Euchre Basics

Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

Back in February 2007, one of the more skilled players on hardwood euchre, started a forum posting offering some basic tips on playing euchre- the first post included the following:

The Next call: if the deal is turned down say Diamonds, the player in the 1st seat calls Hearts. This is not an automatic call but can be a good one as the Dealers P didn’t order it. You don’t have to have a strong hand to call Next. If the 2nd seat calls Next ( the dealers P ) they would have to be very strong in Hearts as the Dealer has nothing or is waiting for a Black call.
Crossing the Creek:If the Deal is turned down say Diamonds, the player in the 1st seat calls Black, you are looking for trouble with this call unless you are strong as % wise your P is more than likely waiting for a next call. Please remember that these are basic % tips, i am not saying not to call the opposite, but be careful. (I Love This Call)
Leading Trump: In General leading trump is a positive but by no means Gospel. If you know your Ps play leading Trump to them could kill them in the 1st round, but in general if you have a Bower lead it. This can be a very touchy subject with some players. I find that players who consistantly want Trump lead to them will never make a thin call. I believe Offsuit play is the key to this game, Trump takes care of itself. Experiment with leading Offsuits as this is the crux of good cross Trumping.
Ordering the Opposition: It is imperitive that you or your P leads Trump here if you have one.
Double Leading Offsuit to your P: All i will say here is DON’T double lead an Offsuit to your P until Trump has been lead, you will set Him/Her unless they are very strong. But a double lead to the opposition to the player on your left can reap big dividends as they will have to play a high card to stop your P Trumping in.
Leading Trump when in Opposition: This can be a huge weapon especially if you or your P has Aces, it brings them into play, if you lead trump and you take that trick lead them again if you have one. It will come down to the Ace Offsuits in the last two rounds. Once you have stopped their 2 points it’s fairly certain you won’t set them by leading Offsuit at them.
The 4TH and 5TH Card: If you make Trump and you take the 1st three
tricks and you have one Trump and a lousy Offsuit left DON’T lead trump, your P may have two Aces in hand. Lead the Offsuit in hope that your P has the Ace, and you will get the last. What i am really saying here is, Don’t lead trump on the 4th card unless you are pretty sure you can take the 5th trick.
Blocking: This is the most talked about subject in Euchre bar none. Without a doubt you do have to block with a Deck of cards 9s up. You will find in New Zealand and Australia where the game is played with a deck of 7s up Blocking is not that common. What i will say on Blocking is that if you are in a strong position, ie. you are on 8 or 9 and the opposition are 5, 6 or 7 and they turn up a Bower or a card that you have none of and have no Aces i would make that Insurance Block because % wise you will go out on your deal. Give them 2. I will not get into a Blocking debate as we all see it differently. I have seen some very good players get slaughtered by not blocking at a crucial time of the game when it was common sense to do so. I did a little Study on HW potential Loners and over 1000 games which i watched over 18mths. Every 3.65 Hands dealt are potential Loners, thats why i am sure a Block is required at some stage in some Games. When i 1st came into HW i never Blocked but the 9s up Deck got me in the end. Just remember though that approximately 70% of Blocks are Wrong.
What Do I Lead To My P: A general Rule to take note of is that there are Potentially 7 Trump Cards, 6 Long suit and 5 Next one’s. If my P Makes Trump and i lead a Spade Ace Offsuit and my P ditches say a small Heart and i take that trick i would NOT lead a Heart to Him/Her as that would tell me in general that % wise He/She is 2 suited with any luck. If my P ditched a big Heart like the Ace or King i would possibly lead a Heart back even if i had trump, the Trump might come in handy later.
3RD Seat Call: This is the toughest seat to call from as everyone has passed except the Dealer. If you call from this seat a strong hand is imperative. A good seat to pass on.
Final Point: In general Trump should be lead before you start leading Aces but an Ace lead in the 1st round can be ok if the opposition has turned down Red and you lead a Black Ace or Vice Versa, Hey 75% of the time its good.

Now, some three years later, this one forum thread has continued and stirred some lively debates, provided some great analysis of ‘best play’, and grown to over 20 pages !! Well done ‘TheG’ – what a generous contribution - check it out – very good reading for those who are serious about playing a more skilled game of euchre.