Entry Management in Bridge

You’ve got a beautiful five-card suit in dummy ready to run. There’s just one problem: you can’t get there. Welcome to one of bridge’s most frustrating—and most important—concepts: entry management.

Good entry management separates the competent declarer from the expert. It’s the skill that lets you cash your winners, finesse in the right direction, and develop long suits that would otherwise sit uselessly in dummy. Let’s explore how to master this essential technique.

What Are Entries?

An entry is simply a card that allows you to win a trick in a particular hand—usually dummy—so you can lead from that hand. Think of entries as bridges (pun intended) between your hand and dummy.

High cards make obvious entries: aces, kings, and queens can win tricks and transfer the lead. But entries come in more subtle forms too. A small trump in dummy can be an entry when you’re out of that suit in your hand. Even a lowly nine can serve as an entry if the opponents hold nothing higher in that suit.

The key question declarer constantly asks: “How do I get to the hand with the cards I need to lead?” Sometimes you need to lead through an opponent’s honor. Other times you need to access a long suit you’ve established. Either way, you need an entry.

Why Entries Matter

Entry management directly impacts how many tricks you take. Here’s why it matters so much:

Access to length. You might have established five diamond winners in dummy, but without an entry, they’re worthless. Those tricks won’t take themselves.

Timing of finesses. Some finesses must be taken from a specific hand. If you can’t get there, you can’t take the finesse. The result? You’re guessing instead of playing with the odds.

Communication between hands. Bridge requires coordination between your hand and dummy. Entries are the communication channels. Cut them off, and you’re playing two separate hands instead of one unified 26-card holding.

Preventing opponent disruption. Savvy defenders attack your entries first. If you don’t manage them carefully, they’ll strand your winners before you can cash them.

The difference between making and going down often comes down to a single entry preserved or squandered.

Creating Entries

Sometimes you start with plenty of entries. Other times you need to manufacture them. Here are the main techniques:

Overtaking honors. Lead the queen from hand and overtake with the king in dummy. Yes, you’ve “wasted” a trick by spending two honors on one trick, but you’ve created an entry where you needed one. This works when the suit is solid (like QJT9 opposite AK) or when the extra entry is worth more than the high card you’re sacrificing.

Ducking plays. You hold AK432 in dummy opposite 65 in hand. If you cash the ace and king, you’re stuck in the wrong hand with three winners you can’t reach. Instead, duck the first round entirely—let the opponents win. Now when you regain the lead, you can play to dummy’s ace-king and your suit is established with a built-in entry.

Trump entries. In a suit contract, dummy’s small trumps become entries. Even with 2-3 trumps in dummy opposite 5-4 in hand, those dummy trumps can bring you home to established side suits. Just watch out—you might need those trumps for other purposes like ruffing or controlling the hand.

Unblocking. This is creating entries by getting out of your own way. You hold K3 in hand opposite AQ2 in dummy. If you play the king first, you’ll block the suit. Instead, play the three under dummy’s queen or ace. Now your king is an entry to dummy’s remaining honor.

The holdup play. When opponents lead a suit in notrump, sometimes you refuse to win immediately even with the ace. This creates entries by preserving high cards in both hands and disrupting opponent communication. If one opponent runs out of the suit, they can’t lead it to their partner’s winners.

Preserving Entries

Creating entries means nothing if you waste them carelessly. Preservation is just as crucial.

Economy of honors. Don’t spend two high cards when one will do. If you need to drive out the opponents’ ace, lead the king, not the king and queen. Save that queen for later when you might need it as an entry.

Careful discarding. When you’re discarding on a long suit, watch what you throw away. That jack you pitched might have been your only entry to dummy’s established suit. Before you discard, mentally trace how you’ll get back and forth between hands.

Flexible entries. Try to keep entries in multiple suits. If all your entries are in one suit and the opponents attack it relentlessly, you’re in trouble. Spread your entries across different suits when possible.

Transportation planning. Count your entries at trick one. Map out how many times you’ll need to cross to dummy, and make sure you have enough transportation to execute your plan. If you need to be in dummy three times but only have two entries, rethink your approach.

Entries in Notrump

Notrump contracts make entry management critical because you can’t create trump entries. Every entry is precious.

Your typical game plan in notrump: establish a long suit and run it. That requires repeated entries to the hand with the length. If dummy has five small diamonds to your AK, you’ll need multiple entries to dummy after knocking out the opponents’ stoppers.

Common notrump entry scenarios:

You hold ♠AK3 ♥K54 ♦AQ ♣K9765 and dummy shows ♠842 ♥A63 ♦7543 ♣AQ2. You’re in 3NT and have nine top tricks—but wait. Those club tricks require driving out the opponents’ king and jack. You’ll need entries to dummy to establish and cash clubs.

Your entry plan: Use ♥A and ♣AQ as entries. Lead a club to dummy’s queen (forcing out an honor), return to hand, lead another club to dummy’s ace. Now dummy’s clubs are good, and you can access them… except you’re out of entries. You needed three entries to dummy, but only had two.

This is where you should have ducked the first club entirely. Let the opponents win. Now when you regain the lead, you play a club to the ace, setting up your remaining clubs with the ♥A still in dummy as an entry.

The danger of blocked suits. You hold AKQ in hand opposite J1098 in dummy. Looks like four easy tricks, right? But if you mindlessly cash ace, king, queen, you’ve blocked the suit. The fourth trick (the jack) is in dummy with no entry. Instead, cash one high honor, then lead small to dummy’s jack. Now you can continue running the suit.

Entries in Suit Contracts

Suit contracts offer more entry flexibility through trumps, but they present their own challenges.

