The true test of one’s Euchre playing skills where partners pit their Euchre skills against other teams for what, in some cases, can lead to cash and prizes for the winners. It may sound overly dramatic, but really a Euchre tournament played against people you don’t know is a completely different experience than playing around the kitchen table with friends. It brings in a whole new set of skills as you try to read your opponents and deal with the stress of playing multiple games for more than just bragging rights.
Euchre Tournament Rules
The rules in a Euchre Tournament are pretty similar to the rules in any card game or sporting event that doesn’t use chips or money. They consist of a starting set of games (called a bracket) which determines who plays who in the first game. After that, the winners continue to play, while the losers may be sent home.
There are several ways to determine the initial games in a bracket. The easiest and most common is just random drawings. Partner teams are put into a bucket or hat and are drawn at random, are put into a computer program, or some other method is used to match teams together. The only problem with this format is that it may pair teams who have been playing Euchre for years against players who are just starting.
That’s where seeding comes into play. In some cases, especially on websites or in Euchre tournament leagues, it may be possible to rank a certain Euchre team or assess their skill level. These rankings can be used to determine who the best and worst teams are in a given Euchre tournament and match them up accordingly. The good part about doing this is that it usually means the championship games pit the best players against one another. The bad part is that it usually means the less experienced teams have to play the better teams and get knocked out early.
Then again, in a Euchre tournament even an inexperienced team can draw good cards and move on to the next round.
Once rankings are determined, play can begin. Play follows a standard set of rules for all games. Once a winner is determined, then it becomes important whether the tournament is single or double elimination events. In the case of a single elimination tournament, any team that loses once is removed from the tournament and cannot win it. In double elimination tournaments, teams can lose once and continue playing. If a team loses early on, but continues to win, they might be able to still win if they don’t lose another game.
Either way, the goal in either a single elimination or double elimination Euchre tournament is the same. You want to be the last team standing. The way to do that is simply to win. The more games you win, the more opponents you knock out. The more opponents you knock out, the better chance you’ll be the last team standing.
Where to Find a Euchre Tournament
Once you have decided to play a Euchre tournament, you still have to try and find one. Depending on where you live, and if you want to find one to play in person against other live players, that may be somewhat difficult. In fact, trying to find any card game tournament is going to be tricky since other than poker, not many are played.
If you are going to find one, your best bet is to do one of two things. First, you can go online and Google something like (Euchre tournament) and then type in your city. This may or may not return any results. You can also go to hobby/game shops where people play miniature war games or other games and see if they know of any clubs or groups that might be interested in playing regular card games. A lot of times patrons of those establishments will know if any such groups in the area exist.
If you cannot find a local Euchre tournament, the good news is that Euchre tournaments are increasingly popular on the Internet. A number of sites offer them at different times throughout the year. In fact, most of the online Euchre sites which offer any Euchre rooms have tournament rooms. However, the frequency in which they offer official, sanctioned tournaments varies from site-to-site.
Your best bet for looking for online Euchre tournaments is to go to Yahoo! (link http://uk.games.yahoo.com/online-games/card/games_euchre.html) which offers scheduled tournaments on their website. Check the events page to see when the next tournament is.
Also, if you don’t have a Euchre partner, make sure that the tournament will allow you to just show up or see if you must have a partner to play. If you must have a partner, log in and start playing online before the Euchre tournament starts. That way you can play with several people, find out who you are comfortable with and see if they will be your partner for the tournament. As long as you are nice and respectful, most people will be honored to be asked.
Another option is to try Hardwood Euchre which is a combination of storytelling/role playing and online euchre. It requires you to download a client and install it on your machine, but then you can play the trial version for free. Even if you are not a big fan of the extra features in the game like throwing kisses or fireballs are your opponent, Silver Creek Entertainment (the company that produces Hardwood Euchre) boasts that they offer hundreds of tournaments per day. That is the most of any other Euchre site out there, far exceeding Yahoo! which only offers a few tournaments per week, if that.
Plus, if the game supports that many tournaments, there are obviously a large number of players, which should make it easier to find a partner. Therefore, for the price of an inexpensive client, getting access to that many tournaments has to be a good thing. Plus, the graphics and the game play of the client are nothing short of breathtaking.