The Losing Trick Count. (LTC)

This is a useful tool for helping you to decide the correct level to support partner

when you have an 8 card trump fit.

High Card Point count is your first consideration

but with distributional hands

the consideration of length and shortage points often make the calculation difficult.

LTC is most useful to assess MAJOR suit fits. (It is inaccurate above the level of 10 tricks)

Look at each of your suits in turn.

With 3 or more cards consider the top 3 cards.

AK or Q are winners. Anything else is a loser.

(Beware unsupported Queens)

With only 2 cards count only the A and K as winners.

With only one card count only the A as a winner

With a void you have no losers in that suit.

Assume that partner has opened with a 7 loser hand.

Add your losers to partners and subtract the total from 24. The result is the number of tricks you can expect to make.

Alternatively – take the number of losers in your hand from 11 and bid to that level.

Examples

Assume partner has opened 1S

With……..

KJ854 K872

9 7 losers bid 4S 9 9 losers bid 2S

J109876 J1065

9 9743

KJ84

92 8 losers bid 3S

AQ64

1095

You will see that the number of HCPs you have doesn’t bear relevance when using the Losing trick count.

However if using the Milton Work Count (Using HCPs and length and shortage points) the levels achieved are similar.

You should use Milton Work Count or Losing trick Count, rarely both unless to check the validity of one with the other.