways, it would not be advisable to break this...

Player A - 4♣, 3♣, 2♣, J♦, 10♦, 9♣, 8♥, 8♠, 6♣, 4♥, 3♥
Player B - K♣, K♥, K♠, 9♠, 7♠, 7♥, 5♠, 5♦, 2♦, A♦

Conditions – First hand of the game and knock is the 10♠ which means the hand is played for double value.

General Comment – From the appearance of these two hands, Player A could knock and win his hand within two plays while Player B would have to go at least three plays. He would have to pick one of his runs as well as a small card. In two plays Player A could also pick two runs which, with his one already melded run, enable him to go down after two picks. Therefore, on the surface, Player A has the best of the deal.

Play of the Hand:

Player A – Discards the 9♣ as his highest unrelated card.

Player B – Picks from the deck the Q♠. He now has the problem of discarding. Because of the fact that his opponent’s first throw was the 9♣, Player B then has to find out why. Was it the...

Player A - 9♠, 9♦, 9♣, Q♣, J♦, 10s♠, 8♣, 7♦, 2♣, A♣, A♥
Player B - K♣, K♦, K♠, Q♠, J♣, 5♣, 5♦, 4♠, 3♦, 3♥

Conditions: The knock card is the A♣. Player A had won the preceding hand and is on in one game whereas Player B is on none.

Play of the Hand:

Player A – His problem is how to convert his three melded hand into ten melded cards before allowing his opponent to do so. He notices that the only run he has is a three card set of 9’s, and he has only one opportunity to buy the fourth card here, not two. If he eliminates this from the rest of the cards in his hand the only other combination is the ace, ace, deuce of clubs. Either manner in which he fills this combination, with either the aces or the 3♣ will again leave him with the type of run to which one card can be added for the fourth meld. Basically, this is, at least at this point, a very unattractive gin hand. His consideration is how to turn...

The casual player who reads through the playing and analyses of each of the following hands is sure to gain something at each point of decision. However, in order to get the most out of the hands, there is a certain method to reading and understanding them.

At the start of each hand described, lay out both hands from a deck of cards. Before reading on, make a decision as to which card you would discard, and then compare your decision with the one described and compare your reasoning with the one that is described. Determine if your own reasoning included all of the factors that were applied in the previous articles. In this way, you will readily learn those items that have been omitted in your own analysis. This will prove particularly helpful at times of crucial decisions.

In setting up the hands, there is a consistent pattern of keeping all melded cards in sets to the left of the hand and unrelated cards starting with the highest card to the left on down to the...