| The Great Debate:
a. The 8x8 Progressive Euchre Format (in Tournament play)
b. Partnership and Round Robin Formats (in Tournament play)
The Progressive Format
Euchre has traditionally been played as a game of ten points. The first team to reach ten points (via Loners, Euchres and one point hands) wins. A game can be over in as few of three hands (two Loners and a "Uke"), or may last as long as nineteen hands (if each Team wins one point at a time, alternating accordingly.) The typical "Tens" game consists of 8-10 hands.
On the Internet, Tens is the standard. It works quite well for one on one matches, as the game is fast and easy to play. In live events of 50 or more players, Tens is a very tedious way to go. Let us look at a typical example.
Suppose we had a live event with 60-80 players, or 30-40 Teams. If we tried a single or double elimination match play approach, teams would be eliminated in quick order. Although that may sound ideal, there would be many complaints about the short amount of playing time. If we tried to give each team several games, the wait between rounds would be brutal, as matches would not end at the same time. This reminds me of the game of Hearts, which also has as similar problem.
Enter the 8x8. It is the standard of most live tournaments with large fields. In this format, each team plays eight hands against another team, and then moves to another table for eight more hands. Thus, each team has eight different opponents during the course of a Tournament. The total points accumulated by each Team for each eight-hand match are added and recorded accordingly.
One team remains at the table, and the other team moves up one table, so in each successive round of eight hands, there always two teams at each table who have not played each other previously. The system also works for the Round Robin or Individuals game, which features a different partner and opponents for each player as the rounds progress. At the end of eight rounds, a total of 64 hands have been played. The beauty of this system is that the game is simple to administer, and moves along nicely, with minimal waiting time.
However, there are those who stand by the Tens game, and do not care for Progressive (8x8) format. They would rather play single elimination matches, perhaps the best three out of five or the best four out of seven games. Can this work in live Tournaments? What are your thoughts?
Round Robin (Individual's) Euchre
This is actually incorrect terminology, as Euchre is still a partnership game. In Round Robin competition, you play with a different partner for every round. The format is still 8x8, however, every player has a new (and random) partner for each successive round.
In addition to this, there are two new opponents for each successive round as well. This certainly is a great way to meet lots of new people, so there is a terrific social element. The upside of this system is that cheating is greatly reduced, as the opportunity for temporary partners to collude and develop a repertoire of signals or body language antics is virtually eliminated (I still believe that most players are honest and do not cheat). The downside is that good players will become very frustrated if they draw partners of lesser ability, especially in more than one or two rounds.
I doubt that a Tens approach could ever work in a Round Robin game. Interestingly enough, there are some groups who will direct Round Robin games exclusively in order to reduce the advantage that regular partners have in the Partnership variation.
Does the Round Robin game reduce the potential for cheating which can happen in the Partners game? What are your thoughts?
Please send an e-mail to heartsmoon@aol.com
Tip of the Month:
The Hesitation
You hold this hand after you have picked up the ten of spades, after three passes.
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This is a hand in a Tens game, with a 8-8 score.
The left hand opponent leads the Ace of diamonds, and it draws the King and ten, as you drop the Queen. Now he tries the Queen of hearts, and your partner wins the Ace, as you drop your club King. Partner then tables the nine of spades. The player on your right hesitates, takes his card back, and follows with the Queen of spades. What is your best play?
Answer - The Ace of spades! This is a finesse. You have much more information, too. If the player on your left wins the Left, you are still safe, as he will have to lead into your Ace-ten. And if the player on the right holds the Left Bower, your Ace will win, and your Right Bower will ensure the point.
The only concern here is that the player on the right may hold the other three trump, and rising with the Right Bower will rock your world! This holding is a remote possibility, and must be considered. It is the hesitation which dictates your play. However (and a note of caution here), there are those players who will try to "coffeehouse" (a sort of fake out with body language), and make you believe that they hold key cards with fumbling plays. This is unethical, and a form of cheating.
In the above example, the player to your right should not be fumbling and retracting a card if he really holds the singleton Spade Queen. Reading your opponent has become the mark of the expert in Poker. The same applies in other card games, especially Euchre.
Check out the World Series of Euchre at www.grandprixtournaments.com
And have a great month of July!
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