sfi, on 2019-February-05, 00:09, said:
Know the odds of a break for when there are 2-7 cards in the opponents' hands. Any good player should have these cold - post them on your fridge if you have to. The phrases "52-48", "78-22", "40-50-10", "68-28-4", "36-48-14-2" and "62-30-7-1" should be ingrained in the memory. (8 is "47-33-17-3-0" if you feel a bit more adventurous.)
The 2nd set should read 41-50-10
A mnemonic rhyme in an old English Bridge Magazine said:
At fifty-two, fifty, forty-eight,
The even numbers operate
For odd numbers, we equate
Seventy-eight and sixty-eight.
To drop the King we want eleven
The Queen needs only nine
The Knave, in turn requires but seven,
The answers always fine.
So if an inference you spot
You'd best forget the whole damn lot.
The even numbers operate
For odd numbers, we equate
Seventy-eight and sixty-eight.
To drop the King we want eleven
The Queen needs only nine
The Knave, in turn requires but seven,
The answers always fine.
So if an inference you spot
You'd best forget the whole damn lot.
This is meant to help us to remember that
An even number of missing cards split
- 1-1 52%,
- 3-1 50%, and
- 4-2 48% of the time.
An odd number of missing cards split
- 2-1 78%, and
- 3-2 68% of the time.