This series of blogs will cover the 3 most common errors made by average-level players.
Average players very commonly lead aces because they deem them “safe leads”. In actuality, the ace lead is a very unsafe lead and I will explain why.
The ace is a very powerful card for many reasons. When an ace is led, it loses every one of its advantages. Here are the advantages of holding onto your aces:
a. Your side may capture an enemy honor card.
b. Your side may win the first round of the suit with a lesser card.
c. You retain an entry for later in the hand.
d. You maintain control of the suit (i.e. a “Stopper”)
e. You make it difficult for your opponents to win unsupported kings.
f. You make it difficult for the opponents to read your hand. By refusing to lead aces, the opponents have less ability to use the count card principle.
To sum things up, by refusing to lead these aces, you will have a better chance of developing extra tricks -- which may either gain a set, or prevent your side from going set!
You will make things hard on the opponents. They will grow frustrated with losing many of their counted king tricks due to you refusing to show the ace. This frustration will lead to underbids later on. These underbids will then lead to bags and cause even more frustration. This kind of pyschological frustration that great players cause is an extremely valuable weapon.
