hold all the aces

1. Also, hold all the trumps. Be in a winning position, as in We can't argue with Jeff; he holds all the aces, or If Jean refuses, he'll reveal that he holds all the trumps and force her to give in. These expressions allude to card games in which the ace or a trump card outranks all the others. Also see play one's cards right; trump card.

Example Sentences

The BBC's Europe correspondent Kevin Connolly said the EU side "appears to hold all the aces" at the summit.

From BBC

When a manager gives a player an ultimatum like that he better hold all the aces.

From BBC

In fact, though, America doesn’t “hold all the aces.”

From Slate

In winning the big four, Rutherford has gone further still than those two friends and team-mates and become only the fifth British athlete after Daley Thompson, Sally Gunnell, Linford Christie and Jonathan Edwards to hold all the aces at the same time.

From BBC

Lewis Hamilton says his Formula One title duel with Mercedes team mate and championship leader Nico Rosberg is like a game of poker but the dominant duo may not hold all the aces in Belgium this weekend.

From Reuters