How to play Euchre

Before baccarat, blackjack and poker ruled the casino floor, euchre was perhaps the most widely played card game in the world. Nowadays, however, it’s hard to get a straight answer to the simplest of questions: what are the rules?While there is no universal consensus on the rules, we will explain here what we consider to be the core, essential version of euchre. We will also cover a few popular variants and translate some of the game’s unique jargon.

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Rules of euchre

The problem with euchre is that there are so many regional variations. A player from Wisconsin in the midwest United States may be confused by the way euchre is played in Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio, let alone in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the British Isles.

Euchre is a trick-taking trump game featuring two teams of two players each. Teammates are seated opposite each other so they are not consecutive in the run of play, which moves in the traditional clockwise fashion. Players on the same team are also forbidden from communicating or revealing their cards to one another.

Traditional euchre is played with only the Nines, 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces from a standard deck, leaving 24 cards in total. Experienced players tend to use a 48-card pinochle deck, which can be divided into two standard euchre decks.

The aim of the game is to earn more points than the other team by winning tricks. Each hand features five tricks, which are won by playing a higher-ranked card than every player in that round. The first team to score 10 points wins the game.

Euchre card rankings

Cards are ranked according to standard Ace-high poker rules (Ace beats King, which beats Queen, and so on). However, any card from the trump suit always beats a non-trump. For example: if the trump suit is Hearts, a Nine of Hearts would beat an Ace of Spades.

Furthermore, the Jack of trump becomes the ‘right bower’, which is the highest-ranked card in the game. The next best is the other Jack of the same colour as the right bower, which becomes a trump card and is called the ‘left bower’. For example: if the right bower is the Jack of Hearts, the left bower is the Jack of Diamonds.

Thus, if Hearts is the trump suit, the full euchre rankings would be:

• Jack of Hearts (right bower)
• Jack of Diamonds (left bower)
• Ace of Hearts
• King of Hearts
• Queen of Hearts
• 10 of Hearts
• Nine of Hearts
• Any other Ace
• Any other King
• Any other Queen
• Any other Jack
• Any other 10
• Any other Nine

Dealing the game

Each player receives five cards, which are usually dealt in alternating patterns of twos and threes. For example: the dealer will give the player to his left two cards, then the next player three cards, then the next player two cards, then three for themselves, and then switch the pattern around (three, two, three, two) so each player ends up with five cards.

The remaining four cards form what is called the ‘kitty’, which is placed face down on the table. The dealer then turns up the top card to begin the bidding process.

Bidding for trump suits

Once the top card is revealed, each player in turn can then say whether or not they wish that card’s suit (Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs, or Spades) to become trump. If trump is nominated, the dealer must take the upturned card and discard one face-down into the kitty. If they like, the dealer can throw out the trump instead of picking it up.

If the choice comes round to the dealer, they can either pick up the top card, thus setting the trump suit, or flip it over. In the latter case, each player in turn can then opt to nominate a trump suit. If no suit is chosen, a misdeal is declared and a fresh hand is dealt by the next player in line.

Rules for following suit

Play begins to the left of the dealer. That player can put down any card they like, including a trump, which determines the suit all other players must follow for that trick. If possible, you must play a card in the lead suit; if not, you can play any other card.

For example: if the lead suit is Diamonds and you have two Diamond cards in your hand, you must play one of them; if you have no Diamonds, however, you may choose anything else, including a trump card. Failure to follow this rule is called a ‘renege’, which incurs a two-point penalty for the offending player’s team.

How to win tricks in euchre

A trick is won by playing the highest-ranked card. This can only be done by either following the lead suit or playing a trump card. For example: if the lead suit is Hearts and the trump is Spades, you cannot win with Diamonds or Clubs. The exception is the left bower, which is considered to be part of the trump suit (e.g. if trump is Spades, Jack of Clubs counts as a Spade).

