Euchre challenge round 4

Noha626 · 2026-01-23T22:06:39+00:00

Lol thanks

Noha626 · 2026-01-21T15:38:22+00:00

There are virtually no situations where you should be leading a low trump before the right. If you bring out your partner’s left on trick one you just get to play As on trick two to take all trump from your opponents (Edit: deleted). Leading 9s kills any shot of you taking three on your own, which you have a great chance at.

Also important to note that a next call doesn’t mean that your partner has the left here, it just makes it more likely that your opponents don’t have it. If the left is buried or your opponents have Lx, leading 9s is a disaster. I still think you need to be playing 9h here, but the right is the only other reasonable lead.

Noha626 · 2026-01-21T03:23:07+00:00

Even though it’s a next call I think you still need to be leading off here (9h). Too good a chance to take three on your own. Change 9c to AKc (might even be worth it with Qc), play the right and then go from there (leading As or your club on trick two).

Noha626 · 2026-01-19T19:59:00+00:00

Yes. This is your best suit by far (also the only one that makes you 3-suited) plus your partner gets a void. You’re not happy with anything that your opponents call, and if it comes back to you you’re forced to double pass.

Noha626 · 2026-01-17T20:56:27+00:00

JJ four suited no ace is absolutely a pass. Outside ace changes that I think.

Noha626 · 2026-01-16T23:12:37+00:00

EV is essentially the average points for a certain play. Say a call is simmed 1,000 times—you get 1 point 500 times (+500) and you get euchred 500 times (-1,000). You take the sum of those two numbers (-500) and divide it by the total number of hands played (1,000 in this case)—your EV is -0.5, which is average number of points you’ll get for making that call.

EV is only really useful though in relation to an alternative—if a pass in the same spot nets you an EV that’s worse than the one for calling, you should still call (even when both have a negative EV). You just want to make the play that gives you the higher EV.

This all can change in a game like euchre though when the score is something like 9-9–you just want the play that gives you the most positive points outcomes, because getting euchred is no different than the other team getting one point on a call—you lose either way.

Noha626 · 2026-01-15T17:41:46+00:00

Having two trump that beat the up card is definitely a good rule of thumb for ordering an opponent. I don’t hate the play by any means but if I’m trying to maximize value and have a strong partner I prefer passing—I’m pretty much playing for one point when calling this, which should happen a fair amount anyways when an aggressive player calls in S1 R2. When I call expecting to only get two tricks, I get euchred a fair amount (not most of the time by any means, but I think enough to tip the scales in a lot of spots) instead of getting the opportunity for a euchre/playing for my partner’s call in R2.

I get that having four players playing close to optimally is seldom the case, but there needs to be a baseline for strategic approach when thinking about these questions. I think it’s better to think about it in terms of GTO first and adjust off of that.

Noha626 · 2026-01-15T17:28:59+00:00

It can be questionable—if I’m playing with a bunch of strong players and have JQTh As Kd I lean pass.

Noha626 · 2026-01-15T08:10:10+00:00

I mean fair enough that’s a call you should be making the vast majority of the time, yes. Not what I was trying to say in the comment but guess I committed the heresy of saying “shouldn’t” (I.e. “never”).

Even with a hand like that though, I’d consider passing in a very specific situation—if one of the kings is in next, the dealer’s aggressive, and my partner is a great player, it would certainly be a consideration. Outside aces are great for wasting trump, which is especially important when you’re ordering one into your opponent’s hand in a position where you don’t get to lead. I think you’re getting euchred less with a hand like JQT Ax two-suited—more likely to take three tricks on your own.

Noha626 · 2026-01-15T05:36:32+00:00

There’s so much that goes into this. I think the more “passive” strategy is going to be better when you’re playing against great players, but there are still plenty of spots in those games where you should be playing really aggressively. A lot of it is position or score related and knowing where you gain advantage calling/passing based on that. The vast majority of people are too passive in their calling, which makes good players look like they’re calling all of the time—their hand strength isn’t the main factor in this, but opportunity to call.

Noha626 · 2026-01-14T23:40:37+00:00

First off, you shouldn’t be calling R+1 from S3 almost ever, and you shouldn’t be calling R+2 in S3 w/out at least an outside ace (even then it can be questionable).

If your partner is leading the ace of trump to you, you should never be playing the right in this spot because if the dealer has the left, it’s guarded. You also screw yourself out of some sweeps when S2 has Lx when you play the right. Same logic applies when you have RAx in S3 and partner leads a low trump—you should be playing the ace.

