The Hold-Up Play

The hold-up is one of declarer’s most powerful weapons. You refuse to win a trick you could win, letting the opponents keep the lead. Sounds counterintuitive, right? Why would you want to give them extra tricks?

Because you’re breaking their communication.

What Is a Hold-Up?

A hold-up happens when you deliberately refuse to take a winner, usually in the suit the opponents led. You let them win the trick, even though you have the card to capture it.

The classic example: You hold A-x-x in a suit. Left-hand opponent (LHO) leads the King. Instead of winning immediately, you duck. LHO continues with the Queen. You duck again. Only when they lead the third round do you take your Ace.

You still get your Ace. But now one defender is out of that suit.

Why Hold-Ups Work

Defenders need to communicate. When one defender has a long, strong suit, their partner needs to get them back on lead to cash those winners.

The hold-up exhausts one defender’s cards in that suit. If LHO started with K-Q-J-x-x and partner with x-x, holding up twice means partner is now out of the suit. When partner gets the lead later, they can’t return it to LHO’s winners.

You’ve cut the cable between them.

This matters most when you need to lose the lead in another suit. If you can lose it to the hand that’s out of the danger suit, you’re safe. Lose it to the hand with the long suit? You’re going down.

The Classic Notrump Hold-Up

Let’s see it in action. You’re in 3NT:

Your Hand (South): ♠ K 7 4
♥ A 9 3
♦ K J 10 9 5
♣ A 6

Dummy (North): ♠ A 6 2
♥ K 5 2
♦ Q 7 3
♣ 9 7 4 2

West leads the ♠Q. You can count eight top tricks: three spades, two hearts, one diamond, and two clubs. You need one more, and that’s coming from diamonds if they split 3-2.

But here’s the problem: You need to knock out the ♦A. Whoever has it will return a spade, and if spades are 5-3, they’ll cash enough to beat you.

The solution? Duck the first spade. Duck the second spade too. Win the third round.

Now when you play diamonds, if East has the Ace, you’re golden. East started with three spades and is now out. East takes the ♦A but can’t hurt you. Your contract makes.

If you’d won the first spade? East returns a spade when they get in with the ♦A, West cashes three spade tricks, and you’re down one.

Double and Triple Hold-Ups

How many times should you hold up? Count the opponents’ cards.

With A-x-x facing three small cards, you have six cards in the suit. Opponents have seven. If they split 4-3, holding up twice exhausts one hand. If they split 5-2, holding up twice still leaves one defender with cards, but holding up three times would cost you your Ace without winning a trick.

The standard guideline with A-x-x: Hold up twice. This works against a 4-3 split, which is most common.

With A-x-x-x, you have more room. If you need to hold up three times (opponents have nine cards, likely splitting 5-4), go ahead. You’re trying to exhaust the hand with five cards.

With A-x, you can only hold up once. That’s enough if the suit splits 5-3, but not if it’s 6-2. Sometimes you don’t have enough stoppers to cut communication completely. Do what you can.

When NOT to Hold Up

The hold-up isn’t automatic. Sometimes it’s wrong.

You have enough tricks without losing the lead. If you can run nine tricks in notrump without giving up the lead, take your stopper and run. Don’t give them a chance to switch suits.

They can switch to something worse. You hold A-x-x in the suit led and K-x in another suit. If you duck, they might shift to the weaker suit and destroy you. Win the Ace, take your tricks, hope for the best.

The dangerous opponent is on your right. If East has the long suit and West has the entry, holding up doesn’t help. The entries are already in the right hand. You might as well win immediately and hope the suit doesn’t split badly.

You need entries to dummy. Sometimes the suit they led is your only way to dummy. If you need to finesse through East repeatedly and dummy has no other entries, you can’t afford to duck away your entry.

You’re in a suit contract with ruffing power. In a suit contract, you can often ruff the third round. Holding up just gives them the first two tricks for free. Better to win and maintain control.

Hold-Ups in Suit Contracts

Hold-ups work differently when you have trump. You’re usually not trying to cut communication; you’re trying to control the timing.

One common scenario: You want to delay winning so you can ruff the third round instead of losing it. Opponents lead ♥K from K-Q-J-x-x. You have A-x-x. If you win immediately, you lose two more heart tricks later. If you duck twice and win the third round, you lose only two heart tricks total (the two you ducked).

Wait, that’s the same number. What’s the difference?

