Euchre Tips and Strategies

Euchre Column of the Month – November 2004

By Joe Andrews

Beginner's Korner -- Bidding Basics - Part I

There are many theories, approaches, and techniques for bidding in Euchre. Lots of material on this subject has been published. No matter how well you and your partner are able to play hands, consistently poor bidding will lead to disappointing results It does not matter whether you are playing Tens (the standard game), or Progressive (the tournament game). Overly aggressive bidding with thin holdings will lead to sets (Euchres). On the other side of the coin, a very conservative style will allow the opposition to steal a lot of hands. Factors which influence your bidding are:

               a. The format of the game (Tens or Progressive)
               b. The turned card (the upcard)
               c. The strength of your hand (especially the trump suit)
               d. Your partner's ability
               e. The strength of the opposition

Here are a few helpful tips:

1. The chances are the dealer will hold at least one trump. When you order to the dealer, you are allowing him to make a discard, and to add the upturned trump to his hand. He may be discarding the (side) suit in which you hold the Ace. If you are set, you yield two points, and gain only one point if you win three or four tricks. (If you march, you will win two points). The odds must be approximately 2-1 in your favor to order to the dealer.

2. If you are in the Eldest seat (to the left of the dealer), you must pass if you have weak hand. If you hold strength in the "next" suit (same color suit as the upcard), and the Left bower of the turned card, lay low, and hope that the dealer passes. Then you can call "next", with an edge. (Now the Left bower will become the Right bower). A lot of players will call "next" with only one trump card !

3. If you are the dealer's partner, you should assist (order) to your partner if you have two decent trump and a side Ace. Some aggressive players will order to partner if they hold the singleton Left bower, and a side Ace. When the Right bower is turned, and your partner is the dealer, you must be very leery of ordering to him, as it may deprive him of a Loner call. (This will be covered in Part 2 in the December 2004 column).

Discard of the Year? Bad Break of the Year? A Scary Halloween Hand?

Once in a while, a hand comes along worthy of discussion. I was playing in a live tourney in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada (For the record, if you have not visited Niagara Falls, I suggest that you check out this natural wonder, and go across one of the bridges to the Canadian side! ) At the October '04 Euchre Bash, I had the opportunity to observe this interesting hand. The format was Progressive.

	North K J K K Q None
West 10 Q J None Q 9		East Q None 10 9 J 10
	South ( Dealer) 9 A A A K

UPCARD - ACE OF SPADES

You will love this analysis! West passed, and North ordered the Ace of spades to South. For the record, whenever partner orders to you, a good technique is to discard a plain suit, preferably next. With A - K of clubs, that was impossible. That left the choice of ditching one of the singleton red suit Aces - a very tough decision.

Which Ace should be released? With his four Ace monster, South decided to bury the NINE OF SPADES! (Dropping the King of clubs would have been better, and surely, most players would have made this choice.) South had to make a decision. The nine of Spades apparently was not a key card, as North surely had three trump, or both Bowers. -And South had the Aces to cover the side suits.

West got off to a great start with the Queen of hearts, and North's King was trumped with the Queen of spades, as the heart Ace came tumbling down! The ten of diamonds (from West) came next, and Ace # 2 was blown away with the cheesy ten of trump! And the coup de grace was administered with another heart lead, as North's Right bower was x-rayed or skewered. It did not matter whether North partner cut with the Right or discarded. The Left was sure to win en passant. What followed was a lively (an understatement) post-mortem discussion.

1. Hindsight analysis indicates that South should have kept the nine of trump, and dropped the Ace Of HEARTS. This prevents East from scoring his Queen of Spades, as South would overtrump with the Ace of spades, and then return the nine of spades to partner's Right bower.

2. The technically correct discard of the King of Clubs, keeping all four Aces and the nine of trumps, fails here. East still trumps the heart lead, returns a diamond for his partner to cut, and the Left will still triumph after West pushes another heart through.

3. Does discarding the Ace of DIAMONDS work? Yes, indeed! West will still lead the hearts, and East will still trump with his Queen. However, his return of a diamond will be trumped with the ACE of spades. The normal cut with the nine of spades loses to the ten. Thus, the nine is basically worthless.

Conclusion:

a. In this layout, the nine of spades has value only if South chooses to discard a red Ace, instead of the technically correct King of clubs.

b. South must anticipate that East and West will each be void in a red suit.

c. North's call was a bit on the borderline side, as the side suits were somewhat weak.

d. Hindsight will always tell you what to discard, and how to play a hand.

Would you have tossed a red Ace away, and kept the King of clubs if the Ace of spades was ordered to you?

Was the East / West team incredibly lucky, or were North / South very unlucky?

If you have any comments, please send them to heartsmoon@aol.com.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!