Lead up to leading

Euchre QOD: “Lead ‘em if ya got ‘em.”

Euchre Haiku:
Staring at the cards
Wondering which one to lead
Let math be your guide

Euchre Palaver
“Leading” – The action of laying out the first card of a trick. The person in the first seat left of the dealer gets the privilege of leading any card to start the game. All subsequent tricks are led by the winner of the previous trick.

Savvy Strategies
After the bidding is completed and the real euchre “play” has begun, the occupant of the first seat has to make a decision on what to lead. This lead can be crucial to success.

Two rules of thumb are applicable. Summarized from the 10 commandments. (numbers 5 & 6)

1. If your team ordered it up, lead a trump.
2. If the opponents ordered it up, don’t lead a trump.

While these are good guidelines, they’re vague on what you should lead if neither of those are applicable. Perhaps you don’t have a trump and your partner ordered. They also don’t take into account the score of the game. In the next few days, we’ll consider what should be led at the start of the game.