Euchre Strategy - Two Bower hand defense

Euchre QOD: “Play passive when you’re strong”

Euchre Haiku:
Strong hands on defense
They require passive play
Hang your opponents

Euchre Palaver
“Benny” – A term for the joker. In some euchre circles, the joker is used to denote the absolute highest bower. Why an extra card had to be added to the deck is beyond me. But to be a complete euchre player, you should know all the terms.

Savvy Strategies
As promised, an entry on how to play a hand with two Jacks. Just to break things up a bit we’ll look at the two Jack hand on defense first.

Here’s the scenario. You are sitting in seat 1 and have a 2 Jack hand. The dealer ordered it up. What should you lead?

Many people I know will automatically lead one Jack and then the next. The thinking is that it makes sense to pull out the opponent’s trump and see how they fair in the off-suit. While this is a logical strategy it is not the best one to employ.

Unfortunately, what happens is that you end up pulling the trump out of your partner’s hand making it highly unlikely that they will win any tricks. And if you don’t have an ace, then your opponents will still have a chance to make.

Even if you have an Ace, you shouldn’t lead like this. The play that gives you the best chance of euchring your opponents is to lead a low, off-suit card. This lead gives your partner a shot at winning the trick (outright or by trumping it) or it could force your opponent to have to trump. This will give him two or less trump most likely and give you a great shot at stripping his trump.

The bottom line is that when you hold two bowers on defense, don’t lead them until you know you will pull out the trump! Play passive to hang the opponents.

Euchre on the Web
Only in the Midwest are you going to find people mentioning euchre in their personal ad. Check out Joan and Sharon. Feel free to contact these ladies if you are looking to do a little dating in Ohio.

Euchre Universe Notes:
Sorry about the infrequent posts. I was out on vacation last week and am going again next week. We’ll get better after that.