This is Part II of my How to Play Double Bid Euchre series which began with How to Play Double Bid Euchre Part I: Basic Gameplay, yesterday and will conclude with How to Play Double Bid Euchre Part III: How to Really Play Double Bid Euchre, tomorrow. Woo.
Strategy:
Bidding: If you are the first person bidding, always give your partner some sort of bid. Even a bid of one is better than passing. You must trust your partner to understand that your bid is a bid of no confidence. A bid of 5 tricks is a good start but really anything is acceptable. Having the first lead is quite important, because you can control the game if you play your cards right. Thus, the higher the bid the greater the chance that you will have first lead. Beware, however, of overbidding. If you go set, you’ve most likely screwed yourself. You can slightly overbid your hand and depend on your partner for the trick. I tend to underbid my hand just so I can bust out a surprise if need be. The way you bid also depends on your partner’s personality. When I play with my uncle, I know he likes to take risks and might overbid by two or three tricks just to get the bid. So by underbidding I ensure that we’ll have a reserve when the time comes.
No-trump bids can swing two ways. If you have a shload of Aces then it is pretty obvious that you bid based on how many you have. You can also bid high suit [although you don’t name the suit]. Here is how. If you’ve got both Aces and both Kings in Diamonds and you’ve got other Diamonds as well, but no good Bower spread you can bid high and if you win the bid lead with your Aces, then lead with your Kings. With a no-trump bid, no one will be able to get in on your Diamond action until you run out of them. It works the same way with a no-trump low bid.
Taking Tricks:
If you are short suited, get out of suit as quickly as possible. Don’t reneg. If you have the lead, start out strong [with the Right Bower] and pay attention to the trump that have been played and who played them. If you can’t lead with a bower toss out an off-suit Ace and hope for the best. If you don’t have any bowers and run out of Aces, throw something low and off-suit, preferably something that will get short-suit you. Watch your partner carefully, the first time they don’t follow suit or don’t trump make sure you note what suit they played. This is most likely a hint that they are strong in that suit. So when you run out of good cards, try to get over to them by playing some trash from that suit. If you can, always trump your opponent’s Ace. If you want to take a trick and the only trump you have is a Right Bower, go ahead and use it. A trick is a trick.
Sitting:
Say your opponent bids high in Clubs and you have quite a few Clubs in your hand. Enough clubs, say, that you were going to bid them yourself. Don’t Bid! Pass! And then when your opponents start the game you can make them go set by taking tricks from under their noses using your Club hand. This is called ‘sitting on’ the opponent. It is oh so fun, and the best way to annihilate a team that doesn’t bid very intelligently.
There is more to write [strategy being an infinite and dynamic thing] but I’m tired of blogging for today.
I’m just learning to re-play bid-euchre after 30+ years … Mon we learned some strategy and played a few games with other beginners … last night we played with the local bid-euchre group … I was soooo nervous and couldn’t concentrate … needless to say — I played horribly … and need to build up confidence in bidding — HELP !! .. Jai
I just started playing bid and need to find out how to play on line.
The pplace I play starts with a 4 bid then goes to 7–14 or 8–16.
I would like to play on line so I can learn more. Do you know any place to log on. Thank You, J.D..
I AM KINDA NEW AT BID EUCHRE AND MAKING MISTAKES I NEED SOME TIPS ON BIDDING AND I CANT PRINT OUT THE INFORMATION YOU SUGGESTED ABOVE AND WOULD LIKE MORE TIPS ON BIDDING PLEASE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MY PROBLEM IS ALSO IM 72 YEARS OLD AND CANT REMEMBER ALL THE CARDS PLAYED I DO WATCH FOR THE BOWERS WHEN I BID BUT I FORGET TO WATCH FOR MY PARTNERS FIRST TRICK WHEN THEY DO NOT FOLLOW SUIT ANY SUGGESTIONS OR HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED I REALLY LIKE THE GAME BUT IM CONSTANTLY GETTING SUGGESTIONS FROM OTHER PLAYERS WOULD LIKE TO MOVE UP FROM ROOKIE STATUS. THANKS LIKE THE PLAYER ABOVE I GET NERVOUS WHEN I PLAY AND HARD TO CONCENTRATE.
I play at a couple of clubs in my area and we are wondering if the dealer is allow to match the call bids or do they have to go one better
and we are not allowed to match a moon
Hi Carol,
I don’t think it matters, particularly. Dealer match sounds like a house rule to me, we always played that if dealer wants the bid, they have to be the high bid. I’ve never heard of someone trying to match a moon, that would be gutsy.