Upside-down attitude · Count · Suit preference · Present count · Coded 9s and 10s · Bonus: Reverse Smith.
Partner leads, you follow with your smallest card, and it says "keep going." Upside-down carding sends the message with the cards you can spare and keeps the high ones for taking tricks. In this workshop you learn which signal to give when, upside-down attitude and count in depth, suit preference including in the trump suit, and present count, the number you show once a suit has been played before. Then Coded 9s and 10s, the lead that tells partner how many higher cards you hold in the suit. We finish with a bonus on Reverse Smith against notrump.
$10, replay included. Included for VIP members.
Upside-Down Carding
Live workshop Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 10 AM Pacific.
Three questions sort most signals. Who led this suit? Does partner already know what I think of it? Which suit do I want next? The answers pick attitude, count or suit preference. Then the size of the card carries the message: upside-down for attitude and count, high for the higher suit in suit preference.
Partner leads a suit: show attitude. Declarer or dummy leads it: show count. Partner already knows both, or you are giving partner a ruff: show suit preference. We spend the first part of the workshop on this rule, because the rest of the workshop builds on it.
When partner leads, a low card encourages and a high card discourages. Your lowest card does the encouraging, so you do not spend a jack or a ten to say "keep going".
When declarer leads, play up the line with an even number and high-low with an odd number. We work through how partner adds up the suit from dummy, your signal and the bidding, and when that count tells partner to hold up the ace and when to take it.
The second time a suit is played, and on your later discards, show the cards left in your hand rather than the number you started with. Same upside-down rule, new number.
When attitude and count are already known, the size of your card points to a suit: high for the higher-ranking side suit, low for the lower. We cover the card you lead for partner's ruff, the card you return, and trump suit preference, where the order you play your trumps points partner to the side suit you want.
Lead a 10 or a 9 and partner knows one of two things is true: you hold no card higher than it, or exactly two. The 10 from A J 10 x or from 10 9 x, the 9 from K 10 9 x or from 9 8 x, and partner works out which from dummy and their own hand. The jack denies a higher card. We cover the opening lead and the new suit you lead in the middle of the hand.
Against notrump, your card in the first suit declarer plays can tell partner whether to come back to the opening lead. We finish the workshop with Reverse Smith, the version where your low card says "come back".
Agreements belong on your convention card. Mark Upside-Down under Defensive Carding, note Coded 9s and 10s beside your leads, and your opponents are told when they ask.
Partner leads the king. You want to encourage, so you play the ten from Q 10 2, and later that ten is the trick you needed.
You play the two. Partner knows to continue, and the queen and ten stay home to take tricks.
Declarer sets up a long suit in an entryless dummy. Partner holds the ace and guesses which round to take it on.
You give count. Partner adds up the suit and takes the ace on the exact round that cuts declarer off.
You give partner a ruff, partner ruffs, and then has to guess which suit gets back to your hand for the next one.
The card you led for the ruff was suit preference. Partner returns the suit it pointed to, you win, and partner ruffs again.
Against notrump, partner wonders whether your silence at trick one meant "switch" or "I had nothing to say".
Your card in declarer's first suit answers the question. Partner continues or switches with a reason.
Look at the hand, pick the card, and see what partner reads from it.
The first is attitude. The second is count.
♠ Q 7 2 ♥ 9 6 4 ♣ J 10 8 3 ♦ K 9 5 (6 HCP)
Your card
Partner led the suit, so your card shows attitude. Playing upside-down.
♠ 8 6 3 ♥ K J 5 ♣ 10 9 7 5 2 ♦ 8 4 (4 HCP)
Your card
Declarer led the suit, so your card shows count. Dummy has no outside entry.
The live workshop runs Sunday, November 1, from 10 AM to 12 PM Pacific. Here is the order we take it in.
We start with the rule that decides whether a card is attitude, count or suit preference, and the reason many partnerships turn their signals over: the high cards stay home. Then upside-down attitude when partner leads, with a quiz, and upside-down count when declarer leads, with the arithmetic partner does and a quiz.
Stretch, refill, and turn your cards the right way up for a moment.
Suit preference in depth: the ruff, the return, and trump suit preference, with a quiz. Present count on the second round and on discards. Coded 9s and 10s: what the 10 or 9 you lead tells partner about the cards above it, with a quiz. Then whole hands where the signals work together. We finish with the bonus: Reverse Smith against notrump.
Join the live workshop on Zoom: what each card says, who it is talking to, which suit it points at, and how partner answers.
The recording is emailed to everyone registered, so you can pause on a hand and take it to your partner.
Bring the workbook to your next game and check your agreements against it.
The replay follows the workshop. The workbook is being prepared for this event.
Beginner and intermediate duplicate players who want their small cards to mean something. If you have heard "attitude" and "count" at the table and wanted a clear rule for each, you are ready. No prior upside-down experience is needed.
No. The first edition taught standard signals and showed upside-down as a comparison. This second edition plays upside-down from the first slide, adds present count and Coded 9s and 10s, and finishes with Reverse Smith.
No. You can join solo or with a partner. Signals only work when both players agree on them, so we cover each one clearly enough to take home and settle before your next game.
The replay is included. It is emailed to everyone registered after the workshop, so you can watch it on your own schedule.
Yes. VIP members have this workshop included in their membership. Everyone else joins for $10, replay included.
Learn upside-down carding live, then keep the replay and the workbook.
One ticket includes the live workshop, the replay and the workbook. Included for VIP members.