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Euchre Column of the Month -- June 2003

By Joe Andrews

The Lighter Side of Euchre: “Euchre Court”
Last month's column featured a hand which was the central focus of a lawsuit in "Euchre Court.” It is reprinted for convenience.

“The Case of the Discarded Ace”
Exhibit A is a full deal that came up at a local Pub Championship. West and East, who were partners, became engaged in a rather nasty "tiff" after this hand was played. Here is the full deal:

After three passes, South picked up the King of Hearts, declared a Loner, and buried the Jack of Clubs. With four trump, including the Left and Right, the call was justified.

West (the opening leader) tabled the Ace of Diamonds. South ruffed with 10 of Hearts, and ran off three more tricks. East eventually got squeezed between his two Aces, and chose to drop the Ace of Spades. South's King was now good, and he claimed a juicy four points. The screaming was intense, and West threatened to sue East for discarding the wrong Ace. Finally the case landed in Euchre Court.

The verdict is in!
The jury rules in favor of the Defendant, East! BUT, he doesn't escape all of the blame! Here's why:

West is certainly at fault for leading his bare Ace into the Loner. Singleton Ace leads rarely work against a Loner. If West leads the King of Clubs (the top of two touching honor cards), no harm will come to his side. If South trumps this trick, West will now know the Queen of Clubs is useless. More importantly, East will know his Ace of Clubs is also of no value. If East does not have the Ace of Clubs, he can use his otherwise worthless trump on this trick (in case South has the Ace of Clubs). In the actual layout, West will come to the Ace of Diamonds, and East will come to the Ace of Spades on the fifth trick - the best possible defense for their side.

Final note: After the actual lead of the Ace of Diamonds, the defense can still recover. However, East must now read his partner's discards. West's discard of the Spade 10 on trick three indicates that he does not have a Spade stopper. When he tosses the Queen of Clubs on trick four, East must now release the Ace of Clubs. This motif of discarding the Ace of the same suit (by partner) on trick # 4 maximizes the defense. Yes, we know that all of this could have been avoided by the simple lead of a Club (or for that measure, the 10 of Spades).

So poor West loses out on his lawsuit, but he's lucky. If this were a criminal trial, he would have gone to Euchre jail, with East getting a suspended sentence!

The winners are: R. Davis and “Blue Thunder”! Congratulations!

Euchre Court, Part 2
“A Case of Misdirection”
You have been asked to stay on for another case. This deal came up at one of the "live" events. The Director was running a standard "8 x 8" event (eight hands versus each of eight teams). Let's check out the deal in question:

  Score: First of eight hands
  Upcard: Jack of Clubs
  Dealer: South
  Maker: North Assists
  Discard (by South): Queen of Diamonds

West, with first bid, decided to be foxy, and play for a Euchre. He quickly passed. After all, he figured that South would never turn down the Right. Really now? North pounced on the call like a snow leopard, and ordered the Right into his partner's hand.

West decided on an opening lead of the Spade nine, a dubious choice. North ruffed with his Club Queen, and shifted to the Jack of Diamonds (in case his partner held the lone Right). South was thrilled to win the Right via the ruffing route, and the Left completed a point for the N/S team. Yes, there was lots of screaming here. East and West each retained attorneys, and the battle was on. Once again, you are on the jury. This time East is the Plaintiff, suing West for “ruining their game.” You have seen the play. Was Defendant West's nine of Spades an inspirational lead? Could Plaintiff East have done anything to salvage the defense?

Who do you rule in favor of this time, and why?