Overplay your hand

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on June 08, 2007

In Reply to: Overplay your hand posted by Missy on June 08, 2007

: I am looking for the origin and meaning of the phrase "overplay your hand"

It's a card-playing term. In a game such as whist or bridge every player is dealt a "hand" of cards at the beginning of the game and must decide how best to "play their hand", i.e. how to use their cards to maximum advantage. If you err on the side of overconfidence, and try to win tricks that your hand really isn't good enough to win, and lose as a result, you are said to have overplayed your hand. (VSD)

• Overplay your hand Smokey Stover 09/June/07