The most common bridge hand pattern is 4-4-3-2, which you hold on about 21.6% of deals, followed by 5-3-3-2 (15.5%) and 5-4-3-1 (12.9%). The three balanced patterns, 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 and 5-3-3-2, together cover about 47.6% of all hands.
A pattern lists your suit lengths from longest to shortest, in any order of suits. There are 39 possible patterns, and the figures below are exact counts over every possible 13-card hand.
Hand Patterns by Frequency
| Pattern | Chance | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 4-4-3-2 | 21.55% | Balanced |
| 5-3-3-2 | 15.52% | Balanced |
| 5-4-3-1 | 12.93% | Singleton |
| 5-4-2-2 | 10.58% | Semi-balanced |
| 4-3-3-3 | 10.54% | Balanced |
| 6-3-2-2 | 5.64% | Semi-balanced |
| 6-4-2-1 | 4.70% | Singleton |
| 6-3-3-1 | 3.45% | Singleton |
| 5-5-2-1 | 3.17% | Two-suiter |
| 4-4-4-1 | 2.99% | Three-suiter |
| 7-3-2-1 | 1.88% | Long suit |
| 6-4-3-0 | 1.33% | Void |
| 5-4-4-0 | 1.24% | Void |
| 5-5-3-0 | 0.90% | Void |
| 6-5-1-1 | 0.71% | Two-suiter |
| 6-5-2-0 | 0.65% | Void |
| The other 23 patterns | 2.22% | Rare |
Reading the Pattern Table
The table counts a pattern in any order of suits. 4-4-3-2 means any two four-card suits, a three-card suit and a doubleton.
To get one exact order, divide by the number of ways the pattern can fall into the four suits. 4-4-3-2 has 12 orders, so exactly four spades, four hearts, three diamonds and two clubs is 21.55% / 12, about 1.8%. A 4-3-3-3 has only 4 orders, and 4-4-4-1 also has 4: a 4-4-4-1 with a singleton spade comes up about 0.75% of the time.
One surprise: 5-4-2-2 (10.58%) is a little more common than 4-3-3-3 (10.54%). The flattest hand is not the most likely one.
All these chances hold for one hand before you look at any cards. Once you see your own 13 cards, the hidden hands follow different odds, because your cards are out of the pack. How the missing cards in one suit split between the two opponents is a separate question: the suit break calculator gives every split for 2 to 11 missing cards.
Balanced Hands, Singletons and Voids
A few totals worth remembering:
- Balanced (4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, 5-3-3-2): 47.6%.
- Semi-balanced (5-4-2-2, 6-3-2-2): 16.2%.
- At least one singleton, no void: 30.6%.
- At least one void: 5.1%, about one hand in twenty.
- A six-card or longer suit: 20.6%; seven or longer, 4.0%.
- A five-card or longer suit: 64.9%, about two hands in three.
TipPartner holds a singleton or a void on more than a third of deals (35.7%). When the auction says partner is short in a suit, believe it: shape is common, not rare.
Shape in the Bidding
Most bidding systems are built around these patterns:
- Balanced hands open or rebid in notrump when the points fit the range. A 15-17 1NT in 2/1 Game Force and Standard American, or 12-14 in Acol, comes from these three patterns (see what 1NT means in each system). See notrump in bridge.
- 5-4 hands, the most common unbalanced type, show both suits: open the five-card suit and bid the four-card suit next.
- Six-card suits are rebid, or opened with a weak two when the hand is weak.
- 4-4-4-1 is the awkward one: no five-card suit to open and no balanced rebid. Plan the rebid before you open.
Shape also changes the value of the hand once you find a fit; hand evaluation shows how to count it. To check any other shape, the free BridgeDummy hand probability calculator gives the exact chance of any suit pattern, with or without an HCP range, and the bridge odds tables list all 39 patterns.
Practice: Hand Patterns
Which of these patterns comes up most often?
Read next: high-card points for the odds of every point count.