The Throw-In Play in Bridge

The throw-in is one of bridge’s most satisfying plays. Instead of having to guess which way to finesse or which suit to play, you simply force an opponent to lead—and whatever they choose gives you the trick you need. It’s like handing someone a menu where every option benefits you.

What Is a Throw-In?

A bridge throw in (also called an endplay or elimination play) is a technique where you deliberately give an opponent the lead in a position where any return helps you. The opponent is “thrown in” with no safe exit.

When thrown in, the opponent faces an impossible choice:

  • Lead away from a key honor (giving you a free finesse)
  • Give you a ruff and discard (allowing you to discard a loser while trumping in the other hand)
  • Open up a suit you didn’t want to touch yourself

The throw-in works because you’ve eliminated the defender’s safe exit cards. They’re stuck holding a hot potato, and anything they do helps your cause.

Here’s a simple example. You’re in 4♠ and you’ve reached this ending:

         ♠ —
         ♥ K 5
         ♦ —
         ♣ A 8
    
♠ —              ♠ —
♥ Q J 9          ♥ 10 6
♦ —              ♦ —
♣ K 7            ♣ Q J

         ♠ A
         ♥ A 7
         ♦ —
         ♣ 6 4

You lead a club to dummy’s ace, and West wins the king. Now West must either lead hearts (giving you two heart tricks instead of one) or lead a club (giving you a ruff-and-discard). Either way, you make your contract.

That’s the essence of a throw-in: you engineer a position where the opponent’s forced lead solves your problem.

Why Use Throw-Ins?

Throw-ins let you avoid guessing. Bridge is full of two-way finesses, suit combinations with multiple possible plays, and unclear distributions. The throw-in cuts through all that uncertainty.

Avoid dangerous leads: Some suits are dangerous to lead yourself. If you have AQ opposite 743, you’d love the opponents to lead that suit rather than guess the position of the king. A throw-in makes them do your dirty work.

Guarantee tricks: When you can count your tricks and you’re one short, a throw-in often manufactures that extra trick. You’re not hoping the finesse works—you’re making it work by forcing the lead.

Preserve entries: Leading from the wrong hand can cost crucial transportation. Throw-ins let opponents solve your entry problems by leading to you.

Save time: Why work out complex elimination sequences or percentage plays when you can just throw someone in and let them untangle the mess?

The throw-in is essentially a forcing play. You give up control temporarily to gain it back with interest.

Setting Up the Throw-In: Eliminating Exit Cards

The key to a successful throw-in is elimination. You must remove the defender’s safe exit cards before throwing them in. If they can safely exit in a neutral suit, your throw-in fails.

A typical elimination sequence:

  1. Draw trumps (usually) so they can’t exit safely in the trump suit
  2. Ruff out side suits so those suits are eliminated from both hands
  3. Throw them in with your carefully-chosen loser
  4. Collect your reward when they have no safe return

Here’s the process in action. You’re in 6♥ with these cards:

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

You have eleven top tricks. The twelfth could come from clubs (3-3 break or finesse) or diamonds (3-3 break). Rather than guess, you eliminate and throw-in.

The play:

  1. Win the opening spade lead in dummy
  2. Draw trumps (three rounds)
  3. Cash ♠AK (eliminating spades from both hands)
  4. Cash ♦AK (eliminating most of your diamonds)
  5. Cash ♣AK
  6. Lead a third club

Whoever wins the club is endplayed. A spade or diamond return gives you a ruff-and-discard (pitch a club loser while ruffing in the other hand). A club return is impossible after you’ve eliminated your clubs. You make twelve tricks without guessing.

The elimination phase takes patience. You’re setting the stage, removing every safe escape route. Only after the preparation is complete do you spring the trap.

Strip and Endplay: The Classic Combination

“Strip and endplay” is bridge jargon for the throw-in technique. You strip the hand of exit cards, then endplay an opponent by throwing them in.

The strip phase requires counting. You need to track:

  • Which suits are eliminated (both hands void)
  • Which suits are one-way (eliminated from one hand only)
  • Which suits remain as potential exits

If you leave an opponent with a safe exit, your careful stripping was wasted.

