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Give Your Partner a Chance, page 2

One must learn to trust their partner


Last update on: Jan 29, 2019

It is standard to "count on your partner for one trick". Does it never work for you? Could it be that you don't give your partner the chance to help? Many players limit their team's chances of success because they try to take a trick any time they can. This is especially true for those new to the game. How often have you seen someone trump the first trick, only to see his partner play the ace? Or maybe show later in the hand that they had the ace?

The concept of letting a trick go by is especially important when calling on weak hands where your partner's help the most. You need to trust your partner to take a trick and give him the chance to do so. Let a trick go by, and use this opportunity to rid your hand of any trash cards you're holding. If the lead was an ace, then you would trump in, if you can; otherwise, let it pass.

In order to develop this winning strategy, so necessary for all successful euchre partnerships, you must learn to trust your partner. I cannot stress this fact enough: you have a partner! They are there to help, you just have to learn to trust them. Your partner must be given the opportunity to play; not doing so is just asking to be euchred. Too many players try to play euchre as if it was an individual sport. The only time it is an individual sport is when you are going alone.

This is an important part of anyone's euchre strategy. Many of the techniques presented on this website are based on the 'trust your partner' principle. The easiest way for me to explain are with these examples. As you look through the following situations, think about how you would have played the hand. Would you have given your partner the opportunity to help?

Look at the following hand:

Table Position
To win in euchre, you must allow your partner to help Image 1

The dealer sits in the North position and turns up the ace of clubs. East passes, and South orders his partner(N) to pick up the ace. North then discards the 10 of diamonds.

To win in euchre, you must allow your partner to help Image 2

East leads the 10 of hearts. The maker(S) rids their hand of a useless jack of spades; West plays the queen. Now the partner in North gets to make their ace good. Think about how the hand could have turned out if the maker(S) had trumped in and taken the heart trick. What would have happened if they then played the right?

To win in euchre, you must allow your partner to help Image 3

North then leads back the ten of spades, and West ducks under the 10 (why? my guess is they didn't want to be in the lead and were instead hoping their partner could take the trick, thus setting up for a possible euchre). The maker(S) trumps the trick with the 9. As they still hold the right, their point is made.


Give your partner a chance to play:

Give Your Partner A chance to Play

The dealer is in the South position and turns up the king of hearts. Their partner (N), is sitting with both bars and orders up the turn card.

First lead
West leads 10 of clubs. The maker(N) trumps with the right…

...Stop...

What is wrong with this play?
To start with, this play tells everyone the maker only holds the two bowers. But because they hold two sure tricks they should be giving their partner every chance possible to get the third trick needed to earn a point.

The player in East smiles from ear to ear, as he now knows where 5 out of the 7 trump are. He also knows he has a good chance of euchring the bidder and winning the game.

The next plays are:
* East plays the king of clubs
* Dealer plays the ace of clubs (wasted boss card)

Second lead

* The partner leads the king of diamonds
* East trumps in with the nine of hearts, South and West seat follow suit.
* East now leads the ace of hearts (trump).

Game over
Note the score of this game. It was 9 to 9 and the bidding team just lost due to a poor play.

Now go back and see what would have happened if the maker (N) had not trumped the ten of clubs?


See how one hand was played correctly
and the other not?



Suggested Further Reading:


To win you may have to let a trick go by


One must learn to trust their partner


A little trust goes a long ways


Here are two examples in the same hand


The strategy of playing 2nd hand Low


2nd hand low keeps them guessing.


2nd hand low to euchre opponents

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