The Finesse: Win Tricks with Inferior Cards

The finesse is bridge’s most elegant gamble. You’re holding the king, missing the ace, and you need a trick. So you lead toward the king and pray it’s sitting over the ace. Half the time you look like a genius. Half the time you look like you donated a trick.

That’s finessing. You’re trying to win with a card that isn’t actually high enough to win. It’s a 50-50 guess dressed up in fancy technique.

But here’s the thing: good players finesse all day long, and bad players refuse to finesse at all. The difference between them isn’t luck. It’s knowing when to finesse, how to set it up, and when to just play for the drop instead.

Let’s break down every finesse you need to know.

What Is a Finesse?

A finesse is an attempt to win a trick with a card that isn’t the highest outstanding card in the suit.

Simple example: You hold ♥AQ in dummy and small hearts in hand. You lead a heart from your hand toward the AQ. If West has the king, your queen wins. If East has it, the king captures your queen.

Why it works: By leading toward your high cards, you force the player sitting over them to play first. The ace-queen is worth two tricks if the king is on your left, one trick if it’s on your right. The finesse finds out which.

The key word is “toward.” Lead from the weak hand toward the strong hand. Doing it backwards doesn’t work.

The Simple Finesse: Your Bread and Butter

The simple finesse is what most people mean when they say “finesse.” You’re missing one honor and you’re trying to trap it.

Classic Holdings That Scream “Finesse Me”

AQ opposite small cards:

Dummy:  ♠ AQ4
Declarer: ♠ 762

Lead the ♠2 toward dummy. If West has the king, play the queen. If West plays the king, take the ace and your queen is good. If West plays low, the queen wins (unless East has the king, in which case you were always losing to it).

KJ opposite small cards:

Dummy:  ♦ KJ5
Declarer: ♦ 832

Lead toward dummy. If West plays the ace or queen, you’re golden—your remaining honor is promoted. If West plays low, you insert the jack. This loses to the queen half the time, but that’s the price of admission.

AJ10 opposite small cards (double threat):

Dummy:  ♥ AJ10
Declarer: ♥ 654

Lead toward dummy. If West plays low, insert the 10. If it loses to the queen or king, you can finesse again later (the jack will trap whichever honor West has left). If West plays an honor, take the ace and finesse the other honor next time.

The 50% Rule

Simple finesses work exactly 50% of the time. The missing king is either on your left or your right.

But experts don’t treat it like a coin flip. They count the hand, watch discards, and use the auction to figure out where the missing honor probably is.

Example: West opened 1NT (15-17 points). You’re missing a king. That king is probably in West’s hand. Finesse through West.

Don’t finesse blind. Finesse educated.

The Double Finesse: Missing Two Honors

Sometimes you’re missing two honors and need to trap both. That’s the double finesse.

AQ10 opposite small cards:

Dummy:  ♣ AQ10
Declarer: ♣ 543

You’re missing the king and jack. Lead toward dummy and play the 10.

What happens?

  • If West has both honors (KJ): The 10 loses to the jack, but next time you finesse the queen. Two tricks.
  • If West has one honor: You might lose this trick, but the finesse still gains.
  • If West has neither honor: The 10 wins immediately. Three tricks.

The double finesse works 75% of the time (three out of four layouts). That’s way better than playing for the drop.

Why 75%? Because you succeed if West has:

  1. Both the K and J (25%)
  2. Just the K (25%)
  3. Just the J (25%)

You only fail if East has both honors (25%).

AJ9 Opposite Small Cards (Close Cousin)

Dummy:  ♠ AJ9
Declarer: ♠ 543

Same idea. Lead toward dummy and insert the 9. If it loses to the 10 or queen, come back and finesse the jack. You’re trying to trap two missing honors (queen and ten).

This works three-quarters of the time, just like AQ10.

The Deep Finesse: Missing Multiple Honors

Sometimes you’re missing three honors and you still finesse. These are rare.

