Tuesday, March 21, 2006

It comes crashing down

Euchre QOD: “Losing sucks.”

Euchre Haiku:
Play tough all season
Build a big second game lead
Lose to a loner

Euchre Palaver
“Promotion” – Increasing the power of a lower card in any suit. This occurs when any of the higher cards are played on an earlier trick. For example, if you have the Left Bower and the Right Bower is played on an earlier trick, the Left is “promoted” to the highest ranked card.

League Update
Well, we went down. Finished in 5th or 6th place. So troubling. We started out so well too and our opponents were not what I’d call “tough”. In the first game, my partner and I cruised to a 9-3 victory. The second game started well too. We were up 6-3 and my partner was dealing. Clubs is turned up and I have nothing so I pass. Both opponents pass and my partner picks it up. First opponent leads Ace of hearts and I have to follow as does my partner. Next comes the Ace of spades which I follow with a nine. This time my partner trumps in. She next leads the Jack of hearts which gets trumped low by our opponents and I have to follow suit. Opponent shows the Right bower and we’re set moving the score to 6-5. Her hand was two suited with three trump and two hearts. Not a bad call but an unlucky lie of the cards.

On our opponents deal, he orders up a King of Diamonds and makes a point (6-6). On my deal, I turn up the Nine of clubs (my favorite suit). The opponent to my left says “Alone”. Of course, I have nothing higher than a Queen in my hand and the 9 is my only trump. He lays down the top 4 trump and my partner and I throw out our garbage. He then tries to float the King of Diamonds. My partner holds the Ace of hearts, I lay down my highest card (Queen of Diamonds) and we lose the game. 6-10 Terrible luck!!

The final game of the match starts with us being euchred on the same hand that my partner was euchred on in the previous game two suited, three trump hand. (0-2). Next our opponent deals himself a hidden loner (didn’t turn up a bower) and he makes it (0-6). The rest is a slow bleed until we lose 5-10. We tried a couple of loners to get back into it but it just wasn’t meant to be.

It was a good season for us. But I think with a few different calls we could have won this match. Yes, we would have had to play perfect euchre, but the potential for us to win was there. Sometimes, your play won’t matter and you’ll lose. That’s euchre. This wasn’t one of those times.

Euchre Strategy Question of the Week
The score is 6-3 and you are dealer. You order it up with the following hand…
Ace of Clubs
King of Clubs
Ten of Clubs
Queen of Hearts
Ten of Hearts

The first card lead is the Ace of Hearts and everyone follows suit. The opponent next leads the Ace of Spades. Your partner follows suit as does your right hand opponent. You trump with the Ten of Clubs.

What should you play next? Ace of Clubs, King of Clubs, or Queen of Hearts?

We’ll discuss the answer later in the week.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems to me Perry needs to brush up on his etiquette. Dissing specific apponents and accusing others of cheating in an online forum is cowardly and rude and just plain "un-euchre-ly"

Perry said...

Thanks for the comments. "Apponents"? What are those?

I'll keep the etiquette suggestion in mind. "Not tough" doesn't mean they were bad. Just "not tough". My partner and I were "not tough" last night either.

Incidentally, no one was called a cheater, there was just the suspicion of cheating. I certainly could have been mistaken.

Kevin said...

Hm, for the strategy question, I think I would lead the queen of hearts. There is at most one leftover, so you might have a chance of seeing a bower come out (preferably from your partner!). If your opponents win, you're able to cut if they play diamonds or spades (though they know you're void). Good question though, for me it's not very cut-and-dry.

Aparently I did a little better at our one-night tournament than you did! There should be a post on my site soon, if you're interested.

Perry said...

That's what my partner played (twice) and we got set both times. I'm leaning towards playing a trump.

Leading the queen of hearts is almost the same as leading trump. However, you give the opponents the option not to trump. Playing a trump could draw out your opponents trumps and "promote" your ace to be a winner. I'll have to try it out in the euchre lab.

Kevin said...

Haha, actually now that you mention it, that happened to me tonight. My partner was dealer and called black trump. I won a hearts trick with the ace, and everyone followed. I decided to lead my other heart, expecting my partner to be void, but indeed he was two suited with hearts. We got set that hand.

Anonymous said...

What does the "QOD" stand for in Euchre QOD?

Perry said...

Quote of the Day.