Euchre Strategy - Is your bower naked?

Euchre Quote

It's nice out, I think I'll leave it out

Euchre Haiku

Left bower in hand
It is worth a trick for sure
Unless it's naked

Euchre Strategy

Last week we were playing euchre and my partner went alone. She's a good partner and will try a loner whenever we are in the pasture.

With Hearts as trump and my partner dealing, the first chair leads the Queen of Clubs. The next opponent throws off the 10 of Spades. My partner puts up the King of Clubs and wins the trick. She next plays the Right and surprisingly both opponents follow. I wondered, "Why didn't our opponent trump the first club trick?"

When my partner led the next trump (Ace of Hearts) it became clear. The left hand opponent played her bower to win the trick. My partner went on to score the point, but it was an excellently played hand by the left hand opponent.

You see she could've won the club trick and maybe improved her chances for a euchre. But playing a trump on the first trick could also have led to a 4-point march. This is how.

Suppose my partner was short in clubs. When the left hand opponent plays a trump, my partner would certainly overtrump. She would then lead trump again stripping all the trumps out of our opponent's hands.

Only by holding back her guarded Left Bower can she ensure that her side will win at least one trick. And when someone is trying a loner from the pasture, you better make sure you can stop the sweep. If she would've played one of her trumps she would've left the her bower unprotected or "bare". When you have the second highest trump, you should never leave it bare.

Euchre League Update

Tonight, we try to keep our winning streak alive. We are currently in 23rd place with 2 match wins. You really need 4 or 5 match wins to make the playoffs.