AJ10 opposite xxx (missing KQ9): Run the jack. If it loses to the queen, finesse the 10 next. Keep finessing until something works.

Deep finesses are low percentage—you’re hoping one opponent has all the missing honors. But when you’re desperate and have no entries, you finesse because what else are you going to do?

Try it when you need multiple tricks and can’t give up the lead. Skip it if you have better plays or can develop the suit naturally.

Finesse or Drop: The Eternal Question

You’re missing the king. Do you finesse for it, or do you play ace from the top and hope it drops?

This is bridge’s most common dilemma, and the math gives you clear answers.

The Math: Vacant Spaces and Honor Distribution

With 8 cards in a suit (missing 5 including the king):

Play for the drop. The odds of the king being singleton or doubleton (and dropping under your ace) are better than 50%.

With 7 cards (missing 6 including the king):

Still play for the drop (barely). The king will drop about 52% of the time.

With 6 cards or fewer (missing 7+ including the king):

Finesse. The missing cards are distributed too evenly for the drop to work.

The Classic Example: Eight Ever, Nine Never

Eight cards combined, missing the queen:

“Eight ever” means you should always finesse for the queen. Playing ace-king and hoping the queen drops is about 47%. Finessing is 50%. Not a huge edge, but why give up free percentage?

Nine cards combined, missing the queen:

“Nine never” means never finesse—play for the drop. With nine cards, the opponents have four. The queen will drop under your ace-king about 52% of the time (better than finessing).

But (and this is a big but): These are default plays. If you have specific information—West opened 1NT, or East discarded three times in the suit—you ignore the percentages and play with the field.

Combining Chances

Sometimes you can finesse AND play for the drop.

Example: With ♥AJ1043 opposite ♥K965, cash the ace first. If the queen drops singleton, great. If not, finesse the jack next.

You’ve combined the chance of a singleton queen with the finesse. Better than either play alone.

General principle: When you can test for the drop without killing the finesse, do it.

Two-Way Finesses: Choose Your Poison

A two-way finesse is when you can finesse either opponent for the missing honor. You have to guess which way to go.

Classic holding: AQ10 opposite KJ9

Dummy:    ♦ AQ10
Declarer: ♦ KJ9

You can finesse West for the king (lead the jack, let it run if West plays low) or finesse East for the king (lead the 10 from dummy, let it run if East plays low).

You’re missing zero tricks in this suit if you guess right. You’re missing one trick if you guess wrong.

How to choose:

  1. Count the hand. If you know West has more length in the suit, finesse East (honors sit with length).
  2. Use the auction. If West opened, they have more points—finesse through West.
  3. Look at entries. Can you only finesse one way? Then finesse that way.
  4. Guess. If you have zero information, pick one and commit. Don’t agonize.

Another two-way holding: KJ10 opposite AQ9

Same deal. You can trap the missing honor (the queen or the jack, depending on which opponent has what) by finessing either direction. Pick a direction based on what you know about the hand.

Four Example Hands with Finesse Decisions

Let’s put theory into practice.

Example 1: Simple Finesse in 3NT

Contract: 3NT
Lead: ♠Q

Dummy:     ♠K65 ♥AQ4 ♦8732 ♣QJ10
Declarer:  ♠A74 ♥863 ♦AK5 ♣A732

You have eight tricks. You need one more. The ♥AQ is staring at you.

Play: Win the spade, cross to a club, lead a heart toward the ♥AQ. Insert the queen.

With seven hearts total (missing six), the king won’t drop. Finesse or die.

Example 2: Double Finesse in 4♠

Contract: 4♠
Lead: ♥K

Dummy:     ♠AQ1063 ♥84 ♦K72 ♣A94
Declarer:  ♠KJ982 ♥A63 ♦A5 ♣832

You have a club loser, a heart loser, and potentially a spade loser.

Play: ♠A, then lead the ♠3 toward dummy and run the 10. If it loses to the king or jack, finesse the queen next.

The double finesse wins 75% of the time. Way better than ace-king and hoping.