Consider this complete deal in 4♠:

         ♠ K Q 4
         ♥ A 8 3
         ♦ K J 5
         ♣ A 9 6 2

♠ 7 5            ♠ 6 3
♥ Q J 10 9       ♥ 7 6 5 2
♦ 10 9 8 6       ♦ Q 7 4 3
♣ K 7 4          ♣ Q J 10

         ♠ A J 10 9 8 2
         ♥ K 4
         ♦ A 2
         ♦ 8 5 3

West leads the ♥Q. You have nine tricks (six spades, two hearts, two diamonds). The tenth could come from clubs, but you’d need the finesse to work or a 3-3 break.

Strip and endplay line:

  1. Win ♥A in dummy
  2. Draw trumps (cash ♠KQ, then ♠A)
  3. Cash ♥K (eliminating hearts)
  4. Cash ♦AK (eliminating diamonds)
  5. Lead a club toward dummy

West is caught. If West rises with the ♣K, dummy’s ♣A captures it and the ♣9 is your tenth trick. If West plays low, dummy’s ♣9 forces East’s honor, and later you throw West in with a club. West must then give you a ruff-and-discard or lead from ♣K into dummy’s ♣A.

The strip was crucial. Without eliminating hearts and diamonds, West could safely exit in those suits after winning the club.

Loser-on-Loser Throw-Ins

Sometimes you need to lose two tricks to execute your throw-in. The loser-on-loser technique lets you control which opponent wins which trick.

The basic idea: instead of ruffing a loser, you discard a different loser. This allows you to throw in the specific opponent you want on lead.

Here’s a deal where this matters:

         ♠ A Q 5
         ♥ K 8 3
         ♦ A 9 6 2
         ♣ 7 5 2

♠ 7 3            ♠ 6 4
♥ J 10 9 6 5     ♥ Q 7 4
♦ K J 5          ♦ Q 10 8 7
♣ K 9 4          ♣ Q J 10 6

         ♠ K J 10 9 8 2
         ♥ A 2
         ♦ 4 3
         ♣ A 8 3

You’re in 4♠ and West leads the ♥J. You have nine tricks and need one more. The club finesse is wrong, so a normal line fails.

Loser-on-loser solution:

  1. Win ♥A, draw trumps
  2. Lead a heart to dummy’s king
  3. Lead a third heart from dummy
  4. Discard a club instead of ruffing

East wins and is endplayed. A club return runs into your ♣A, making dummy’s ♣7 a trick. A diamond return picks up the suit for you (whether East leads the ♦Q or a low diamond, you can eventually score ♦A and one diamond ruff). A heart return gives a ruff-and-discard.

By throwing a club loser on the heart loser, you guaranteed East would be on lead in the endplay position. If you had ruffed the third heart, you couldn’t throw East in later.

Loser-on-loser plays feel counterintuitive (you’re refusing a ruff!), but they’re powerful throw-in tools. You sacrifice one trick to guarantee you get the trick you really need.

Defensive Throw-Ins

Throw-ins aren’t just for declarers. Defenders can throw in the declarer or dummy, forcing them to break a key suit or use up a crucial entry at the wrong time.

The defensive throw-in typically arises when:

  • Declarer has limited entries between hands
  • A suit needs to be led twice from the same side
  • You can force declarer to open up a frozen suit

Here’s a defensive example:

         ♠ 7 6 2
         ♥ A 5
         ♦ K Q J 10
         ♣ A 8 4 2

♠ K Q J 10       ♠ 9 8 5
♥ 9 8 7 6        ♥ Q J 10
♦ 5 4            ♦ 9 8 7
♣ K 7 6          ♣ Q J 10 9

         ♠ A 4 3
         ♥ K 4 3 2
         ♦ A 6 3 2
         ♣ 5 3

Contract: 3NT by South. West leads ♠K.

Declarer has eight tricks (four diamonds, two hearts, one spade, one club). The ninth could come from clubs or hearts. If declarer leads clubs, West must duck the first round. If West takes ♣K immediately, declarer has time to establish clubs. But if West ducks smoothly, declarer may take a losing heart finesse to East.

Now East throws declarer in by exiting a heart. Declarer wins in hand but has no entry back to dummy’s diamonds except the ♣A. When declarer leads a club, West takes ♣K and cashes spades. Down one.

