10♥ J♦ Q♦ K♦ + A♠ cut = 4 points

What the ace of spades contributes

Holding ten of hearts, jack of diamonds, queen of diamonds, king of diamonds with the ace of spades as the cut scores 4 points in the hand.

The ace of spades contributes no scoring combinations. The remaining 4 points come from combinations entirely within the four held cards.

Other available cuts of this rank: ace of clubs (4 points); ace of diamonds (5 points); ace of hearts (4 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 4, 21 score the same (including the ace of spades), and 27 score more.

Across all 48 possible cut cards, the score ranges from 4 to 13 points, averaging 6.46 points. This comparison treats every card outside the four-card hand as equally likely; it does not exclude known discards or other seen cards.