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A Perfect Hand
Have you ever had or seen a perfect hand dealt in a game of cards? In Euchre it’s called a “Lay-Down Loner,” as you have such a powerful hand that you can not only have your partner sit that round out, but just drop your cards right on the table and take the entire hand.
But Euchre plays with a short deck, with only the nines and above, you only get five cards per hand (with four discarded) and the trump suit changes from hand to hand. It’s a quick game, and the rapid turn of the cards means that you will likely see a perfect Loner in any best-of-three evening (usually when you’re holding the right cards for the wrong trump). The more cards in play for any given game, the less likely you will ever see that perfect hand.
Take Hearts, as that plays with a full deck, dealt out in its entirety to the four players. The best hand in Hearts is the one that lets you Shoot the Moon. Normally in Hearts your goal is to avoid taking tricks where hearts have been played, and to also avoid taking the Queen Of Spades.
You earn one point for every heart you capture, but 13 points for the Queen, and the first person to rack up 100 points (or who goes over 100 by the most if two players tap out on the same hand) loses the game. And yet, if you manage to take all of the hearts, and then also pick up the Queen, instead of racking up 26 points for yourself, you get zero points while the other three players take 26 points apiece.Most of the time, if you are trying to Shoot The Moon, you have to do so with stealth and finesse, so as not to tip off the other players when they could still stop you (mind you, it’s hilarious to let someone get 25 points and then bust them on the last point by taking it yourself). And yet, I did once play in a game where someone had a Lay-Down Moon. They had nothing but Aces and Royals. This is a very rare event indeed.
Most of the time, if you are trying to Shoot the Moon, you have to do so with stealth and finesse, so as not to tip off the other players when they could still stop you (mind you, it’s hilarious to let someone get 25 points and then bust them on the last point by taking it yourself). And yet, I did once play in a game where someone had a Lay-Down Moon. They had nothing but Aces and Royals. This is a very rare event indeed.
But the most memorable game where I saw the Perfect Hand was Spades. We played this almost every night one year in college (with occasional breaks for Canasta, Euchre, Rummy, and Hearts). In Spades, like Euchre, you have a partner. You play with the entire deck every hand (sometimes the red twos are substituted with Jokers as the top two Spades), and Spades are always the trump suit. When the cards are dealt, but before play commences, each
When the cards are dealt, but before play commences, each player in turn announces how many tricks he will take. Woe betide the team or player that overbids this number, for if your team fails to meet it, you lose a large number of points. You can certainly underbid, but you don’t get many extra points for tricks exceeding your bid, so it pays to stay in the groove.
Well, one night, after the deal, we started the bidding. You’re not allowed to kibitz or negotiate with your partner, you are just supposed to announce your bid. My partner had dealt. The guy to my right hemmed and hawed for a moment, then confidently announced “13.” Dead silence.
“Brian, are you sure about that?” asked Andy, his partner.
“Ayup,” he drawled back.
“Ummm…..” said I, looking down on my extraordinarily weak hand. “I, uh, I think I’ll bid one.” I had the Jack of Spades and some cover against a trump flushing — no guarantee but worth a crack.
Andy bid zero, of course. Mike, my partner, just shook his head. “One. I’ve gotta have at least one in here.”
The play commenced. Brian took the first trick with an Ace. Then led trick after trick after trick. Didn’t matter much as my off-suits were all junk, but I sat on that Jack. Brian then brought out his Spades at last. The big guns too — both Jokers, the Ace, (which flushed my partner’s King), then the Queen, which flushed my Jack. It was a massacre. Brian nailed every trick, winning the last with the two of Spades, as all the other trump cards were long gone.
I’ve played hundreds of games of Spades since that time, and I have still never seen the like of that one hand.
Published in Group Writing
Cribbage for me. One of the first times that I ever played, my mom got a perfect 29 points for her round of scoring. Never seen it since, very rare. Very hard to get, you must be dealt three of the 5’s and a Jack – the jack must be nobs (same suit as the cut card) and the cut card must be the other 5.
Fun and suspenseful, Skip…Thanks!