Example 3: Finesse vs. Drop in 4♥

Contract: 4♥
Lead: ♠Q

Dummy:     ♠A65 ♥KJ1042 ♦K3 ♣A72
Declarer:  ♠K42 ♥A9763 ♦A5 ♣KQ4

Nine hearts, missing the queen. “Nine never”—don’t finesse.

Play: Win the spade, play ♥A, then ♥K. The queen drops 52% of the time (vs. 50% for finessing).

Exception: If West opened 1NT, finesse through West. Specific information beats percentages.

Example 4: Two-Way Finesse in 6NT

Contract: 6NT
Lead: ♥Q

Dummy:     ♠AQ10 ♥A84 ♦KJ3 ♣K1042
Declarer:  ♠KJ9 ♥K63 ♦A1042 ♣AQ5

Eleven tricks off the top. You need one more. The ♠ suit is a two-way finesse.

Play: Cash your other suits, watching discards. If East pitches two spades early, they didn’t start with length. Finesse West.

Two-way finesses aren’t coin flips if you count. Pay attention and you’ll guess right more than 50% of the time.

Common Finessing Mistakes

Even good players mess up finesses. Here’s how to avoid the big ones.

Finessing from the wrong hand: You have ♦AQ in dummy and small diamonds in hand, so you lead the queen from dummy. East covers with the king. Wrong. Lead from your hand toward the AQ. Let West guess whether to play the king.

Finessing too early: You finesse at trick two in 4♠. It loses. Opponents cash hearts before you can pitch losers on clubs. Draw trumps first. Set up side suits. Finesse last, when you know what you need.

Finessing when you don’t need to: You’re in 3NT with nine tricks available by setting up clubs. But you finesse the ♥Q at trick two. It loses. Down one. Count your tricks. If you have enough without the finesse, don’t finesse.

Playing for the drop with six cards: With six cards in a suit missing the king, you play the ace hoping it drops. It doesn’t. Now you have no entries to finesse. With six cards, the king won’t drop. Finesse.

Taking finesses in the wrong order: You have two finesses available but take the wrong one first. It loses and kills your entries. Map out your entries before finessing. Take the finesse you can afford to lose first.

When NOT to Finesse

Finessing isn’t always right. Sometimes you have better plays.

When you have enough tricks: In 3NT with nine tricks available by knocking out an ace, don’t finesse for an overtrick. The finesse might lose and let opponents cash their suit. Take your nine and run.

When you can strip the hand: In suit contracts, you can sometimes eliminate side suits and endplay opponents, forcing them to lead into your tenace or give you a ruff-sluff. Make them do the work.

When the auction placed the honor: West opened 1NT. You’re missing the ♣K. Don’t finesse East—West has it. Don’t finesse into known strength.

When you can combine chances: With ♥AJ10xx opposite ♥Kxxx, cash the ace first (singleton queen?), then finesse. You’ve added an extra chance without losing anything.

When it costs you control: Don’t finesse at trick two in a slam if losing gives opponents time to cash winners. Draw trumps and pitch losers instead. Finesse when you have to, not because you can.

The Bottom Line

The finesse is a guess. But it’s an informed guess.

What to remember:

  1. Lead toward your honors, not from them. The whole point is making the opponent on your left commit first.

  2. Simple finesses are 50%. Double finesses are 75%. Take the double finesse when you can.

  3. With nine cards, play for the drop. With eight or fewer, finesse. “Eight ever, nine never” exists for a reason.

  4. Two-way finesses aren’t coin flips. Count the hand, use the auction, and guess intelligently.

  5. Don’t finesse blind. If you know where the missing honor is, don’t finesse the wrong way.

  6. Don’t finesse when you don’t have to. If you have enough tricks without risking a 50-50 guess, don’t guess.

Finessing is part technique, part counting, part educated guessing. The technique is easy (lead toward strength). The hard part is knowing when to finesse and when to find a better play.

Now go trap some kings. Your AQ is waiting.

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