3♠ 4♠ 5♦ K♠ + A♦ cut = 7 points

What the ace of diamonds contributes

Holding 3 of spades, 4 of spades, 5 of diamonds, king of spades with the ace of diamonds as the cut scores 7 points in the hand.

Scoring combinations involving the ace of diamonds contribute 2 points. The remaining 5 points come from combinations entirely within the four held cards.

• fifteen: ace of diamonds, 4 of spades, king of spades — 2 points.

Other available cuts of this rank: ace of clubs (7 points); ace of hearts (7 points); ace of spades (7 points). Changing only the cut suit leaves this score unchanged.

How this cut compares

For these four held cards, 4 possible cuts score less than 7, 24 score the same (including the ace of diamonds), and 20 score more.

Across all 48 possible cut cards, the score ranges from 5 to 12 points, averaging 7.94 points. This comparison treats every card outside the four-card hand as equally likely; it does not exclude known discards or other seen cards.