The defensive throw-in (giving declarer the heart trick) cut declarer’s communications and prevented nine tricks.

Example Throw-In Hands

Let’s walk through some complete examples to see throw-ins in different contexts.

Example 1: The Simple Finesse Avoidance

Contract: 6♦
         ♠ A 8 4
         ♥ K 3
         ♦ K Q J 10 5
         ♣ 7 6 2

         ♠ K Q 5
         ♥ A 8 6
         ♦ A 9 7 6 2
         ♣ A 5

You have eleven tricks. The twelfth requires the spade finesse or the club finesse—but which one? Strip and throw-in eliminates the guess.

Win the heart lead, draw trumps, cash the other top heart, then exit with a club. Whoever wins must either give you a spade trick (by leading spades) or a ruff-and-discard (by leading clubs or hearts). You don’t need to guess which finesse works.

Example 2: Trump Coup Preparation

Contract: 4♥
         ♠ A K 5
         ♥ K 7 4
         ♦ Q 8 6 3
         ♣ A 6 2

         ♠ 7 4
         ♥ A Q J 10 6
         ♦ A K 5
         ♣ 8 5 3

The play: Win the club lead in dummy. Cash one top spade, then two top hearts. When trumps break 3-1, you need the outstanding trump. Rather than let the defender cash it naturally, eliminate spades and diamonds, then throw them in with the trump. They must give you a ruff-and-discard, letting you dispose of a club loser.

Example 3: Partial Elimination

Contract: 3NT
         ♠ Q 8 5
         ♥ A 6
         ♦ K Q J 9 3
         ♣ 10 7 2

         ♠ A K 7
         ♥ K 5 4 3
         ♦ A 10 4
         ♣ A 6 3

After a spade lead, you have eight tricks. You could try clubs (needing 3-3 or queen in three) or hearts (needing 3-3). Instead, cash ♠AK, ♦AKQ, then exit with a spade. The opponent on lead must either open hearts (solving your problem) or lead clubs (giving you time to develop your ninth trick). Even a partial elimination (just spades) can create throw-in chances.

Common Throw-In Mistakes

Even experienced players mess up throw-ins. Here are the most common errors:

Drawing too many trumps: Sometimes you need a trump in each hand for the ruff-and-discard to work. If you draw every trump, the opponent can safely exit in any eliminated suit—you have no trump left to ruff with.

Forgetting to eliminate completely: Leaving one card in an eliminated suit is fatal. If an opponent has an exit card in that suit, your whole plan collapses. Count carefully during the strip phase.

Throwing in the wrong opponent: When only one defender is throwable, you must be careful which one wins the throw-in trick. Use loser-on-loser technique or carefully select your exit card to target the right opponent.

Eliminating too early: If you strip suits before drawing trumps, opponents may ruff your winners. The usual order is: draw trumps, eliminate, then throw in. Exceptions exist, but think carefully before deviating.

Assuming an opponent has a key card: Your throw-in only works if the opponent you throw in has the cards you’re playing for. If you throw in the wrong defender (one who doesn’t hold the key honor), you’ve wasted your opportunity.

Failing to count: Throw-ins require counting both winners and losers. You need to know exactly which trick you’re trying to manufacture and whether the throw-in timing is right.

Rushing: The throw-in is often the contract’s final phase. Players sometimes relax and make careless plays (drawing one too many trumps, forgetting to cash a key winner). Stay focused through the entire sequence.

The throw-in is a beautiful play because it shifts the burden to the defenders. You’re no longer guessing—you’ve made their guess impossible. They must hand you the trick you need.

Master the Bridge Throw In

The throw-in transforms difficult contracts into sure things. When you spot the opportunity to eliminate and endplay, you’ve found bridge magic: instead of hoping for the right card position, you force the opponents to solve your problem.

Start looking for throw-in possibilities whenever you:

  • Have a two-way guess
  • Need one more trick and have time to eliminate
  • Can force an opponent on lead in the right position

With practice, you’ll spot these positions earlier and execute them smoothly. Your opponents will shake their heads, wondering how you always seem to guess right—but you’ll know you didn’t guess at all. You made them do the work.

The bridge throw in is one of the game’s most elegant weapons. Learn to wield it, and you’ll win contracts that would otherwise require pure luck.

Back to Encyclopedia