Win a trick during a game of bridge and you’ll get lucky enough to lead the next one with an opening card. There’s a lot of talk about bidding in most bridge lessons, but what about the play of the cards? 

Good opening leads can make your game or turn the tables on a current game when faced with a winning opponent, while bad or questionable ones will send the situation right South.

Here’s a look at things an opening lead is and what you should be doing with them.

1. An Advantage (or Way to Gain One)

With most turn-based games, getting to place your piece down or roll the dice before anyone else is a certain advantage – or a way to gain one in the midst of the game. Bridge is no different.

If the game is currently less than advantageous for your team, getting the chance to lead the next trick can swing the entire game.

This means think carefully, and this means never wasting a good opportunity when you spot one.

2. Setting the Suit

An opening card for the next trick is a chance to set the suit for the rest of it.

Use this to treat, or use this to trick: Set the suit of the trick to the one you think you (or your partner) can use to your advantage the most.

Consider your team’s strongest suit and your opponent’s weakest. What have you got as opposed to theirs? Set the suit right and you can win more than just a few tricks with the right opener.

3. What About You, Pard?

Always place cards with consideration for what your partner might hold.

Did you just play a horrible card or make a questionable screw-up? Good partnerships (even ones that were just established online or from the Partnership Desk!) ensure that the cards your partner holds can save this move.

Placing an opening card allows for your partner to look at theirs.

Just the same way, should your partner make a move and look at you to rescue the trick, extend this courtesy to them!

Just like bidding, tricks and opening cards are how you communicate with your partner; no face-pulling, enunciation or other rule violations necessary: Just a quick think about the cards both of you might have as a partnership.

As a partnership combined, you’re holding half the game’s deck. Used right, that’s potentially very powerful.

4. Sheds the No-Tricks

It’s not all perfect games and Grand Slams.

Simply, you can’t win every trick (and it’s likely a statistically impossible event, or Grand Slams would happen much more often).

Sometimes you have to use an opening lead to shed your no-tricks and weak suits. If you have a card that’s not useful to you right now, get rid of it (and hope your partner has the better card).

It’s perfectly fine if you lose some of the tricks: Most of the time, it’s still possible to make your game.

As a note on this, if you don’t want to shed your “no-tricks”, remember that they can be turned into tricks should the lead suit change and become more advantageous for you. As everyone plays their best cards, towards the end of the game the opportunity to turn “no-tricks” into “possible tricks” might open up.

5. Establishes Sure Winners

Other than shedding the certain no-tricks out of your hand (or saving them for later). getting to lay down the first card of the trick can and might help you to establish sure winners for your partnership.

Some strategies rely on pulling out the good cards first: The Aces, the Kings, the highest-rankers and the Blue Eyes White Dragon of your bridge game.

Again, laying down the first card is a great opportunity, but only if you can use it right for your partnership.