The Bath Coup is simply a hold-up of the Ace when the Jack is also held. This play is one I use in desperate situations when I must develop an extra trick in a tight game. Frequently in 4th position I will duck the King when I hold the Ace, Jack and a small card in the suit. For example:

North 7 4 3 2 West K Q 10 6 East 9 5 South (you) A J 8

The K is led and is allowed to hold the trick. West usually thinks his pard is holding the A, especially since most have no real signaling methods here. (East will play the 5 and hope pard might deduce that it is a small one and switch. But even that would be difficult in this case because the 432 are all in the same hand. The 5 may look like a signal for a continuation in that suit when the 3 and 4 are concealed.) Most of the time West will continue diamonds and you will score your Jack, while still holding the boss diamond.

I know some of you are going to say, "What if it is a singleton king?" I would say "Keep leading singleton kings against me and see where it will get ya!" - lol. It is a percentage play worth trying whenever you need to squeeze an extra trick to make your bid or when trying for a set on a 12-bid. But it must never be tried when holding four cards in the suit; a 3-card holding is risky enough.

The Bath Coup is easiest when the suit is spades. A different situation occurs when you hold:

North A 5 3 2 West K Q 10 6 East 9 7 4 South (you) J 8

Now when the K is led, North ducks. West will continue with a low card and North will duck again, running to your jack. This is a second example of the Bath coup in action.

I don't know how many baths you give your opponents but I try for two or three a day myself - lol. I hope this helps some, whether you use it or not at least you learned a couple of new words, "Bath Coup."

Regards,
Ruffkid1 (Jay Tomlinson)

[Historical note: The Bath Coup is so named because it was discovered and popularized nearly 200 years ago by Whist players in the town of Bath, England. Its effectiveness in the side suits is generally based not on winning extra tricks but on severing communications between the two opponents, as in Jay's first example.-- Master Spades]