While I like to believe that even a terrible hand can be turned into a great game, there are times where you know the match is screwed. When no great miracle or bridge move can win the game – but you’ll have to play it out until the last trick.

It’s like a game of chess with a single move left where the only option is Check and Mate. Flag and Wave. Oh and Damn.

Have you ever had a moment where you realized just how much you were losing?

Here are 4 signs that a match is going all the way South and just not your way.

#1: The One-Card-Left

If you have one card left in your hand and it’s an obviously lost trick, there’s nothing that can be done to resurrect the game for your team – unless you’re only so far into a rubber game with potential matches left to win.

The best a player can hope for here is that it’s been a good game.

#2: The Out-of-Honors

Quick tricks aren’t always the best way to win a game. Sometimes, quick tricks can get you into trouble should you find out that your opponents have the best cards from there on.

Whoops.

Being out-of-honors doesn’t mean the match is a mess yet. It depends, honestly, on how many tricks you’ve got left to pull back up.

If this happens early, you’ve got a chance. But if it happens late, that’s likely a lost game.

#3: The Coffin-Suit

We’ve all had games where it seems like everything is going fine, and the next moment the suit on the table changes.

If it’s in a hand where you’re all out (and not to any advantage), I call it the Coffin-Suit.

Again, it’s another early versus late-game situation that you don’t want to find out when there are no tricks left to gain points.

Want to keep this from happening during your next game? Watch your suits, and try to imagine your opponents’.

#4: The Two-Way Bad Hand

Now, sometimes the game starts with a really bad bridge hand. Most of the time there are practical, useful ways to play your way to game with even these.

But when both you and your partner have an equally bad hand, this can stack the odds towards the other team.

When and where you suspect a two-way bad hand for your partnership, it’s going to take very clever play (and stealing some tricks from your opponents) to make it.