Trump This!

I

first was exposed to
euchre as a camper on
Tamarack's Western Trip.
I hated it then, main-
ly because my teachers were
notorious cheaters and lacked
the necessary patience to show
me the ropes.
Over the course of the
next year, I made sure to
master the game before my
next camping excursion, by
which time I actually enjoyed the game.
The basics: euchre is a game for four play-
ers, 24 cards (nines through aces), with the
first person to reach 10 points winning. In the
trump suit, the jack is the most powerful card,
and the jack of the same color, second-most;
followed by ace, king, queen, 10 and nine, in
that order.
So you're already confused? Well, what
makes the game interesting is not the
mere act of playing, but the
idiosyncracies and rules (or
lack thereof). '
For example, a former
partner of mine would
---.)
iw
always be the last one at
the table to pick up her
cards. If an opponent chal-
lenged this by not picking
up her cards, my friend
`---,
would sit and wait.
Another friend yelled at play-
ers who picked up their cards
before all were dealt, calling it
3,
"poor euchre etiquette.
Both exhibited supreme superstition, but
the latter seems especially ridiculous, in a
game where "stealing the deal" from oppo-
nents, and stacking the deck in your, or your
partner's, favor is an accepted practice.
Hard-core euchre players understand the
necessity of strategy.

A

V

of young Jewish adults who recognize each other.
Someone started the trend at Fifth Avenue, and we
all followed. As we age, there is still that part of
us finding solace in familiarity.
is Friday night in downtown Royal Oak, and
Bodies move from clique to clique,
the city is alive. Swarms of people walk the
exchanging
"hellos," sizing up one another
well-lit city blocks, searching for a destination.
and catching up on gossip. The table to
Which bar front will it be? The crowd heads
my right is discussing a girlfriend's recent
down Main Street to Sixth Street... and ultimately
engagement, voicing disapproval. To the left, it
jams into Fifth Avenue Billiards.
appears a group of old college buddies are in
There is no cover charge tonight, the busiest
conflict over which of them has a better job.
night of the week. The bar is narrow and deep, lit
At my own table, I become engrossed in conversa-
mostly by an enormous fish tank and lamps over the
tion
with a friend living in Chicago. He tells me what
pool tables.
life is like there. And then it happens. Girl fight.
Up a flight of stark, hollow steps and through the
A girl (Tracy, to make things easier) falls back
door, newcomers are almost brought to tears by
in
her
chair. Someone pushed her, so she stands up
smoke-filled air. Twentysomethings are everywhere,
to yell at the responsible party.
dressed in the latest trends;
The
initiator retaliates by
girls wear boot-cut pants
throwing
a beer bottle at Tracy's
and guys sport striped
head,
barely
missing. Tracy's
shirts. Dim, blue lights
long,
dark
hair
swings in slow
hang from the ceiling creat-
motion
as
she
turns
to see bro-
ing a mystique of seduc-
ken
glass
all
over
the
ground.
tion. Pictures of jazz greats
She
lunges
toward
her
attacker;
Ella Fitzgerald, Otis
they
hurl
awful
words.
Tracy's
Redding, Duke Ellington
friends hold her back, and the
and others adorn the walls,
bouncers rush in to rectify the
watching over the Gen-X
situation.
crowd. A mix of rasta, jazz
Everyone watches. No one
and hip-hop music beats a
hears
the music anymore, and
Good times, good friends
funky rhythm through the
the sophistication of this club is
crowd.
and good gossip
lost in the brawl. A guy in front
The bartender is busy
me says, "Cool, a chick
tonight. Her teeny, tiny
herald the midnight hour of
fight!"
Others are grabbing their
tank top and thick mascara
coats
and
leaving, trying to
at Fifth Avenue.
keep all eyes on her as she
avoid
contact.
This is the topic
works the bar. Barely-
of
discussion
for
the
rest
of
the
evening.
Nobody fig-
dressed waitresses also are on hand to serve tables,
ures
out
exactly
what
happened,
but
everyone
is fas-
but good luck finding one in this crowd.
cinated by the excitement.
At least half of the patrons at the bar know one
"That is why I love coming here," says David
another. I see a guy from my third-grade class and a
Turner,
a Fifth Avenue regular. "You never know
few girls who limboed at my bat mitzvah. There is a
what
you're
going to see."
comfort level here — not necessarily of friends, but

DEBBIE WEINSTEIN
Special to The Jewish News

I

2/13
1998

78

--/\

c _/

* Always take the trick if you can. Making
sure that your opponents don't get the most
points will always give you a shot at winning.

* Never trump your partner's ace. The ace is
the highest non-trump card. Throwing the
nine of a trump suit over an ace is a big no-
no, unless absolutely unavoidable. That will
either enrage your partner, or leave him smil-
ing because he knows you've got a good hand.

* Start small and save the high cards for
last. If you play your lesser cards first, you
might take a higher hand later.

❑

— Lonny Goldsmith