Considering my love for the game, I am almost embarassed to admit that in all my green-gilled and wayward days I have never been to a Euchre-rama, or, ‘Euch-O-rama’ — which for some reason sounds more exciting.
I don’t know if it’s a shocking revelation, but there is a pocket of the young population out there that enjoys that age-old (or is it old-age) card game. Yes, people under the age of 30 do play, and, might I say, excel at the four person trick-based game.
I first learned how to play on a fishing trip with my dad and some of my uncles. It wasn’t a pretty sight. I recall being devastated by a barrage of two-point euchres and four-point lone hands by the teams of my powerful and savvy uncles until all I wanted to do was go out and actually fish.
But gradually I showed improvement and I could sometimes score a point or two in family games on Thanksgving or Boxing Day, smirking slyly as I trumped my older brother’s ace or scored a lay-down loner.
Unfortunately, for a long time the mandatory game for guys of my generation has been poker — Texas hold em to be specific, popularized in the film Rounders — and I made more than a few trips up to my friend’s attic to donate a few dollars to a pot and gag on cigarette smoke when, deep down, I would rather have been playing euchre.
It remained a family game — something I kept to myself at high school gatherings, sure that no one else would be at all familiar with the game — until university when I discovered that there were others like me who knew the game.
Today I’m happy to say I haven’t played a hand of poker in months, online or otherwise.
As great a game as euchre is, there are some down sides. An epic three-game rubber match on a kitchen table at a party is a dynamic and thrilling good time for the four players involved, but it’s not all that exciting for the poor souls on the sidelines forced to watch, or waiting to take their turn.
And any novice who has ever been looped in by three euchre-junkies in need of a fourth knows that euchre can be kind of a tricky game to pick up on. There’s only so many times someone can hear “oh, and another thing about the rules...” before they decide they would rather go watch TV.
At the same time, from a veteran player’s perspective, it’s bloody frustrating when a new player reneges because they forgot the left bower counts as a trump card. Especially when it’s your partner. In any case, I’m thankful I stuck with the game as I’ve found it to be an enjoyable pastime that doesn’t require the added hassle of poker chips, or even a complete deck of cards.
So I must say I look forward to the day —probably sometime after my 60th birthday — when I’ll find myself seated in a gymnasium surrounded by card tables full of people who know and love the game, and who won’t try to go alone with just king, nine and 10 of trump.