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Euchre is a trick-taking card game played in several parts of the world. It is closely related to the French game Écarté.
History
The British Isles (most notably in the Channel Islands, Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, and Kent), United States, Canada and Australia all have large followings of the game. In the United States, euchre has declined in popularity since the 19th century, when it was widely regarded as the national card game, but it retains a strong following in some regions. Today, although euchre players can be found across the United States, the game is most predominant in the Midwest (especially Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana), as well as Pennsylvania and upstate New York — all areas with significant populations of German-Americans who settled in those areas during the 19th century. In Canada, euchre's largest following is in Ontario.
Dealing
Conventional euchre is a four-player trump game, wherein the players are paired to form two partnerships. Partners face each other from across the table so that the play of the cards in conventional clockwise order alternates between the two partnerships.
Conventional euchre uses a deck of 24 standard playing cards consisting of A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9 of each of the four suits. A poker deck can be used, omitting the cards from 2 to 8, but a pinochle deck may be divided in half to form two euchre decks.
Midwestern players often use a first (black) Jack deals rule when assigning the first dealer. Using the euchre deck, one player will distribute the cards one by one, face up in front of each player. The player delt the first jack becomes the dealer for the first hand. In subsequent hands, the deal is rotated clockwise. Out of courtesy, the dealer should offer a cut to the player on his right after shuffling and immediately before dealing.
Each player is dealt five cards in clockwise order, usually in groups of two or three cards each. The dealer usually alternates, first giving two cards to the player to his left, three cards to his partner, two cards to the player on his right and three cards to himself. The dealer then repeats, this time giving three cards to the player on his left, two cards to his partner and so on, to give each player the requisite five cards. Some dealers prefer to deal in groups of one and four, however dealing in groups of five and zero or one by one is uncommon.
The remaining four cards are referred to as the kitty or the blind and are placed face down in front of the dealer toward the center on the table. The top card of the blind is then turned face up.
When a suit is named trump, any card of that suit outranks any card of a non-trump suit. The highest ranking card in euchre is the jack of the trump suit and is referred to as the right bower. The second highest ranking card is the jack of the suit of the same color as the trump suit; this card is called the left bower. Remaining cards of the trump suit rank from high to low as A, K, Q, 10, and 9.
In non-trump suits, the jacks are not special, and the cards of those suits rank from high to low as A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9.
Example
Assume a hand is dealt and that hearts are named as trump. In this event, the trump cards are as follows, from highest ranking to lowest:- jack of hearts (right bower)
- jack of diamonds (left bower)
- ace of hearts
- king of hearts
- queen of hearts
- 10 of hearts
- 9 of hearts
For the purpose of play, the jack of diamonds becomes a heart during the playing of this hand. This expands the trump suit to the seven cards named above and reduces the suit of the same color (sometimes referred to as the next suit) by one card (the jack "loaned" to the trump suit). The same principles are observed for whatever suit is named trump. Remembering this temporary transfer of the next suit's jack is one of the principal difficulties newcomers have with the game of euchre.
Once the above hand is finished, the jack of diamonds ceases to be a heart unless hearts are again named as trump during the playing of the subsequent hand.
Play
Objective and scoring
In euchre, naming trump is sometimes referred to as "bidding". When naming a suit, a player asserts that his or her partnership intends to win at least three of the five tricks in the hand. A single point is scored when the bid succeeds, and two points are scored if the bidder takes all five tricks. A failure of the bidding partnership to win three tricks is referred to as being euchred (also called getting set) and is penalized by giving the opposing partnership two points. A bidder with exceptionally good cards can go alone, in which case he or she seeks to win all five tricks without a partner. The partner does not play and if all five tricks are won by the bidder, the winning partnership scores four points.The primary rule to remember when playing euchre is that one is never required to trump, but one is required to follow suit if possible to do so. If diamonds are led, a player with diamonds is required to play a diamond.
Failure to follow suit is called a renege. A renege is generally detected when a card that should have been played in a preceding trick is played belatedly. The renege would then be evident to any opponent attentively watching the fall of the cards. The infraction actually took place on the earlier trick, when the offending player failed to follow suit. Reneging generally causes the hand to be forfeited, with 2 points awarded to the opposing team. Among newcomers to the game of euchre, failure to identify the left bower as belonging to the trump suit and play it when required is a common cause of a renege.
Bidding (naming trump)
Once the cards are dealt and the top card in the kitty is exposed, the upturned card's suit is offered as trump to the players in clockwise order, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. If the player wishes the card's suit to become trump, he or she bids by asking the dealer to "pick it up" (referred to as ordering up a card). In this event, the dealer takes the card, adds it to his or her hand, and then discards one card, placing it face down on the kitty without displaying it to the other players. Once a bid has been made, play begins.If a player does not want the upturned card's suit to become trump, he or she says "pass" or signifies the desire to pass by knocking on the table. The next player to the left may then order up the card or may likewise pass.
