Euchre Strategy, Author at How to Win at Euchre - Winning Euchre Strategy

The word bower is derived from the German bauer meaning farmer. The right bower is the jack of the trump suit, and the left bower is the jack of the same color as the trump suit. They are respectively the two highest ranking cards in the deck.

Euchre Statistics

A Hand Best Suited

Euchre players dream of being one suited to go alone, but most of the time, they are enjoy being two suited to win a hand. Sometimes euchre players are thankful enough to have a semi-playable hand holding 3 suits.

What is normal? How many times should a player be 1, 2, 3, or 4 suited?

There are 42,504 euchre hands a player will see. With a little help from Microsoft Excel, these hands can be dissected for further analysis. The table below breaks downs the total possible hands a player will see with out trump being declared. Nearly, 90% of the time, a player will be 3 or 4 suited. Only about 1 out of every 10 hands, a player will enjoy hold a 2 suited hand or better to call trump.

	4 Suited	3 Suited	2 Suited	1 Suited	Total
Hands	12,960	24,840	4,680	24	42,504
Percent	30.5%	58.4%	11.0%	0.1%	100%

Those mysterious jacks seem to always complicate matters, but this time the numbers don’t really reflect it. If at any one time, trump is declared generically, players will still see a 3 or 4 suited hand nearly 90% of the time.

	4 Suited	3 Suited	2 Suited	1 Suited	Total
Hands	12,600	2,4890	4,980	34	42,504
Percent	29.6%	58.6%	11.7%	0.1%	100%

It should go without saying these numbers do not reflect when a dealer could improve his or her hand.

Basic Strategy, Basic Tactics, Games

Changing of the Guard

There are two doubletons in North’s hand, the A-9 and K-Q . The the lower ranking card is said to guard the higher card. In this case, the 9 guards the Ace, and the Queen guards the King. Typically the guards are used as a waiting card in order to keep the stronger cards, but the role of the guard can be changed into an offensive weapon.

Lets look at an example game to see this tactic.

Score

E/W: 3
N/S : 2

North

A 9
K Q
void
A

Up-Card

10

West

K
void
9
Q J 10

Euchre Table

East

Q J
A J
K
void

South (Dealer)

10
9
J A
9

South calls up the 10 and discards the 9. West is in a dreadful position. Leading trump when defending, usually benefits the trump maker. If West leads any club, it will likely be ruffed. Therefore, West is forced to play the K. North plays the A, and wins the trick since East and South must follow suit.

Many beginners would play the A hoping the card makes it around the table, but North fires back and throws out the 9. The once lowly guard of the Ace will change roles and go out on the attack. North realizes that since there are only two more spades left in play, South has a strong chance to trump the 9. In fact, South has a stronger chance of winning the trick than the A making it around the table.

Play proceeds with West following suit, South played 10, and East played 10. North and South went on to score a point.

Advanced Euchre Strategy

Donation Strategy

Donation Strategy is when a player will intentionally order up trump to be euchred. That player is said to have “donated” two points to the opposition. This strategy, especially for beginners, seems rather crude and counterproductive, but in the right situation, it can be a game saving call. The logic behind Donating is to prevent the opposition to call alone. In other words, it is better to give up two points than four.

Here are some guiding principles on when to use Donation Strategy:

the opposing team has the deal
the opposing team has 6 or 7 points
the up-card is a bower
you have a lay-down hand in the opposite color of the up-card

Basic Strategy, Games

Pulling Trump

Pulling Trump is a basic strategy in euchre. The basic premise of the strategy is to clear the table of all trump cards and win any remaining tricks with their off-suit. Pulling Trump is especially effect the trump maker has an off-suit Ace. In general, the partnership that makes trump should play it as quickly as possible.

Let’s look at an example game to see this strategy in action.

Score

E/W: 7
N/S : 6

North

K Q
Q
K 10
void

Up-Card

9

West

void
A K
A
J 9

Euchre Table

East (Dealer)

A J
void
Q 9
K

South

void
J
J
A Q 10

South is in an excellent position, and the player has many tactics available. South decides to pass and use the advanced euchre strategy of Passing Dirty. West, North, East also pass. South declares diamonds trump. While the idea Going Alone is tempting, it is far to risky at this point.

Score

E/W: 7
N/S : 6

North

K Q
Q
void
void

Trump

West

void
A K
void
J 9

Euchre Game 1 part 1

East (Dealer)

A J
void
void
K

South

void
void
void
A Q 10

South leads off with a Double Bower Blast. In one fell swoop, all seven trump cards are wiped off the table. Without fear of being ruffed, South then leads the ace clubs. East and West follow suit, and North plays the queen of spades. South then plays the last two clubs, and no one is able to make a stop. North and South take a two points and go on to win.