Rules for Euchre

Euchre is a trick-taking card game that traces its roots to the Alsatian game Juckerspiel. It came to America with German immigrants in the 19th century and was once considered the national card game of the United States. It is still widely played in the Midwest, Canada, and Great Britain.

Euchre is a team game for 4 players (2 teams of 2) using a reduced deck of 24 cards. The goal is to win at least 3 of the 5 tricks in each round. The first team to reach 10 points wins.

Euchre is played with 24 cards: only the 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of each suit (♣️♦️♥️♠️). Remove all cards from 2 to 8 from a standard deck.

The four players split into two teams, with partners sitting across from each other. To decide who deals first, each player draws a card and the lowest card deals.

Cards are dealt clockwise, and each player receives 5 cards. The dealer may deal in batches of 3 then 2, or 2 then 3, but must use the same pattern throughout. The remaining 4 cards are placed face down, with the top card turned face up.

In Euchre, the trump suit has a special ranking that differs from the other suits:

• Right Bower: The Jack of the trump suit, the highest card in the game
• Left Bower: The Jack of the same color as trump (red or black), the second highest
• Rest of trump: Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9

In the other suits, cards rank normally: Ace (highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9. Note that the suit sharing a color with trump is missing its Jack, since that Jack has become the Left Bower.

Example: If ♥️ is trump, the ♥️ Jack is the highest card, the ♦️ Jack is second highest, then ♥️ Ace, ♥️ King, and so on.

After dealing, there is a bidding round to determine the trump suit:

First round: Starting with the player to the dealer's left, each player can either "order up" the turned card (accepting its suit as trump) or pass. If someone orders it up, the dealer takes the turned card into their hand and discards another. The team that chose trump is called the "makers" and must win at least 3 tricks.

Second round: If everyone passes in the first round, there is another round where players can name a different suit as trump (not the suit of the turned card). In many variants, the dealer must choose trump if everyone else passes (the "Stick the dealer" rule).

The player who names trump can choose to "go alone". Their partner puts down their cards and sits out the round. Going alone comes with higher scoring potential:

• Alone and takes 3-4 tricks: 1 point
• Alone and takes all 5 tricks: 4 points

Playing alone is a real risk and requires a strong hand, but the reward can be worth it.

The player to the dealer's left (or to the left of someone going alone) leads the first card. Play proceeds clockwise.

Rules for trick-taking:

• You must follow the suit that was led if you can
• If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card
• The highest card of the led suit wins the trick, unless someone plays trump
• The highest trump card always wins
• The winner of each trick leads the next card

Important: The Left Bower (the Jack of the same color as trump) counts as trump for all purposes.

Points are awarded based on who chose trump (the makers) and how many tricks they win:

• Makers take 3-4 tricks: 1 point
• Makers take all 5 tricks ("march"): 2 points
• Makers take fewer than 3 tricks ("euchred"): Opponents get 2 points
• Playing alone and takes 3-4 tricks: 1 point
• Playing alone and takes all 5 tricks: 4 points

The first team to 10 points wins.

A traditional way to keep score is with cards not used in the game (the 2s through 8s):

• Use a 3 and a 4 as markers
• For 1 point: Place the 4 face down on the 3, with one pip showing
• For 2 points: Place the 3 face down on the 4, with two pips showing
• For 3 points: Place the 3 face up on the 4
• For 4 points: Place the 4 face up on the 3
• Continue the same way up to 10 points

There are many variations of Euchre:

• With Joker: Some play with a Joker as the "best bower", the highest trump card
• 32-card version: Includes 7s and 8s for more variety
• Railroad Euchre: Played to 10 points with rules designed for faster play
• Bid Euchre: Players bid on how many tricks they can take
• Buck Euchre: Each player for themselves, no teams
• Three players: A variant where the maker plays against the other two

A few useful tips for playing Euchre well:

• As dealer, remember you get the turned card if someone orders it up
• In general, you should have at least 2-3 trump cards before calling trump
• Go alone only with a very strong hand (both bowers and an ace is a solid starting point)
• If you called trump, it often pays to lead with your highest trump early to clear out opponents' trumps
• Keep track of which cards have been played, especially the bowers
• As a defender, work with your partner to euchre the makers
• You can communicate with your partner through the cards you choose to play
• Think about the score before taking risks, since a bold play near 10 points can decide the game