If the upturned card comes around the table to the dealer without being ordered up by any of the players, the dealer may make a bid by picking up the card, adding it to his or her own hand, and discarding the extra card as described above. The dealer may also decline the upturned card's suit by turning it face down on the kitty. Once this suit has been passed by all four players, it may no longer be chosen as trump.
If the upturned card's suit is not chosen by any of the four players, the players are offered the opportunity to name any of the other three suits as trump, beginning with the player to the dealer's left. In this case, play begins as soon as a suit is named; no cards enter or leave the dealer's hand. A player may pass as previously described, and if the bidding comes around the table to the dealer without the naming of a suit, the dealer may name a suit. If he or she also declines to name a suit, the cards are collected, no points are scored, and the deal is passed to the left.
In some variations, the following rules are added during the bid. First, if the dealer's partner orders up the dealer, the dealer does not play in the hand and the dealer's partner must play alone against two defenders (described further below). Second, if all players pass the bid twice, the dealer is stuck making trump from the remaining three suits (i.e., cannot opt for a redeal. Also, this rule is sometimes known as "screw the dealer" or "stick the dealer"). These additions are sometimes referred to as "Canadian rules."
The team that selects trump is sometimes known as the "makers" for the remainder of the hand. The opposing team is known as the "defenders" for the remainder of the hand.
Winning tricks
The player to the dealer's left begins play by leading a card. (If the player to the left is sitting out the hand because his or her partner is going alone, the dealer's partner will lead.)Play continues in clockwise order; each player must follow suit if they have a card of the suit led. Remember that the left bower is a member of the trump suit and is not a member of its native suit.
The player who played the highest trump wins the trick. If no trump were played, the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. The player that won the trick collects the played cards from the table and then leads the next trick.
After all five tricks have been played, the hand is scored. The player to the left of the previous dealer then deals the next hand, and the deal moves clockwise around the table until one partnership scores 10 points and wins the game.
Going alone
If the player bidding (making trump) has an exceptionally good hand, or if his or her partnership is in danger of losing the game unless they are able to quickly score points, the player making trump has the option of playing without his or her partner. If the bidder playing alone wins all five tricks in the hand, the team scores four points."Going alone" is initiated at the time the bidder orders the upturned card on the kitty to the dealer (on the first round of bidding) or names a suit (during the second round of bidding). The bidder signifies his/her desire to play alone by stating "alone" or (for example) "clubs alone" after bidding. The bidder must make this call before play begins.
During a loner, the bidder's partner discards his or her cards, and does not participate in play of the hand.
Naturally, the odds of success of a loner bid depends on the lay of the cards, and in loner play, the inactive cards held by the bidder's partner means that nine cards out of 24 do not participate in play, making play less predictable than otherwise. A hand consisting of the top five cards of the trump suit are mathematically unbeatable, while other combinations merely have high probability of outranking one's opponents' cards.
A loner bid that fails to win all five tricks is not penalized; the bidding partnership scores one point provided that they won three or four tricks.
Scoring
| Bidding partnership (makers) wins 3 or 4 tricks | 1 point |
| Bidding partnership (makers) wins 5 tricks | 2 points |
| Bidder goes alone and wins 5 tricks | 4 points |
| Defenders win 3 or more tricks (known as a euchre, or setting the bidder(s)) | 2 points |
The first team to score 10 points wins the game (sometimes called a round). While score can be kept by using a tally sheet, most euchre players traditionally use the unused 6 and 4 cards, or unused pairs of 5 cards for one member of each partnership to keep score; in this case, one card is used to cover the other so as to expose the number of pips corresponding to the team's score.
Variations in play
Variations in game play are generally invoked by agreeing on them before play begins.
Throw-ins
These variations (and others) allow a player dealt one of several types of poor hands to "throw in" their cards and initiate a redeal. In some circles, these are considered a form of "misdeal", causing the deal to be passed to the original dealer's left.- Nines & Tens: a hand consisting only of 9's and 10's. It is impossible for more than one player to have such a hand in regular play.
- Ace, No Face: a single ace and nothing else except 9's and 10's containing only non-trump.
- King Nothing: a single king and nothing else except 9's and 10's containing only non-trump.
- Bitches' Hand: three queens and nothing else except 9's and 10's containing only non-trump.
- Jack Shit: a single jack and nothing else except 9's and 10's containing only non-trump.
- No Ace, No-Face: a throw-in hand determined after the make, containing only non-trump 9's and 10's.
