3♠ J♥ Q♥ K♠ + A♦ cut = 3 points

What the ace of diamonds contributes

Holding 3 of spades, jack of hearts, queen of hearts, king of spades with the ace of diamonds as the cut scores 3 points in the hand.

The ace of diamonds contributes no scoring combinations. The remaining 3 points come from combinations entirely within the four held cards.

Other available cuts of this rank: ace of clubs (3 points); ace of hearts (4 points); ace of spades (3 points). The cut suit changes the score here because of a flush or nobs.

How this cut compares

For these four held cards, 0 possible cuts score less than 3, 18 score the same (including the ace of diamonds), and 30 score more.

Across all 48 possible cut cards, the score ranges from 3 to 10 points, averaging 5.38 points. This comparison treats every card outside the four-card hand as equally likely; it does not exclude known discards or other seen cards.