It is common knowledge that the traditional system for counting High Card Points (HCP) is flawed. Ace=4, King-3, Queen=2 and Jack=1 overvalues jacks while undervaluing aces and kings.

More accurate is something like:
A=4 1/2
K=3 1/3
Q=2
J=3/4

I don't recommend using those fractions, but is is good to be aware of. All these fractions would give most people a headache.

I'd like to propose a simple solution.

When your hand is heavy with aces/kings (as opposed to having lots of jacks), just take a slightly optimistic view if you need to. For example, if you are thinking of going on, do so. After 1-3, go to 4 with:

A10876
A2
A432
54

but, pass with:

QJ542
Q2
KJ32
KJ.

The 4-3-2-1 system also doesn't account for 10's and 9's.

Some teachers espouse counting 10's as 1/2 and 9's as 1/4. Again, I hesitate to make a player calculate fractions.

Regarding 10's, not all of them are useful. The 10 in each layout below is worthless:

10xx opposite Jxx
10x opposite Axx
10xxx opposite xx

In the following layouts, the 10 is potentially useful:

J10x opposite Qxx
Q10x opposite Kxx
A10x opposite J9x.

Granted, I chose these examples carefully, but what do you notice? In the first group, the 10 is accompanied by only small cards. In the second batch, the 10 is accompanied by a higher honor.

In general, a 10 with a higher honor is quite valuable. Accordingly I propose the following guideline:

Add 1/2 point for a 10 if it is accompanied by a higher honor.

True, this is not an exact science. But, I recommend giving it a try to see if your bidding evaluation improves. If you don't like fractions, you can just take the optimistic view with these hands as well.

If you're interested in hand evaluation, you might consider Larry's webinars Should I Go? Found HERE.

Updated: September 2022