5♥ Q♦ Q♠ K♠ + 7♠ cut = 8 points

What the 7 of spades contributes

Holding 5 of hearts, queen of diamonds, queen of spades, king of spades with the 7 of spades as the cut scores 8 points in the hand.

The 7 of spades contributes no scoring combinations. The remaining 8 points come from combinations entirely within the four held cards.

Other available cuts of this rank: 7 of clubs (8 points); 7 of diamonds (8 points); 7 of hearts (8 points). Changing only the cut suit leaves this score unchanged.

How this cut compares

For these four held cards, 0 possible cuts score less than 8, 32 score the same (including the 7 of spades), and 16 score more.

Across all 48 possible cut cards, the score ranges from 8 to 16 points, averaging 9.83 points. This comparison treats every card outside the four-card hand as equally likely; it does not exclude known discards or other seen cards.