Call Next. What to Lead

[jblowery]

Let's say upcard is and it is turned down. I call NEXT (hearts) with:



Would you lead the followed by ?

What would you lead if you didn't have an ace? Just the rt+1 and junk. I'd lead the junk in that case. Wondering what others think. Thanks.

[RedDuke]

I pretty much agree with your strategy. When making a next call, the assumption is that most of the strength (especially the bowers) are in your partner's hand. In this case, odds are that your partner has the left or it's in the kitty. The dealer almost certainly would have picked up if he had it.

Going off of that assumption, you'll want to lead the right. The reason is that this has a decent chance of stripping the opponents of any trump they might have. That'll make it a lot easier to get the ace through. Especially with you having a singleton green ace, you've got a good chance of getting it through with this strategy.

Third lead, I'd go with a trash club. You're hoping that either second seat or your partner can take it, giving you a chance to make that trump ten good.

[jblowery]

Thanks. So do you also agree that if you DON'T have an ace then lead a junk card? You definitely need some help from your partner now.

[Wes (aka the legend)]

Let's say upcard is and it is turned down. I call NEXT (hearts) with:



Would you lead the followed by ?

With this hand configuration I would definitely lead the Jh. It becomes more debatable if you had this hand:



With this configuration I think leading the Th instead of the Jh is viable. The idea behind this ploy is in theory the Left is most likely in your partner's hand but that may be all he has. As the the saying goes, when you call Next you count on your partner for some strength but not much length. By leading away from the Right you avoid those times your team blows both bowers on one lead which can sometimes be the difference between making a point and a euchre. The reason why I would consider this play with the above configuration but never with your original hand is becuz of the .

Having AsKs in your hand gives you a backup plan when leading the Th does not work out. Now if someone leads a spade later in the hand you can get back in control with your As, then lead the Right to clear out remaining trump and then lead the Ks to victory. In your original hand you have no backup plan with your singleton ace, therefore you have to lead the Jh. With extremely rare exception, whenever you have an off ace to protect, always lead trump.

What would you lead if you didn't have an ace? Just the rt+1 and junk. I'd lead the junk in that case. Wondering what others think. Thanks.

Yes without an ace don't lead trump when all you have is rt + 1. The last thing you want with this marginal hand is your team burning trump on the same lead. Then the next question is which junk to lead? Well we know one thing for sure, never lead the turned down suit (if you can help it obv). Your enemy turned that down for a reason. That toxic lead will likely give them an easy trick right off the bat. So taking that into account I always veer towards singleton green with my junk leads. My reasoning behind that: I wanna lead the suit least likely to get trumped should my partner have the ace of that suit, and I wanna lead the suit that is least likely to cause my partner to get overtrumped should my partner be void in that suit. Veering towards singleton green cards accomplishes both objectives.

One more point. Lets again change your hand to this:



Say you correctly lead the Jh followed by your As and it walks. Now what should you lead? Now lead the turned down suit, the !


Your partner is statically more likely to have the Ace in the turned down suit than your opponents since they passed on that suit. And leading the turned down suit is ok after trump has been led. Your opponents will now be less likely to trump it, and if they do that's ok also. Squeezing out an opponent trump after you've already led trump is a good thing.

[jspectre]

Perhaps I've been playing this wrong, but I never lead the right bower unless it's my only trump or I have the right and Ace of trump. I like to lead low and look to hit my partners left bower, which is most likely his only trump. It's great if he has more trump or has an ace to lead, but even if he doesn't all I need is to get my ace led to me at some point and that's 3 tricks. Although, one huge disadvantage of this is when the left bower is buried, then anyone can have the Ace in next. Also, good opponents who have left + small trump will play the left and potentially take a partners winning King or Ace, because they know that I'm not looking for them to have it, I want my p to take that trick.

Hell, even if they only have the left but didn't have enough to call, I've just given them a free trick now. I don't lead trump if I have a bower + trump and no ace, then I may need my partners only trump to take a solo trick, but if I hold no strength in next, then I'm leading a low trump and hoping my p has the bowers, it would be a shame if I forced him to take a trick with the right bower when it's all he has. I think I'm starting to realize how leading low and looking for the left could potentially be a bigger gamble than getting set by stripping your p of his only trump. I'll test it out and see what gives me the best results.

[Tbolt65]

Gotta be selective when leading low or away from the right. It's a good ploy but be conservative about it.

Tbolt65
Edward