How to Play · Lesson 3 of 10

Following Suit

See why the suit led controls what cards you are allowed to play.

The Golden Rule

When a suit is led, you must play a card of that suit if you have one. This is non-negotiable — you cannot save a card of the led suit by playing something else.

If you have multiple cards of the led suit, you choose which one to play — but you must play one of them.

Why It Matters

Following suit gives the leaders real power. An Ace of the led suit wins every trick where everyone has to follow suit because nothing beats an ace in the off-suits. If you have to throw off a suit that isn't trump, it is worthless no matter what its rank is.

• If you have trump in your hand, you will want to reduce the number of other suits you are holding so that if they are led, you don't have to follow suit and can therefore trump in.
• When you can't follow suit but it isn't necessary to trump in (maybe because your partner will take the trick), it is wise to throw off a card in a suit where you can create a void (no cards in that suit) which will allow you to trump in when that suit is led later.

Choosing Which Card to Follow With

If you can win the trick and your partner may not win it with his, go ahead and try to take it with your highest card of that suit.

When you must follow but cannot win the trick, play your lowest card in that suit to preserve stronger ones for later tricks.

When your partner is already winning the trick, you still must follow suit — but spend your weakest card. There is no need to "help" by throwing an Ace when partner's King is already taking it and you have a lower card in that suit to play instead.

The Left Bower Is In The Trump Suit

When trump is called, the Jack of the same-color suit becomes the left bower and joins the trump suit. It is no longer its printed suit.

• If Hearts are trump, the J♦ is now a Heart — not a Diamond.
• If a Heart is led and you hold J♦, you must play it if you don't have other Hearts to play since it is also a Heart for this hand. You cannot claim you have no Hearts.
• Similarly, if Diamonds are led and you have the J♦ while Hearts is trump, you would not play the J♦ to follow suit. You would have to play another Diamond if you had them in your hand (you could, however, use it to trump in on the led suit if you didn't have other Diamonds to follow suit with).