Four days is too long

Sorry Euchre Universe Enthusiasts. I've been out on vacation and didn't have easy access to the Internet. The beer, the baseball, and the euchre all conspired to hinder production of the blog. But I'm back now. On to the Universe...

Euchre QOD: "

Euchre Hakiu:
Watch the cards closely
Clues can be found on each one
Nicks betray bowers

Euchre Palavar:
"Readers" - Cards that are marked such that they can be easily identified when looked at face down. Some cheaters will knowingly bend the cards in a certain manner to easily identify bowers and aces. But cards naturally pick up nicks and marks and noticeing these is just good euchre strategy.

Savvy Strategies:
Since euchre is such a lucky game, even a very slight advantage can be the difference between winning and losing. Whenever you use a deck of cards for any length of time, they will pick up distinguishing marks. For example, last week during the play-off match it was pointed out by one of our opponents that the Jack of Clubs had a bent corner. I assume it picked this up naturally and wasn't the result of some nefarious action.

After it was pointed out, each time I delt I looked for the bent corner so I often knew where the Jack of Club went. It came in handy on one particular deal when I felt that the cut card had the bent corner. When the Jack of Spades was turned up and I held the Ace of spades, I knew that I had 2 gauranteed tricks. I ordered, we marched and won the match.

The bottom line is look for distinguishing marks and nicks at the start of every euchre game. An easy way to do this is to take the pack in your hands, square it up, and riffle through the cards one at a time. You will quickly see if there are any foreign marks that you can use later during the match.

Use this strategy cautiously however! It's easy to mistakenly think one card is somewhere when it really is somewhere else. (Until you get good that is). Also, others might recognize distinguishing marks. When this happens, it's time to ask for a new deck. Your advantage is gone and it's best to take it away from everyone.

One final note, while it's ok to look for marks & nicks that are already on the cards, it is totally unethical to put them on yourself. This is cheating and we here at the Euchre Universe do not recommend it.

League Night:
Tonight is round 2 of playoffs. We're undefeated so far. Hopefully, we can keep it up.