| 2005 World Series of Euchre
One hundred and four Euchre players (26 tables) were on hand for the 7th Annual Grand Prix World Series of Classic Card Games, which was held in Cleveland, OH, during the weekend of September 16-18. This was the largest live gathering of Euchre players in the '05 Grand Prix Series.
Two events were conducted. The Individuals, or Round Robin event, which featured nine rounds of progressive play, for a total of 72 hands. Every person had the opportunity to play with a different partner for each of nine rounds. This format was a lot of fun as players tested their skill and adapted to the style of several partners. While the action was competitive, there was a social element and a good-time atmosphere.
The more serious regular partner's event had a very special twist. The qualifying rounds were conducted in the standard progressive format. However, there was a playoff for the top sixteen teams who had the highest scores after the nine round qualifiers. These pairs were seeded by the number of points they scored in the preliminary part of the competition.
Each round of the playoff consisted of the best two-out-of-three traditional "Tens" games. Here was old- fashioned Euchre at its best! It required three rounds of head-to-head match play before the two finalists emerged to play the best three-out of-five grand final. This was the true test of all-around Euchre skill. More than $5,000 was awarded and distributed among several players for the two tournaments.
Here are the results:
Partners’ Division
1st Place - Dan H. and Richard P.
2nd Place - Rick R. and Robert L.
3rd / 4th Places - Angie M. and Wendy R, Robert L. and Richard P.
Round Robin Individuals
1st Place - Kathy M.
2nd Place - Terry Q.
3rd Place - Lisa C.
4th Place - Sebastian S.
The 2006 World Series of Euchre will be held in Michigan in late September. The venue and dates will be announced in early 2006.
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| Fun Variation of Euchre – “Super Bower”
If you are tired of playing traditional Euchre games, try this new variation:
Super Bower (four players)
Take a regular Euchre deck of 24 cards, and remove the four nines. Then take another deck of the same color (and back design), and remove the four Jacks. Mark each Jack on the corner with the small letter "J" with a black dot (above the top of the "J".)
Take the original deck, and add these four new Jacks. It will still have 24 cards; however, there are now two Jacks of each suit. The marked Jack of each suit will become a "Super Bower". And there will be two Jacks of the same color as the turned card, one Jack marked and the other unmarked. Thus, if any heart was the turned card, and you were the Dealer, and held the marked Jack of hearts and non-marked Jack of diamonds as well, your trump suit would appear as such:
Super Bower, Baby Bower, and the turned card in hearts. In short, the marked Right Bower is the Super Bower; the unmarked Right Bower is the "Papa" Bower; the marked Left Bower is the "Mama" Bower; and the unmarked Left Bower is the “Baby” Bower. If Spades were trump, the trump suit would consist of: Super Bower, Papa Bower, Mama Bower (Jack of clubs, marked), and Baby Bower (Jack of clubs, unmarked), then the Ace, King, Queen, and ten. Yup, that is one fistful of trump!
This variation is a hoot!. -And it is very difficult to make a Loner, unless you have three of the top four trump, including the Super Bower, and an Ace/small or two side Aces. Most Loners will require possession of four trump. With eight trump in each hand, the need to remember more cards is essential. Regardless of all of this confusion, "Super Bower" is a nice and lively change of pace. Try it - you will like it!
Next month will feature the Holiday Euchre Trivia Quiz. Look for it!
Have a nice month of October.
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