I have had lay-down loners in Euchre and the same in Hearts, both more than once. There is a card game called Phase 10, where one has to achieve ten goals in sequence. I have often been dealt just the hand I needed to achieve the next goal and lay it down in the first round of play in the hand, stopping other players from achieving their goals in that hand. (And, yes, we are very cut-throat about it.)
As Skip mentioned above, this conversation is an entry in our Group Writing Series, and the theme for October is Cards. Our theme for November is Novel, which can mean something new or a book-length work of fiction. If you have a novel or something novel that you would like to write about, you can sign up here for a date next month. Members who have never started a conversation on Ricochet before are welcomed to start in Group Writing.
Like with Cornhole, Euchre is the card game in Indiana.
… and Illinois, and Ohio …
Taught the game to some people in Connecticut. Once they thought they had the hang of it, we played for $10 a point. Then the real lessons began.
Like the time I watched a guy nail a loner with nothing higher than a Queen. That was one terrific lesson.
October 19, 2012. Seven Card Stud. Perfect Hand.
I have a framed picture in my office
Where I grew up in Illinois, we played Bridge and Pinochle, maybe because it was a Chicago suburb started after WWII. I do not remember Euchre being played at the University of Illinois. Our girls learned to play Euchre in Marching Band, and taught us.
How old are you? Maybe they hadn’t invented Euchre yet. ;^D
The odds of having a perfect hand in bridge are 1 in 4,245,032. I’ve never had one.
The odds of having a straight royal flush are 1 in 30,939.
With seven cards or five?
Been decades since I played poker, but used to play regularly. Five card draw was my game.
Never drew a Royal Flush, or saw anyone do it, but a couple of times drew a face card straight flush as a pat hand. It was always a dilemma, what to do, what to say. If I had ever drawn ace high I would probably not be here to write about it.
I have won the game on the first turn in sanctioned Magic: the Gathering events, before my opponent took a turn.
Seems like a long time ago, now.
7. (Link)
I’ve seen @SamRhody shoot the moon without missing a single trick. I’ve gotten close, but I always miss one or two.
Best poker hand I got was playing dollar Texas hold’em. Flopped a straight flush. Won enough money to do my laundry.
I learned Euchre late. The best part is the pace of the game. If you like Euchre you will like Pinochle.
I have had a double run in Pinochle 1500 pts. Which is an automatic win unless you were already in the hole.
I learned Euchre in college (where I majored in Pinochle) but I can’t remember how to play.
When I play hearts, I like to have all the hearts in my hand before the round begins. It allows me to pass off the hearts to two people. This means that no one gets to shoot the moon and I generally end up with zero. I also like to have the ace of clubs so that I can take the first trick and then play low and never take another trick in the round.
While in the Air Force at Yokota AB, Japan, during the early ’60’s, we played a LOT of double deck Pinochle and Bridge. I got a lay down grand slam one time using my partner’s hand and mine after bidding.
You and I, we play with different passing rules.
I partly do that so that in case someone else has the Queen of Spades. I wouldn’t want the person I’m passing them off on to have the Queen and then I made it possible for them to shoot the moon.
I have played 10s of thousands of games of Cribbage, never seen a perfect hand.
Many years ago, I played a fair amount of bridge with friends in my dorm.
One night, my partner opened with four hearts.
Bid got to me, and I went to seven hearts.
His reply was seven no trump.
He had most of a hand full of hearts, I had almost all of the rest (ten between us, except for the 1,2,3), and we had all of the aces and most of the face cards of all four suits. We all spent an hour looking at the cards after that hand, and figured out that he almost literally could not lose, unless he closed his eyes and tossed out random cards from the hands.
There’s nothing quite as frustrating as realizing that someone is trying to Shoot the Moon early on in a round and not having the cards to stop them. I’ve been on both ends of that, and it’s much more fun to be the one doing the shooting.
I played a lot of Spades when I was younger, but I don’t think I ever saw someone bid and win 13 solo like that. As a team perhaps, but never as a loner. The most fun in Spades is when you go Blind Nil and can pull it off. The least fun is when you try and go Blind Nil, have a good hand for it, and then your partner blows it for you by not taking a trick when they should. I’ve seen that happen way too frequently.