u/mooncalf23

Hey all, been thinking about Euchre a lot and what I've learned over the past couple months and thought I'd put together a post to those who are relatively new and want to grind. Hopefully, it's not too self-aggrandizing and I am not expert level so please take anything I say with a grain a salt 😄

A little bit of background: I played euchre very non-seriously and mostly pretty drunkenly on pogo back in the late aughts and just picked it up again in early May. I've been playing a lot. Almost 8 full days of play time in about 11 weeks is a lot of euchre lol. I even pay the dollar for 25 tokens every once in a while when I run out though I said I'd never do that when I started.

Points of advice to new players

• Be aggressive! My euchre rate was well above 20% over my first 200 games. This was definitely not ideal as I lost hands and games that I would've won by playing safer, but I can't think of any better way to get a feel of what you can get actually through than by making thin calls - sometimes too thin. Getting euchred is part of the game. Also, lower rated players generally don't call nearly often enough.
• Read the Ohio Euchre material. In particular, I had no concept of next or reverse next before I started reading up on strategy when I started this run. Knowledge of these concepts really changed the way I think about when to call and when to pass.
• Get an Adblocker! I struggled the first couple weeks without one and I often found myself tossed from games because some of the ads I couldn't figure out how to close. 3D is so much more enjoyable not having to look at those ads.
• Don't get tilted by the comments. No Way just makes me want to make even thinner calls lol and I think this is a good mindset.
• There will be streaks up and down. The down streaks suck and it feels like it might be impossible to win ever again. Just keep trying to make the most EV+ decisions you can and eventually it will turn around.
• Read the forum. especially If you find that you're frequently in a situation and it goes poorly, google and see if there's any posts about it here. As an example, when I started playing and I had Rx, I'd try to jam that R through first no matter how weak the rest of my hand might be. From reading the forum I learned that it's possible to play more passively (especially when you have a weak surrounding hand) and I've gotten euchred less often.

Intro: New player here, used to play a bit on pogo like 20 years ago and just got the bug again. Been doing fairly well, on a bit of a heater currently, but generally been improving my rating as I get more games in.

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Anyway, as I move up ratings I was wondering what the difference is in like skill sets and lines. Like, is there an appreciable difference between a 2400 rated player and a 2100? I ask because I'm trying to figure out what I need to learn myself lol.

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From what I've seen, sub-1800 is generally pretty poor. 1800-1900, still not great, but some ok players. Start to feel more comfortable when I have partners in the mid-1900s. Almost nobody at the tables I'm playing seems to call enough, so I often become table captain.

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I play a pretty straightforward game at this point. Lead high trump generally when I have it, lead trump into calling partner, avoid trump on defense unless I think I have high card and aces to protect, etc. I probably could learn some funkier lines, though it seems to go poorly whenever I experiment with that.

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Anyway, Ive started reading the sub quite a bit and really appreciate everyone's analysis and thoughtful posts, so I though maybe I'd send one myself. Thanks!