5♦ 9♥ 10♠ J♠ + A♠ cut = 10 points

What the ace of spades contributes

Holding 5 of diamonds, 9 of hearts, ten of spades, jack of spades with the ace of spades as the cut scores 10 points in the hand.

Scoring combinations involving the ace of spades contribute 3 points. The remaining 7 points come from combinations entirely within the four held cards.

• fifteen: ace of spades, 5 of diamonds, 9 of hearts — 2 points.
• his nob: jack of spades, ace of spades — 1 point.

Other available cuts of this rank: ace of clubs (9 points); ace of diamonds (9 points); ace of hearts (9 points). The cut suit changes the score here because of a flush or nobs.

How this cut compares

For these four held cards, 29 possible cuts score less than 10, 6 score the same (including the ace of spades), and 13 score more.

Across all 48 possible cut cards, the score ranges from 7 to 14 points, averaging 9.63 points. This comparison treats every card outside the four-card hand as equally likely; it does not exclude known discards or other seen cards.