BoB- counting(combinatorics)

well I can definitely say that i understand counting a whole lot more than last year. but I'm still having trouble on problems that involving playing cards. like what you need to you need to think about first IE, suits, face values etc. the binomial theorem is easy up until you have to find the term containing something like x^20 given (x-y^4)^6. i know how to find the middle term now which is uber easy. I think that's pretty much it i can't really grasp the concept of how to deal with playing card problems.