Ready to crack the code of Euchre and beat your opponents? You're in the right place! Here on our Euchre Strategy Page, you're about to get into the nitty-gritty of tactics that will turn you from a beginner into the player everyone fears at the table. Whether it's the "Next" strategy, when the dealer should order up, or when to go alone, we've got you covered.
Before we get started, if you're new to Euchre or just need a quick refresher, check out our How to Play Euchre guide. And if you want to put theory into practice, you're all set to play Euchre online with friends or strangers. Let's shuffle up and deal with strategy by example, shall we? It's going to be a wild ride through the world of Euchre at World of Card Games, where every game is a new game and every hand is a new challenge. Let's play!
On another page, I analyzed some stats culled from a large number of Euchre games at World of Card Games. You can slice and dice these numbers different ways, so here are some more statistics for those who enjoy that kind of thing!
These stats are a little more detailed. As before, each row represents a player at the table during each "consider" round. The rows are organized by the order of choosing. So the first row represents first chair when the up card is face up. The second row represents second chair when the up card is up, and so on. The very last row represents the dealer when the up card has been turned face down.
The first column shows you the number of times the person in that position was given the opportunity to choose trump. As a sanity check, notice that first chair always has the opportunity to choose trump when the up card is face up! The figure in this column is identical to the number of hands analyzed, as expected.
The second column shows the percent of times that the person in that position considered trump. It's just the first column divided by the total number of hands analyzed. Notice that the dealer gets "stuck" fairly rarely! You might say that getting stuck is actually lucky because it's liable not to happen! ;)
The third column shows the number of times that the person in that position called trump.
The fourth column shows the percent of times that the person in that position called trump if they were given the opportunity to do so. To get this percent, I took the number of times that the person called trump (column 3) divided by the number of times it was considered (column 1). As a sanity check, the dealer called 100% of the time they considered in the second round of choosing. This is expected because they were "stuck" (see the "Note", below, if you're wondering about no-STD tables).
The fifth column shows the percent of times that the person in that position called trump whether or not they were given the opportunity to do so. To get this percent, I took the number of times that the person called trump (column 3) divided by the total number of hands analyzed (129,164). This column was already shown in part I of the analysis, and is included here for ease of comparison.
Note: if a table did not apply the STD rule, and all players passed so the hand did not count, the data was not recorded and therefore that type of situation is not accounted for in this analysis.
The stats in the fourth column indicate that when players get to choose from 3 suits in the second round of choosing, they are inclined to do so. Also, the dealer is very inclined to call the up card. There's a discussion thread with the subject line Almost Always Calling Seat 1 (Round 2) at Ohio Euchre which indicates that, indeed, first chair is very enthusiastic about calling trump in round 2 :)
Here are the stats.
| n times considered | percent considered | n times called | percent called if considered | percent called whether or not considered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first chair, up card | 129164 | 100% | 5595 | 4% | 4% |
| 2nd chair, up card | 123569 | 96% | 19155 | 16% | 15% |
| 3rd chair, up card | 104414 | 81% | 6648 | 6% | 5% |
| dealer, up card | 97766 | 76% | 35462 | 36% | 27% |
| 1st chair, 3 suits | 62304 | 48% | 27760 | 45% | 21% |
| 2nd chair, 3 suits | 34544 | 27% | 15442 | 45% | 12% |
| 3rd chair, 3 suits | 19102 | 15% | 9113 | 48% | 7% |
| dealer, 3 suits | 9989 | 8% | 9989 | 100% | 8% |
| totals | 129164 | 99% |
This table is the same as above, but only "all-bots" tables were analyzed.
| n times considered | percent considered | n times called | percent called if considered | percent called whether or not considered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first chair, up card | 59552 | 100% | 2142 | 4% | 4% |
| 2nd chair, up card | 57410 | 96% | 7409 | 13% | 12% |
| 3rd chair, up card | 50001 | 84% | 2853 | 6% | 5% |
| dealer, up card | 47148 | 79% | 14464 | 31% | 24% |
| 1st chair, 3 suits | 32684 | 55% | 15504 | 47% | 26% |
| 2nd chair, 3 suits | 17180 | 29% | 8128 | 47% | 14% |
| 3rd chair, 3 suits | 9052 | 15% | 4674 | 52% | 8% |
| dealer, 3 suits | 4378 | 7% | 4378 | 100% | 7% |
| totals | 59552 | 100% |
This table is the same as the first one, but does not count "all-bots" tables; only tables where humans were allowed were analyzed.
| n times considered | percent considered | n times called | percent called if considered | percent called whether or not considered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first chair, up card | 69612 | 100% | 3453 | 5% | 5% |
| 2nd chair, up card | 66159 | 95% | 11746 | 18% | 17% |
| 3rd chair, up card | 54413 | 78% | 3795 | 7% | 5% |
| dealer, up card | 50618 | 73% | 20998 | 41% | 30% |
| 1st chair, 3 suits | 29620 | 43% | 12256 | 41% | 18% |
| 2nd chair, 3 suits | 17364 | 25% | 7314 | 42% | 11% |
| 3rd chair, 3 suits | 10050 | 14% | 4439 | 44% | 6% |
| dealer, 3 suits | 5611 | 8% | 5611 | 100% | 8% |
| totals | 69612 | 100% |