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Losing Trick Count (LTC) Losing Trick Count (LTC) is a hand evaluation method popularized by Australian expert Ron Klinger. It's used to judge how high to bid after an 8+ card trump fit is identified. LTC employs the following math: Count the number of "winners" and "losers" in each of your suits: Each ace and king counts as a winner.
Count 1 losing trick for each missing Ace, King, and Queen. If you have only two cards, count each missing Ace and King. If you have only one card, count 1LT unless it’s the Ace. A void, of course, counts as 0 LT’s. Add up the LT’s for all 4 suits, and that is the Losing Trick Count for your hand. Examples
• Modern Losing Trick Count by Ron Klinger • Complete Book on Hand Evaluation in Contract Bridge by Mike Lawrence (includes “in and out” valuation, the subject of lesson 2) • To Bid or Not to Bid: The Law of Total Tricks by Larry Cohen (the subject of lessons 3 and 4; there are many others but this remains the best)
People also ask
How do you count a losing trick?
How many losers are in a losing trick?
Does Losing Trick Count apply if your hand is unbalanced?
After one round and they both follow, the suit is either 4-1 or 3-2. If someone shows out on the second round, you'll know that the suit was originally 4-1 and that the person has 2 cards left in the suit. One last trick to counting is to teach yourself to count in 13s. Think about how 13 cards can be divided into four hands.
Consider only the first three cards in a suit; longer cards are always counted as winners. There are never more than 3 losers in a suit as the fourth card always has the potential to take a trick. With three or more cards in a suit, count the ace, king and queen as winners- any other card is a loser. With only two cards in a suit, count only ...
c) 1♠ - 3♠ (8 losers) - 4♠ (6 losers); 8 + 6 = 14; 18 – 14 = 4♠. Only a combined 20 count, but ltc. enables the excellent shape to be taken into account. Two diamond ruffs lead to ten tricks. d) 1♠ - 4♠ (7 losers). Not a certainty. Also the bid makes it more difficult for the opposition to find their heart fit. e) 1 ♦ - 1 ♥ ...
Losing Trick Count - A hand evaluation technique originally described by F. Dudley Courtenay's book "The System the Experts Play", and popularized by Ron Klinger in his book "Modern Losing Trick Count", based on counting effective losers in a trump contract. Simply stated, once partnership has identified a 8+ card suit fit (unless the opener ...
