pcather wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 11:47 pm
“If my partner is a competent player and he passes in round 1 then you can assume that he has a loner blocked.
If my partner is a strong player I would assume that if he passes in round 1 up 9-6/9-7 he has the upcard blocked. At other scores you can't make that assumption.
pcather wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 11:47 pm
All blocks should be called from Seat 1. Seat 3 should never call a block, which is what you're saying.
True in theory, but sadly often not in practice.
pcather wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 11:47 pm
If he passes in round 2 then he should have every possible loner blocked.
Ideally, if a strong player passes in RD 2, Seat 1 I would assume he always has reverse next blocked except at the following scores: 9-8, 8-8, 7-8, 6-8. At those scores the math suggests that that you can't just call Next super weak when you don't have reverse next blocked (It's also close/debatable at scores 8-7, 7-7, 6-6). What math am I referring too? You can find it in this thread:
https://ohioeuchre.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=153
At those close, late in the game scores, you actually have to have somewhat of a hand which begs the question how do we define "somewhat of a hand". Well at scores 7-7 and 6-6, I don't adjust my play. I always call something if I don't block reverse next, and when I call next it can be as weak as no trump no aces.
That strategy is certainly debatable but I think the math is close enough where I'm ok and at the very least it's actually pretty rare where I'm sitting on a hand THAT bad in that spot.
I tighten up a tad at 7-8, 6-8. My minimum would be two non-bower trump and an off ace, or one trump + two off aces, or 3 off aces with no trump. If one disagrees with my willy-nilly strategy at 6-6, 7-7, this is the adjustment you should make.
At 8-7, I honestly don't know what to do, I vary back and forth between always calling if I don't block reverse next to tightening up a tad like at 7-8 and 6-8. I usually end up hating the results no matter what I do.
At up 9-8 I tighten up ALOT. Now I need a real hand to call. The very bottom of my "real hand" range would be Right + 1 in Next with no off aces--a call I don't like making but a call I gotta make if I don't block reverse next. A kind of F U spot up 9-8 would be if we have a Next call with Left + 1 and an off ace and we don't block reverse next. Should we make this marginal call for fear of seat 2 calling reverse next and closing out the game, or is that call too loose for being up 9-8. I don't know. I've gone both ways and never been satisfied by the results either way. One could argue that if you call in that spot with Right + 1 it would be inconsistent to pass Left + 1 and an off ace as these hands are pretty similar in strength. IDK, it seems to me that Right + 1 works out more often, but I could be wrong. Either way, if someone wanted to call with Left + 1 and an off ace up 9-8 when they don't block either reverse next suit, I would not say they are wrong. I just don't know.
I also tighten up alot at 8-8, but I'm still not as tight as at 9-8. At 8-8, I'm calling Next with Left + 1 and an off ace if I don't block reverse next. The risks of calling at 8-8 are the same as at 9-8, if we get euchred we lose. But the cost of passing at 8-8 is significantly higher than at 9-8 which should compel us to loosen up our range vs 9-8 scenarios.
pcather wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 11:47 pm
Once again, it should be seat 1 making defensive calls to stop loners and not seat 3.
True in theory, but sadly often not in practice.
An example of a loose 2nd round defensive call I'll make in third when I have an amateur partner:
Score is 0-0. Dealer turns down the
and the action gets back to me in the 2nd round in the 3rd seat.
I have:
I'm calling clubs and fighting for a point. Not gonna take the chance the dealer is sitting on a red loner or a 2 point red call. With an expert partner this would be a terrible call. Remember an expert partner always has reverse next blocked in this scenario, therefore our team has all suits blocked. No point in making such a marginal call that can easily go set when your team has every suit covered.
Last point. If your team is up 9-x where x = 7 or below, and your expert partner passes in Seat 1, 2nd round, you can assume he has ALL suits blocked. An expert will never pass in that spot otherwise. He will never give Seat 2 a chance to be a hero. The same assumption goes if your team is up 8-6.
PS: If you play in a tournament where points matter more than winning, then you for sure should always call something in 1st seat, 2nd round if you don't block reverse next at scores up 8-7, 7-7, 6-6. In this structure making sure your team gets the deal one more time is more important than winning the game.