Trump entries are versatile. With three small trumps in dummy, you can use them to ruff losers AND as entries to established suits. But there’s a limit—once you’ve ruffed three times, you’re out of dummy entries. Plan accordingly.

Cross-ruff considerations. In a cross-ruff, you’re using entries from both hands alternately to ruff different suits. Entry management becomes a delicate timing exercise. You need to cash side-suit winners before they get ruffed away, but you also need to preserve entries to execute the cross-ruff.

Dummy reversal. Sometimes the best plan is to ruff in the LONG trump hand and use the short trump hand to draw trumps. This requires careful entry management—you need multiple entries to the short hand to ruff repeatedly.

Example hand: You’re in 4♠ with ♠AQJ54 ♥A5 ♦K432 ♣K3 opposite ♠K2 ♥943 ♦A65 ♣AQ542. You have potential club losers. The solution? Establish dummy’s clubs by ruffing if needed, then use dummy’s ♠K and ♦A as entries to cash established clubs. But if you carelessly use the ♠K to draw trumps early, you’ve lost a vital entry.

Entry Management Example Hands

Let’s work through complete hands to see entry management in action.

Example 1: The Ducking Play

Dummy: ♠742 ♥A3 ♦AK654 ♣962
Declarer: ♠AKQ ♥K54 ♦82 ♣AKJ84

Contract: 3NT. You have seven top tricks (three spades, two hearts, two diamonds). You need two more from either diamonds or clubs. Diamonds offer better odds—if they split 3-2, you have five diamond tricks.

The wrong approach: Cash ♦AK, then lead a third diamond. Now diamonds are established, but you’re in your hand with no entry to dummy’s good diamonds.

The right approach: At trick two, lead a small diamond from hand and duck it in dummy (play low from both hands). The opponents win, but now you have ♦AK as entries to reach your established diamonds. You’ll make five diamond tricks instead of two.

Example 2: Careful Unblocking

Dummy: ♠A94 ♥Q3 ♦KQJ109 ♣642
Declarer: ♠KQJ ♥AK2 ♦A82 ♣AK95

Contract: 3NT. Opening lead: ♥J. You have eight top tricks and need one more from diamonds.

The danger: If you carelessly play ♦A first, then lead to dummy’s king, you’ve blocked the suit. You’re stuck in dummy with no entry back to your hand to reach your remaining high cards.

The solution: Lead the ♦2 to dummy’s ♦9 (or 10). If it wins, continue with the king and queen, overtaking your ace on the third round. You’ve unblocked the suit, allowing all five diamond tricks to cash. If the opponents cover the ♦9 with an honor, you win your ace and have an entry back to dummy’s remaining honors.

Example 3: Preserving Trump Entries

Dummy: ♠942 ♥AQ3 ♦AKQ52 ♣64
Declarer: ♠AKQ1075 ♥K2 ♦64 ♣A92

Contract: 4♠. Opening lead: ♣K. You have a club loser, a potential heart loser, and possibly a diamond loser if diamonds break badly.

Your plan should be to establish dummy’s diamonds. You can ruff the fourth diamond in hand, establishing the fifth diamond. Then you need an entry to dummy to cash it.

If you draw all the trumps immediately, you have no entry to dummy’s fifth diamond. Instead, draw two rounds of trumps, then start on diamonds. Ruff the fourth diamond, draw the last trump (if needed), and use dummy’s ♥AQ or a third trump as an entry to the established diamond.

This careful preservation of dummy entries turns a potential nine-trick hand into ten tricks.

Common Entry Mistakes

Even experienced players make these errors:

Blocking suits through careless play. Playing the king from KQ3 when dummy has A542 leaves you with a blocked suit. Lead small from your hand and win dummy’s ace, preserving the king-queen as entries or as cards to continue the suit.

Using entries before you need them. You overtake in dummy to take an unnecessary finesse, then discover you needed that entry for something more important. Plan your entire line of play before committing precious entries.

Failing to count entries. At trick one, count how many times you need to be in dummy and verify you have enough entries. If you don’t, adjust your plan immediately.

Drawing trumps without considering entries. Yes, usually you draw trumps. But if those small trumps in dummy are your only entries to an established suit, leave one as transportation.

Discarding entry cards under pressure. The opponents run a long suit, and you pitch what seems safe. Then you realize you’ve thrown away your only entry to dummy’s established suit. Before discarding, mentally review your entire plan.

Winning too early. In notrump, opponents lead a suit. You grab your ace immediately, only to discover you needed to hold up to preserve timing and entry coordination. The holdup play often serves double duty: disrupting opponent communication AND preserving entry flexibility.

Overtaking when you shouldn’t. Not every high card needs to be overtaken. If you’re in the right hand already, don’t waste an entry overtaking just because you can.

Master Your Entries, Master the Hand

Entry management isn’t glamorous. Nobody brags about a carefully preserved nine of hearts that served as a crucial entry. But these small decisions accumulate into tricks, and tricks become contracts made.

Every time you sit down as declarer, ask yourself: “Where are my entries? How many do I need? Which ones are flexible, and which are committed?” Answer those questions accurately, and you’ll find yourself making contracts that seem impossible to other players.

The cards don’t care about your beautiful five-card suit in dummy. They only care whether you can get there to cash it. That’s what entry management is all about—building the bridges you need to reach your winners and leave the opponents wondering how you pulled it off.

Start noticing entries in every hand you play. Count them, plan them, preserve them, and create them when you need them. Your percentage of made contracts will climb, and you’ll join the ranks of declarer players who make the difficult look easy.