NEVER lead trump on defense, page 5

Holding one trump with two off suit aces

---

This example is similar to the previous one except here we only have one trump. This will reduce the chance of achieving a euchre, but still, it's worth trying. In this sample hand, we were successful.

The dealer is sitting at the bottom in the South position. Bidding is passed around and the dealer picks up the jack of hearts. The player in West holds two off-suit aces. He thinks 'well if I can remove a round of trump my aces will have a better chance of surviving'.

So West, acting on this thought, leads the ace of hearts (trump). North and East have to follow suit. The maker/dealer (S) takes the trick with the right. This gives the maker one trick with four trump gone.

The maker(S) knows the left may still be out against him. Wanting to save his trump for later in the hand and having no other power cards left to lead, his only hope is to give his partner a chance to take a trick. With fingers crossed, he leads the queen of diamonds. West plays the ace of diamonds. North seat has no trump and plays the jack of clubs. East plays the ten. West seat's ace is good and now the opponents have a trick.

Next West leads the ace of clubs. North follows suit, East throws off the jack of spades and the maker (S) has to follow suit with the queen. The opponents now have two tricks.

Seeing that his partner (E) threw a spade on the last lead, West leads the king of spades. The North seat follows and East plays the ace. The maker trumps in, taking their second trick but it's too late, the damage is done. The south seat still holds the boss left for the third trick and a euchre.

Back during the first lead, had West led the king of spades, instead of leading the ace of trump, the maker would have trumped it. Then after that, the maker could have led one of his junk off-suits. This would have set up the hand for a possible endplay, giving him a much better chance of making a point.

---

Suggested Further Reading: