GAME TIPS & STRATEGIES

The following ideas are simply suggestions, just that, since nothing is written in stone. You may develop or already have some strategies of your own. In the meantime…

SORT YOUR CARDS. When picking up your cards, you should sort your hand into suits, alternating colors. Look for Jacks that could be Bowers in a Trump bid, or Aces for a No Trump bid (and for taking “off-suit” tricks). Always remember that there is two of every card in the double-deck.

IF YOU’RE NEW, HAVE FUN ! If you have never played this game or regular Euchre before, don’t read any more of these Tips and Strategies at this time! Instead, jump right in and play the game, learn from your mistakes and have fun while you get better and better. Later, when you read over these ideas and suggestions, you’ll have had some experiences of your own to make them more relevant. Later, you’ll enjoy some of those ‘AHA!’ moments making you grin like a Cheshire cat and looking forward to playing the next game.

DON’T LET BIDS JUST “PASS” YOU BY. Be aggressive in your bidding, not passive. If you’re a beginner and not quite sure if you’ve picked the correct bid, go ahead and try it? Don’t wait for the perfectly safe hand. If you overbid and get euchred, you’ll learn some valuable lessons. You don’t have to be silly, but take some risks and get the old adrenaline pumping through those veins!

HELP GET THINGS STARTED. When you’re the first or second person to bid, give your partner an idea what you have in your hand, even by making a low two or three bid. He or she might increase your bid, or possibly switch the suit, maybe even call for a “Best One or Two” based on your call. The point is, your partner will not be “flying blind” because you’ll have let it be known where some strength lies, even if you think it’s a weak hand.

THIRD PLAYER MAY BUMP THE BID. If your partner bids three or four in a suit, and you’re the third person to bid, why not up your partner’s bid if you have a Bower or some non-trump “outside Aces” in your hand. This might possibly force the dealer to overbid, or grudgingly pass because your bid can’t be topped.

DEALERS DON’T USUALLY BUMP. If you are the dealer, there’s no real need to increase your partner’s bid unless you have a “Best” or “Moonshot” bid that could earn extra points for your team. You’ll count as many tricks as your team takes, no matter how many you bid. Dealers usually “pass” and go with their partner’s bid.

DON’T SIMPLY LET THEM TAKE THE WIN. If the other team is nearing 52 points to go out, make your opponents earn the win. Without being outrageous, make challenging bids; you may actually take the number of tricks that you bid. Or the other side might overbid you, then get euchred and lose points. Who knows? The point is, make it exciting right to the end!

COUNT ON YOUR PARTNER FOR ONE POINT. When bidding, it’s reasonable to count on your partner to take one trick. But, if your teammate takes more than one trick consider it a bonus. Don’t bank on it!

A VOID COULD BE WORTH A TRICK. When bidding, if you have no cards in one suit (called a void), you can count that as a possible trick, because when that suit is led by another player, you can trump in.

THREE BOWERS ARE NEEDED FOR A “BEST”. When calling for Best One or Best Two in a trump suit, you should have the two Right Bowers and one Left Bower at the very least. Otherwise you will almost certainly get euchred. Remember there are 10 cards in the trump suit when you add in the two “Lefts”.

A “BEST NO TRUMP” NEEDS BOSS CARDS. When calling for Best One or Best Two in No Trump, you will need the “boss cards” meaning both Aces, and Kings, in one or more suits. If you have a run of cards in one suit, remember there are eight cards in each suit. Do you have four or more, and are they “boss cards”?

NOT MUCH TO GIVE YOUR PARTNER ? When called to give your Best One or Two, if you have no trump cards or Aces, give your partner cards from the suit which you bid, or a suit where you have the least cards, because it’s possible they may have a run in that suit.

LEAD YOUR STRONG TRUMP. If your trump bid is 5 or more tricks, then lead the Right Bower and watch the cards as they are played. You want to flush out any singleton trump cards, or some Bowers. You’ll find out if any players are out of trump; hopefully it’s not your own partner! If that is the case, trump may be concentrated in just two hands, yours and one of the opposing players. You will have to play the hand with what we call SKROOJILITY™, meaning to play your cards with great skill and cunning while exercising extreme caution, because you know there are sharks in the pool.

IF YOUR PARTNER IS OUT OF TRUMP and you’re still in a strong position, then continue to lead your Boss trump cards. However, if you are not strong in trumps, play your off-suit Aces.

DON’T BLEED YOUR PARTNER. On the other hand, when the opposition is out of trump, don’t keep drawing trump from your partner’s hand; he/she can use them to win tricks for you. Again, play your off-suit Aces, and keep control of the lead as long as possible.

ALWAYS TAKE THE TRICK if you have the opportunity, rather than hoping your partner will win the trick when it gets around to him or her to play a card.

SECOND ACES in the same off-suit very seldom make it through without being trumped. When a suit is declared trump, there are only six to eight cards in the non-trump suits, spread among four hands. You do the math!

NEVER TRUMP YOUR PARTNER’S ACE unless you only have trump left in your hand, or if it’s the second Ace of an off-suit your partner’s trying to push through. Also, if you strongly believe the opposition is void in the suit led and will trump in, then you might want to trump your partner’s Ace.

ALWAYS TRUMP YOUR PARTNER’S KING if you are void in the suit that is led, rather than chance losing the trick to your opponents.

DON’T SEND A BOY TO DO A MAN’S JOB! If you’re the second or third player, don’t play a low trump card and let the opposing team possibly take the trick with a slightly higher trump card. You should force them to play their high trump or slough off.

UPPING YOUR PARTNER’S BID. If you upped your partner’s bid, and won the bid, then lead with the highest Bower in your hand. This will let your partner know where it is. The opposition may take the trick if they have a Right Bower over your Left, but you will have forced two Bowers out of the bushes. However, if you do win the trick, play any other “winning” cards in your hand. Then play a low trump card, if you have one, to let your partner win a trick and hopefully take over control of the hand.