Timing. By ducking, you might force them to lead something else, or you might get trump drawn and pitches working before they can cash hearts. The hold-up gives you flexibility.

Another scenario: Ruffing finesse position. You want to duck so the opponent stays on lead and has to break a new suit or give you a ruff-sluff.

Suit contracts have so many moving parts that hold-ups are more situational. Notrump is where the hold-up really shines.

Four Example Hands

Example 1: The Automatic Hold-Up

You’re in 3NT. West leads ♠Q.

You: ♠ A 7 3, ♥ K 9 4, ♦ A Q J 10 6, ♣ 8 3
Dummy: ♠ 6 2, ♥ A 8 5, ♦ 9 7 2, ♣ A K 7 6 2

You have seven top tricks. Diamonds give you two more if the King is wrong (it usually is). You must knock out the ♦K, so you must lose the lead.

Hold up twice. Win the third spade. Now when East has the ♦K and spades started 5-3, East can’t return spades. Nine tricks, contract made.

If you win the first spade? Down one when East gets in.

Example 2: Don’t Hold Up - You Have the Tricks

You’re in 3NT. West leads ♥Q.

You: ♠ K Q J 10 9, ♥ A 5 4, ♦ A 6, ♣ K Q 8 3
Dummy: ♠ A 6 2, ♥ 8 3 2, ♦ K 7 3, ♣ A 9 7 2

You can count nine tricks: five spades, two diamonds, two clubs. Win the ♥A immediately and run. If you duck, they might switch to diamonds or clubs and develop tricks before you can cash out. Take your Ace, take your nine tricks, write down +400.

Example 3: Wrong to Hold Up - Dangerous Switch

You’re in 3NT. West leads ♠Q.

You: ♠ A 7 3, ♥ K 8 5, ♦ K Q J 10 6, ♣ 9 4
Dummy: ♠ 8 6 2, ♥ A 9 4, ♦ A 5 2, ♣ K 7 6 2

You need to knock out the ♦A, so it looks like a hold-up position. But look at clubs. If you duck the spade and East sees the dummy, East might shift to the ♣Q from Q-J-10-x. Now you’re losing four clubs and a diamond.

Win the ♠A, knock out the diamond, hope spades are 4-4 or the ♦A is with East.

Example 4: The Bath Coup Position

You’re in 3NT. West leads ♠K.

You: ♠ A J 3, ♥ K 8 5, ♦ A K Q 10 6, ♣ 9 4
Dummy: ♠ 7 2, ♥ A 9 4, ♦ 9 7 2, ♣ A K 7 6 2

Duck the King. West continues with the Queen (or a low one if they started with K-Q doubleton). Duck again. Now if West started with K-Q-10-x-x, your Jack has become a third stopper. This is called the Bath Coup, and it’s a special type of hold-up that gains an extra trick.

If you win the first spade, you lose the benefit of your Jack. Duck twice, and your A-J-x becomes three stoppers instead of two.

Common Mistakes

Holding up too long. With A-x-x, don’t duck three times. You’ll lose your Ace for nothing. Hold up only as many times as you have small cards.

Holding up automatically. Count your tricks first. If you have enough without losing the lead, win your stopper and cash out.

Forgetting to count. With A-x-x opposite x-x-x, you have six cards. Opponents have seven. They’ll split 4-3 most often. Hold up twice to exhaust the four-card holding.

Ignoring the switch. If ducking gives them a chance to find a killing shift, sometimes you’re better off winning and hoping for a friendly layout.

Holding up in the wrong hand. If you have A-x in dummy and K-x in hand, think about which hand you want to win in. Sometimes you need to win in dummy to take a finesse, so you can’t afford to duck away the Ace.

Holding up when the entries are wrong. If the dangerous hand (the one with the long suit) is also the one with the entry to the suit you’re developing, holding up does nothing. East has six spades and the ♦A. When you knock out the ♦A, East is getting in anyway. The hold-up doesn’t cut communication; the entries are already there.

Master the Hold-Up

The hold-up isn’t fancy, but it’s fundamental. Every time the opponents lead a suit in notrump, ask yourself: Do I need to duck? Am I trying to cut communication? Do I have time to hold up, or do I need to grab my tricks now?

Get this right, and you’ll make dozens more contracts. Get it wrong, and you’ll watch helplessly as the opponents cash five tricks in a row.

Duck when it matters. Win when it doesn’t. That’s the hold-up play.