Here’s a demonstration of how tricks work:

• Hands are dealt and the trump suit is made Clubs
• First player puts down Nine of Hearts, so the lead suit is Hearts
• Second player puts down Jack of Hearts
• Third player puts down Ace of Hearts
• Fourth player has no Hearts, so plays Nine of Clubs

Because the trump suit outranks all others, the fourth player wins the trick and starts the play for the next round.

Point scoring

The scoring system for each team depends on who called the trump suit. If you’re on the trump team, otherwise known as the ‘makers’, you need to win three or four tricks in the hand to gain one point. If you win all five tricks, you score two points. If you fail to win at least three tricks, however, you are ‘euchred’ and the defending team is awarded two points.

A player who starts with an especially strong set of cards can choose to play solo for the entire hand. This is done by calling trump and declaring that you will ‘go alone’, in which case your teammate throws out their cards and takes no part in the hand. If you manage to win all five tricks with a loner hand, you earn four points for your team instead of the normal two.

To summarise:

• Makers win three or four tricks (team or solo) = one point
• Makers win five tricks as a team = two points
• Makers win five tricks going alone = four points
• Defenders win three or more tricks = two points

Traditionally, euchre scores are kept by using all the Fives removed from the deck (or two Sixes and two Fours) as points markers. One card is placed face-down over the other, which is face-up. If a team has one point, the face-down card is shifted to reveal one of the five spots on the other card; if they have two points, then two spots are shown, and so on until one team has both cards face-up with all 10 spots displayed.

Australian euchre and other variants

Few games of any kind boast as many different regional variants and specific house rules as euchre. These are some of the more common twists on the rules described above.

Screw the dealer – Rather than redealing the hand when a trump can’t be decided, the dealer is forced to pick up the top kitty card. This is widely used in order to eliminate misdeals and speed up the game.

No trump – If the top card of the kitty is turned down by all players in the first round of bidding, ‘no trump’ may be called. This means there is no trump suit for the hand, so only cards belonging to the first suit played can win a trick.

English euchre – Did you know the Joker card was invented especially for euchre? That’s why the British version of the game is played with 25 cards, with the Joker (often called the ‘Benny’ or ‘best bower’) acting as the top-ranking trump card.

Australian euchre – Games in Australia are often played with 25 cards or more, featuring at least one Benny (or ‘bird’). It is also common for teams to play to 11 points, rather than the standard 10.

New Zealand euchre – As on the other side of the Tasman, Kiwi euchre rules are heavily influenced by the English and Cornish variants. Club tournament games in NZ are dealt from a deck of 32 cards, rather than the standard 24.

Canadian euchre – In southern Ontario, euchre games may be played with as many as four Bennies. These are usually represented by two Jokers and two Deuces.

Euchre terminology

Like so many of the older card games, euchre comes with a vibrant and sometimes baffling set of in-words, jargon and regional colloquialisms. Here are a few of the essentials.

Euchred – The makers are ‘euchred’ when the opposing team wins more tricks in a hand. This is sometimes called ‘getting set’ as well.

Reneging – A player ‘reneges’ when they fail to follow suit despite being able to do so. If this error is picked up in subsequent tricks, the offender’s team receives a two-point penalty. This is sometimes raised to four points when a player is going alone, regardless of whether the offence is committed by the makers or the defenders.

Farmer’s hand – An especially weak hand, such as one with no face cards or Aces, may be called a ‘farmer’s hand’ or a ‘poor man’s hand’. In some euchre variants, a player can declare such a hand and exchange their three worst cards for fresh ones from the kitty.

Ace no face – As with the farmer’s hand, this is a rule variation which allows a player to discard three weak cards for new ones from the kitty. To do this, a player must have a single Ace and no face cards (Jacks, Queens, or Kings).

Dutchman – A player who holds the three strongest cards is often said to have drawn ‘the Dutchman’. This consists of the right bower, left bower and Ace of trump.

Laydown – This is a hand which, when played in the correct manner, is guaranteed to win all five tricks. A laydown often includes a Dutchman and two other trump cards. Players with such a hand often opt to go alone.

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