1. Choose trump where you are long, not just strong
A five- or six-card suit is usually a better trump than a short suit full of honours. Length lets you draw out opponents’ trumps and then run your remaining cards. A good rule of thumb: pick the suit where you have the most cards, breaking ties toward the suit with the higher top cards. Also glance at where your tens are — making a suit trump protects any ten you hold in it.
2. Lead trump early when you are strong in it
If you and (you hope) your partner hold most of the trumps, leading trump on the first few tricks strips them from the opponents. Once they are void, your side’s small trumps become unstoppable ten-catchers. Conversely, if you are weak in trump, avoid leading it — you would just be helping the other team clear the suit.
3. Protect your tens
A bare 10 is fragile: any J, Q, K or A of the same suit beats it. Two ways to keep a ten safe:
- Guard it. Keep a higher card of the same suit so you can win the trick yourself.
- Feed it to a winner. Play your ten into a trick your partner is already winning, or onto your own trump trick.
The matching mistake is throwing a ten onto a trick an opponent is about to take. If you must discard and a ten is your only safe-looking option, make sure the trick is going to your side first.
4. Watch the tens that have appeared
There are only four. Keep a running count: which tens have been played, which side captured them, and which are still out. Late in the hand this tells you exactly how hard to push. If your team already holds three tens, you have won the hand — stop taking risks. If it is 2–1 against you with one ten left, every decision should aim at that card.
5. Read your partner’s cards
You cannot talk, but every card your partner plays is information:
- A high card played early on your lead often means “I have strength here, keep leading this suit.”
- A pointed discard of a low card in a suit can signal weakness there.
- When your partner wins a trick, think about what they are likely to lead next and keep a card that helps.
6. Manage entries and the lead
Whoever wins a trick controls the next lead. If your hand is strong, winning early keeps you in the driver’s seat. If your hand is weak, sometimes the best play is to lose a cheap trick on purpose and let your partner take control.
7. Count down to the endgame
By the last three or four tricks you should know every remaining card. If you have been tracking trumps and tens, the finish is often forced — play it out precisely rather than hoping.
Practise against AI
The quickest way to internalise this is repetition. Start a solo game against the bots, deliberately try one idea per hand — “this hand I lead trump early” — and watch what happens. Play a practice game.