Sandbagging?

[RedDuke]

I actually had one of my opponents chew me out pretty viciously the other night for sandbagging them. I was in third seat holding this:



Upcard was the .

First and second seat passed. So did I, figuring that I had a seriously strong hand if he picked up as well as a good holding in next. My partner was a decently aggressive bidder so I figured that he'd call if dealer didn't.

Dealer picked up.

Needless to say, we managed to euchre them.

The dealer then promptly starts cussing me out pretty viciously for sandbagging them. In the last hand, I had pulled off a loner, so I'm guessing he was quite upset that it went from a 5-1 game in their favor to 7-5 in our favor in two hands.

It got me wondering though if people in the euchre community view sandbagging as dirty play? I've always considered it a perfectly valid strategy. What do you guys think?

[jblowery]

I wouldn't say it is dirty; just a bad strategy. In most cases, the dealer is gong to turn down that ace if you have both bauers. Plus, you have a solid loner attempt there.

[Wes (aka the legend)]

It got me wondering though if people in the euchre community view sandbagging as dirty play? I've always considered it a perfectly valid strategy. What do you guys think?

In all honesty I have never met a top player who used the word sandbagging. Very strong players don't think in those terms, all they care about is what is correct or not. Sometimes it's correct to call with nothing, and sometimes it's correct to pass a relatively strong hand, etc. In fact whenever I hear someone talk about or complain about sandbagging it's like a bat signal for bad/mediocre player. So I would advise anyone to get that word out of their euchre lexicon. It really serves no purpose except to signal to other more perceptive players that one is not very good. E.G. lik right away I know the dealer is a mediocre player at best just from your post about him complaining.

Now on to the hand. Becuz you have a viable loner, this pass has to be a mistake. I mean it's not a loner I'm that excited about becuz it's gonna be hard to dodge the first lead, but IF you do you're a HUGE favorite for a 4 point sweep, and this hand is barely ever getting euchred. So I think passing here is getting too fancy. Go for 4 instead.

[Tbolt65]

It got me wondering though if people in the euchre community view sandbagging as dirty play? I've always considered it a perfectly valid strategy. What do you guys think?

In all honesty I have never met a top player who used the word sandbagging. Very strong players don't think in those terms, all they care about is what is correct or not. Sometimes it's correct to call with nothing, and sometimes it's correct to pass a relatively strong hand, etc. In fact whenever I hear someone talk about or complain about sandbagging it's like a bat signal for bad/mediocre player. So I would advise anyone to get that word out of their euchre lexicon. It really serves no purpose except to signal to other more perceptive players that one is not very good. E.G. lik right away I know the dealer is a mediocre player at best just from your post about him complaining.

Now on to the hand. Becuz you have a viable loner, this pass has to be a mistake. I mean it's not a loner I'm that excited about becuz it's gonna be hard to dodge the first lead, but IF you do you're a HUGE favorite for a 4 point sweep, and this hand is barely ever getting euchred. So I think passing here is getting too fancy. Go for 4 instead.

I agree with Wes, go alone.

Now about sandbagging. Those who sandbag because they know their partner and their opponents is doing it strategically. Thats the correct way to sandbag. In this situation I am never sandbagging here.

Tbolt65
Edward