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The score in a "Tens" game is 4 - 4. You are the dealer and the Queen of spades is turned. You accept spades as trump. For some reason you opt for the standard choice and you bury the nine of diamonds. (Why not a "Loner" call here?) The heart Queen is led, and your partner's Ace is trumped with the King of spades. Now what? Here are three possibilities:
a. Overtrump with a Bower, and lay down another Bower on trick #2.
b. Discard a diamond on trick #1, and trump any off suit lead by East.
c. Overtrump with a Bower, and then lead the Queen of diamonds on trick #2.
There are three trumps still out there, the Ace, ten, and nine. We know that East started with less than three spades; otherwise, he would have ordered you. He also used the King to cut, probably a singleton. If the remaining three trumps are evenly divided (there is the "Kitty" to consider, as well), the play of a Bower on trick #2 will clean up the suit, and your Queen is now a winner. Wait a minute! If West holds the Ace and a small trump, you will be in for a bit of a scuffle. And if he holds the Aces of diamonds and spades, there could be lots of trouble here! If you were playing a Loner, then the immediate lead of a Bower on trick #2 would be proper; here the "safety play" is in order. Discarding a diamond (choice b.) is a dreadful play and not worth analyzing. I like choice c. as it allows for more possibilities. Partner may be short in diamonds, and able to trump this suit. If your left hand opponent cuts the diamond, he will be on lead, and you now have a natural "finessing" position in the trump suit, if he uses the nine or ten of spades. In progressive Euchre the hand calls for Loner; in "Tens", the Loner should be bid if it wins the game outright, or you are trailing badly. Here, the objective is to secure a point (first) and THEN allow for taking all of the tricks for two points.
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| The Indiana Experiment
Darlene M., a very capable Midwestern Euchre Director, created a most interesting format, based on the standard "Tens" game. Here events average from 50-60 players. In her format each partnership plays a fixed number of “Tens" games. Eight games (for each team) seems to work well. In a game, a pair is awarded a "Match", or Victory Point score, based on the actual number of points recorded.
Here is the formula:
a. Zero points = 0 Match Points
b. One-Nine points = 1 Match Point
c. Ten Points (or more) = 2 Match Points
Thus, in an eight match schedule, a pair could score a maximum of 16 Match or victory points (MP). Playoff slots are awarded based on the number of MP scored. It is also necessary to time the games as "Tens" can end in three hands, or drag out to nineteen hands. These are extreme variables as the typical game consists of approximately ten hands. The time limit was 20 minutes per game and this seemed to work quite well as very few games exceeded the time limit. This format was well received by most of the players. The only negative comments focused on increasing the value of a win to three MP instead of two. A few players felt that the spread of points (1-9) was too wide, and might be divided into 0-4 and 5-9 ranges.
Larger size fields are best suited for the Progressive format while smaller fields can apply the above system. The Grand Euchre National event features a combination format in its Partners' section. All teams play an 8x9 progressive format (72 hands) and then the top sixteen pairs with the most points qualify for playoffs, single elimination, best two out of three "Tens" matches, and single elimination. This is the ultimate test of all-around Euchre ability. Darlene is to be praised for her innovative idea which may evolve into a usable format for "live" events.
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| Euchre Language at the Table
The only acceptable words or nomenclature at the table should be the words:
"Pass”, "Pick It Up", and "Alone". Let's look at each:
"Pass" - Is it necessary to have all of the following terminology: "I pass," "I will pass", "I'm passing", "no bid" etc? And this does not include knocking on the table, folding your hand, or waving your hand to indicate a pass. One word is sufficient.
"Pick It Up" – One phrase is enough. It is not necessary to say "I am ordering you", "Order you", "It's trump", "I assist" (partner), or "Take it". And this does not include all of the hand and body gestures instructing someone to pick up the trump.
"Alone" - Is it necessary to say "I'm going alone", "Stay home, partner", "I'll try it" or "It's all mine"? (And this does not include flipping the discard across the table to partner, sending the kitty across the table to partner, etc.) One word is enough. However, I must admit, multiple terms for Loners is not a big concern, as partner cannot benefit from any signals in this instance.
This modification of the acceptable terminology at the table is the protocol for the Grand Prix National event. Sadly, there are those players, albeit a very small fraction, who will adapt different expressions, as listed above, to indicate cards to their partner. Another variation on this theme is asking questions such as "What's trump?", "Whose lead is it?", "Did you make your discard?" and so on. All of these could be codes for certain card holdings. Do we really need all of the extra chatter and phrases, with occasional accompanying body language?
Next month, I will report on the winners of The Grand Prix Euchre Nationals. See you in October!
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