Where the dealer has been assisted, it is a common practice to lead through
the assisting hand, and frequently results favourably; for in the event of
the dealer having but the one trump turned, a single lead of trumps
exhausts his strength, and places him at the mercy of a strong plain suit.
It is not, however, {80} always advisable to lead a trump; for, if the
elder hand hold a tenace, his duty is to manoeuvre so as to secure two
tricks; but this is an exceptional case. The proper lead must be determined
by the quality of the hand, and the purpose to be accomplished. The elder
hand, holding two aces and a king, with two small trumps, would, of course,
lead trump through the assisting hand; for the only hope of securing a
euchre would be dependent upon the success of the non-trump suits, and they
can only be made available after trumps have been exhausted.
Where the dealer takes up the trump voluntarily, the elder hand is, of
course, upon the defensive, and to lead a trump under such circumstances
would be disastrous.
Should your partner have turned up the Right Bower, lead a small trump as
soon as you can; by so doing you will be sure to weaken your adversary's
hand.
When your partner makes the trump, or orders it up, lead him the best trump
you hold.
When you hold the commanding cards, they should be led to make the "march";
but if you are only strong enough to secure your point, cards of other
suits should be used.
When opposed to a lone hand, always lead the best card you have of another
suit, so that the possibility of your partner's retaining a card of the
same suit with yourself may be averted. If the card you lead is of an
opposite colour from the trump, so much the better; for if a red card
should be trump, and an opponent plays alone, the chances are against his
holding five red cards. Besides, if the lone player did hold five red
cards, it would, in like {81} proportion, reduce the probability of your
partner having one of the same suit, and give him an opportunity to weaken
the opposing player by trumping.
The exception to the above rule is when you hold two or three cards of a
suit, including ace and king, and two small cards in other suits; in this
case your best play would be to lead one of the latter, and save your
strong suit, for your partner may hold commanding cards in your weak suits,
and you thus give him a chance to make a trick with them, and if this does
not occur, you have your own strong suit as a reserve, and may secure a
trick with it.
When playing to make a lone hand, always lead your commanding trump cards
first, reserving your small trumps and other suit for the closing leads.
When you have exhausted your commanding trumps, having secured two tricks,
and retaining in your hand a small trump and two cards of another suit,
lead the highest of the non-trump suit to make the third trick, then your
trump. For instance, suppose that hearts are trumps, and you hold the Right
and Left Bowers and ten of trumps, and ace and nine of spades; lead your
bowers, then the ace of spades, following with the ten of trumps and nine
of spades. The reason for playing thus is obvious. You _may not_ exhaust
your adversaries' trumps by the first two leads, and if either of them
chanced to retain a trump-card superior to your ten, by leading the latter
you would, in all probability, be euchred on a lone hand.
Holding three small trumps and good plain cards, and desiring to euchre
your opponents, lead a trump, for when trumps are exhausted you may
possibly make your commanding plain suit cards. {82}
When you make the trump next in suit, always lead a trump, unless you hold
the tenace of Right Bower and ace, and even then it would be good policy to
lead the bower, if you hold strong plain-suit cards.
When you hold two trumps, two plain cards of the same suit, and a single
plain card of another suit, lead one of the two plain cards, for you may
win a trick by trumping the suit of which you hold none, and then, by
leading your second plain card, you may force your opponents to trump, and
thus weaken them. With such a hand it would not be good play to lead the
single plain card, for you might have the good fortune to throw it away on
your partner's trick, and ruff the same suit when led by your opponents.
When your partner has made or adopted the trump, it is bad play to win the
lead, unless you possess a hand sufficiently strong to play for a march. If
your partner assist you, and has played a trump, and you have won a trick
and the lead, do not lead him a trump unless you hold commanding cards, and
are pretty certain of making the odd trick or a march, for your partner may
have assisted on two trumps only, in which case such lead would draw his
remaining trump, and, in all probability, prove fatal to his plans.
Having lost the first two tricks and secured the third, if you hold a trump
and a plain card, play the former, for, in this position of the game, it is
your only chance to make or save a euchre.
There are only two exceptions to this rule, viz. when you have assisted
your partner, or when he has adopted the trump and still retains the trump
{83} card in his hand. In the former instance you should lead the plain
card, trusting to your partner to trump it; in the latter case you should
also lead the plain card, unless your trump is superior to your partner's,
and your plain card is an ace or a king, in which case you should play a
trump, and trust to the plain card to win the fifth trick.
The reason for this play is manifest. If your opponents hold a better trump
than you do, it is impossible to prevent their winning the odd trick, and,
therefore, the euchre or point; but if they hold a smaller trump, your lead
exhausts it, and you may win the last trick with your plain card.
This position frequently occurs in the game, and we recommend it to the
attention of the novice.