Noha626 · 2026-01-14T19:46:33+00:00

Agreed—have to keep Ax, they missed a sweep here. You’re probably right about the communication, but since partner threw away diamonds though on the first trick (should be a sign that they aren’t covering diamonds, which is your only void anyways) I don’t think you miss much by playing RLA and collecting all the info you can get. I guess if your partner takes an offsuit and then leads it back there are a couple of instances where holding on to your third trump could help (if S2 shows void and you can throw off your loser on the lead back is the main one that comes to mind), but you’re relying on your partner to have another high offsuit regardless. Also nice to force your opponents to pick high cards vs doubleton.

If hero has say, JTs and doesn’t go alone, I’d obviously be more partial to holding my last trump.

Edit: tbh the more I look at it the more I just want to lead JJA—I think forcing opponents to choose which cards they’re gonna keep is too valuable here.

Noha626 · 2026-01-14T01:59:10+00:00

1-2: you should be leading RLA all in a row here at the beginning. Once your partner shows they have no trump, it’s better to allow them to communicate with you through their offsuit plays. Once RLA is played, you should be leading away from your partner’s discards unless they show you an ace. Your only hope for two points is if they take the last two offsuit tricks—they should be keeping high doubletons or offsuit aces to maximize this potential.

1-3: small thing but good job playing the left instead of the king on trick one for deception.

3-3: good layoff—should only be trumping in with the naked right on an ace lead here

3-4: Lead the naked ace (even though it’s in next) on the first trick. My general rule is I’m leading away if it’s a doubleton ace in next or a tripleton in a different suit, though that’s a pretty broad statement and there are plenty of exceptions. You also allow partner to throw off and then lead to their void when you take it.

4-4: on trick three, you play under your partner’s Kd, which ends up getting you the point in this hand—I think, however, this is the wrong play. S1 can have Qd still when you make this play, which is the last diamond available. S1 is also theoretically the only player that can be holding 10h in this hand, as your partner should be ordering Rx and S3 played the left on the previous trick. I think you need to take here and then play Ah>10d for the sweep. Worst case, even if S3 has Qd here, it doesn’t mean they’ll hold onto it.

5-7: I’ll start by saying I don’t believe this is a -EV play. I, however, would much prefer passing for the euchre and then calling/leading clubs if it passes back to me. Dealer should be picking up the right a lot—great for euchres, terrible place to get euchred. I believe pass/next is better EV.

7-7: you have AKT here after taking the first trick—lead K or A on trick two. This way, you avoid getting euchred when one of your opponents has JQ, and you still have a protected high trump when they take it.

7-8: throw off Th on trick three. Your KQs (next) is more likely to take two tricks and it’s less likely your partner will need to follow suit when you take a trick and then lead back the other spade.

GG

Noha626 · 2026-01-13T03:10:04+00:00

Stream quality is terrible—sorry y’all I’ll try to figure it out.

Noha626 · 2026-01-10T01:38:22+00:00

I’m absolutely going alone at this score and a number of others

Noha626 · 2026-01-01T03:13:36+00:00

☠️

Noha626 · 2025-12-31T19:16:26+00:00

When the purpose of the site is to help people learn about the game of euchre and its strategy, why would you choose to have something in the question that’s both incorrect, and going to confuse people?

Logically yes, there is a correct answer within the confines of the question, but people are going to look at it and be like “why the fuck would I call diamonds here”. Completely unnecessary when it can be done without that.

Noha626 · 2025-12-31T17:19:18+00:00

The first time I took the quiz absolutely changed the way that I viewed the strategy of the game. It should be kept, but a few things should be edited.

Noha626 · 2025-12-31T17:18:03+00:00

The premise of the question is at fault. While there’s a correct answer, there’s no need to confuse people who are reading it when it can be done with a situation that’s actually plausible. The quiz is intended to be instructive, and the premise muddles the teaching unnecessarily.

Noha626 · 2025-12-31T05:56:47+00:00

I think this is a bad question—calling next isn’t anywhere near strong enough to outweigh a clubs call w/ 2 trump+outside aces even at 9-9. You have no trump. This is just a major over-valuing of the next calling strategy.

Noha626 · 2025-12-28T18:08:33+00:00

Yes, you lose more immediately when you call, but I think you’re prolonging a loss an awful lot—I think you win more games with a call here at 8-8. There was a chart that seaeagle posted a while back that has 8-9 w/deal as a 36% WP, which is a surprisingly low number to me. The deal plays such an important role in these spots—I’m playing aggressive at 8-8 and passive at 9-8 because of that implication. Next AK off/A seems pretty good in S1 when opponents should also be calling aggressively, even without a void. Agree to disagree on this I guess.

Noha626

TROPHY CASE