An interesting euchre case study
I just played some euchre online and came across a very interesting hand. I'd like to make a note on it so I don't forget. If you're not well-versed in euchre, don't waste your time but if you play cards at all, you might want to have a read.
The situation is this: I am dealer. My partner called spades. In my hand I have the jack of clubs, ace of spades, ten of spades, ace and queen of diamonds. The player to my left leads the ace of clubs, my partner has cut with the nine of spades, and the other player has followed suit. What should I play?
The natural answer is probably to ruff my off-queen and let my partner take it. If my partner is void in diamonds, we'll probably take all of the tricks. If my partner has a diamond, he will lead it, hoping that I've voided myself. I haven't, and this gives the other team a chance to cut on this trick, which I can't prevent. I'd say ruffing the queen will lead to getting all five tricks 4 times out of 5.
Now let's try something different: instead of ruffing the queen, let's overtrump my partner's nine with my ten to take the lead. Now I lead the left.
Case 1: My partner has only the right bower left in his hand. Then he wins, and probably leads an ace (otherwise he made a pretty risky call). Now I ruff my queen knowing that my opponents are probably void in trump, and my two aces will win the last two tricks, unless one of my opponents was lucky enough to get the two remaining trump in the deck.
Case 2: My partner has another low trump, which he plays under my left. I bleed the one trump left in my opponents' hands, and lead my ace of diamonds safely on the third trick. Next, I lead the queen of diamonds, and one of two things will happen:
a) My partner trumps it with the right bower. Then my ace of trump wins the last trick.
b) My partner trusts it. The queen will lose ONLY if one of my opponents was dealt the king of diamonds plus another diamond. Otherwise the queen stands and my partner's right wins the last trick.
Now it seems like the probability of one of my opponents being dealt two diamonds, one of which is the king is lower than the odds that one will be void in diamonds and be able to cut a diamonds trick. Thus, I think that the way I played (overtrumping my partner's nine to take the lead), while counter-intuitive, gives our team a better chance of taking all five tricks.
I hope SOMEONE found this interesting.
Listening to... Cream - Pressed Rat and Warthog
Link of the moment... Don't forget my old strategy articles!
The situation is this: I am dealer. My partner called spades. In my hand I have the jack of clubs, ace of spades, ten of spades, ace and queen of diamonds. The player to my left leads the ace of clubs, my partner has cut with the nine of spades, and the other player has followed suit. What should I play?
The natural answer is probably to ruff my off-queen and let my partner take it. If my partner is void in diamonds, we'll probably take all of the tricks. If my partner has a diamond, he will lead it, hoping that I've voided myself. I haven't, and this gives the other team a chance to cut on this trick, which I can't prevent. I'd say ruffing the queen will lead to getting all five tricks 4 times out of 5.
Now let's try something different: instead of ruffing the queen, let's overtrump my partner's nine with my ten to take the lead. Now I lead the left.
Case 1: My partner has only the right bower left in his hand. Then he wins, and probably leads an ace (otherwise he made a pretty risky call). Now I ruff my queen knowing that my opponents are probably void in trump, and my two aces will win the last two tricks, unless one of my opponents was lucky enough to get the two remaining trump in the deck.
Case 2: My partner has another low trump, which he plays under my left. I bleed the one trump left in my opponents' hands, and lead my ace of diamonds safely on the third trick. Next, I lead the queen of diamonds, and one of two things will happen:
a) My partner trumps it with the right bower. Then my ace of trump wins the last trick.
b) My partner trusts it. The queen will lose ONLY if one of my opponents was dealt the king of diamonds plus another diamond. Otherwise the queen stands and my partner's right wins the last trick.
Now it seems like the probability of one of my opponents being dealt two diamonds, one of which is the king is lower than the odds that one will be void in diamonds and be able to cut a diamonds trick. Thus, I think that the way I played (overtrumping my partner's nine to take the lead), while counter-intuitive, gives our team a better chance of taking all five tricks.
I hope SOMEONE found this interesting.
Listening to... Cream - Pressed Rat and Warthog
Link of the moment... Don't forget my old strategy articles!
Labels: euchre
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home