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!
Some teammates will get angry with you if you lead trump in a game of Euchre. Despite that, leading trump is a classic winning tactic. Here's a video with a replay of a Euchre hand that gives one example of how well it can work.
In this example, I am left of the dealer, so I am the first person to consider the up card, the 10 of hearts. No one chooses the up card, because no one has many hearts.
After the up card is discarded, everyone is given a turn to call trump from the remaining suits. My partner chooses clubs. Since I am left of dealer, I must lead this trick by being the first to play a card.
None of my cards look like obvious winners except for one: the Jack of clubs (aka the "right bower"). It is the most powerful card, and will win the trick if played.
Some people would be afraid to play the right bower in this scenario. They might think their partner will be upset with them for taking one of their trump cards by leading trump!
However, my partner chose trump, but was not forced to do so; they could have passed. Good players will not voluntarily call trump with a poor hand. That means I can safely assume my partner has a strong hand containing several trump cards, and maybe an ace.
By leading with the right bower, I will pull trump from the opponents' hands. This weakens them, making it less likely that they can trump any ace that my partner might play.
As you can see in this example, that's exactly what happened. My partner has the ace of spades. If I had led with my 10 of spades, my left hand opponent could have trumped that trick. My partner's ace - their single non-trump card which would be expected to take a trick - would have been useless.
Fortunately, I played wisely, and led with the right bower. This stripped the lone trump card from my left-hand opponent's hand. My partner was able to collect all the remaining tricks, giving us two points.
There are no guarantees in Euchre. However, most good Euchre players will lead with trump when their partner calls trump for the reasons explained above.