Farmer's hand
Common in the Midwestern US, certain weak hands (usually those containing either three 10 cards or three 9 cards) are designated as "farmer's hands" or "bottoms". After inspecting the hand dealt him or her, a player may call out "farmer's hand" and is then allowed to show the three cards in question and exchange them for the three unexposed cards in the kitty (also called "going under" or "under the table").One variation allows that a player with any combination of three 9 cards and 10 cards may exchange them. This is generally referred to as "farmer's hand mixed" while the prior example is called "farmer's hand clean". If more than one player wishes to call farmer's hand, there is generally no structure for determining who will take the cards other than a first-come first-served method, although some players only call "farmers" on the player's turn to bid for trump. Otherwise, the person closest to the deal will sometimes be given priority. Some variations allow for multiple farmer's hands to be called out, but those exchanging cards with those left behind in the kitty after the first exchange are essentially guaranteed very poor cards.
Making trump
- Stick/Screw the Dealer: If the trump selection comes all the way back around to the dealer the second time, the dealer must call the trump suit. In other words, there is no option to redeal.
- Club Euchre: Whenever the upturned kitty card is suited clubs, the dealer must "pick it up" and his team must play as the makers, with clubs as trump.
Trick-taking
- Super-Euchre: If the defenders take all 5 tricks, then they score a Super-Euchre and 4 points are earned.
Going alone
- Partner's Best: When a maker "goes alone", he and his partner exchange a single card from their hands, concealed from all other players, before trick-taking begins.
- Canadian: When a player orders his partner to "pick it up", he must attempt the hand as a loner.
- Blind-Double Loner: Before the maker sees his cards, the maker calls "blind double loner". Here, the turn card is automatically trump, and the game is played by normal loner rules. If the Blind-double Loner wins all 5 tricks, 8 points are awarded to the player's team.
- Defending Alone (1): When a maker decides to go alone, one of the opposing players has the option of "defending alone". Here, one of the opposing players calls out "I'll defend alone" right after the loner establishes himself or herself. If the "partner's best" subvariation is invoked, then this "lone defender" also has the opportunity to exchange a single card with their partner before tricks are played. In either case, if the lone defender Euchres the loner, then his team earns 8 points.
- Defending Alone (2): When a defender believes that he is strong enough to take at least three tricks alone, that person may defend alone. If they succeed, they score four points instead of the usual two. If they take all five tricks, they score eight points for their team.
Pepper or Hasenpfeffer
Pepper is an offshoot of 24-card euchre popular in the Midwesten U.S., where the entire deck is dealt out, bids are made numerically for the naming of trump, and declarer may name no trump in place of a single suit. A six-player version exists, played with a full pinochle pack and no bowers. Follow the link for complete rules.Scoring rituals
- The scoring can be done with a 2 and a 3. the score is the number of pips showing. When the score is 5 or more the cards are turned into a V shape and then the score is 5 plus whatever is showing. The V is the Roman numeral for 5.
- Scoring can also be tracked with two 5, 6, 7 or 8 cards (depending on how long the game is intended to last) where again, the number of pips showing is the total score. Two 5 cards is the most common method of score keeping as the game ends when one team has reached ten points.
- Players in the Midwest often will indicate the next point that they are hoping to score by "sprouting". The team will partially uncover the next pip on the score card so that it looks like the pip is growing up or sprouting.
- For some players in the Midwest, when a team has nine points, players place the score cards next to each other, face down. The team is now "in the barn" (also "on the corner") or "mooing". Some players have also been known to place the two score cards behind their ears upon "entering the barn." A particularly vulgar celebration ceremony involved with "entering the barn" is "milking the cow," whereupon one member of the team that just "entered the barn" interlaces their fingers and points their thumbs downward. This completed, their teammate "milks" the downturned thumbs just as one would milk a cow's udder. This cow is sometimes dubbed "Ted" or "Z." If the team scores their tenth point then the "barn doors are opened:" the cards are flipped to show all ten pips. Actions such as this, however, are considered insulting.
- On many American college campuses, the players of a losing team which failed to earn any points at all are considered to have been "skunked" by the winning team. Sometimes, the relatively rare event of being skunked implies that the losers must perform some form of ritual penitence such as streaking the campus.
International variations
Other variations of euchre are widely played in the southwestern counties of England, where it is common for a pub to have its own team which takes part in competitive league matches with other teams. The most common form of the game played in the UK is one where a twenty-five card deck is used; the deck consists of A-K-Q-J-10-9, with an extra card called the Benny. This card, usually a joker card or the two of spades, is the highest trump no matter which suit is called. Should this card be the one turned over by the dealer, the dealer must decide which suit to call for trumps before looking at their own hand. The bidding then continues as normal.In Guernsey (Channel Islands) the game is played with a 33 card deck incorporating 7 to Ace plus a joker as Benny. In addition, where the Benny is turned up, the dealer not only has to name the suit, he must then pick it up and play (although may still choose whether to play alone or with his partner). Unofficial rules require the wearing of a "dealing hat" when dealing (usually a Fez) and referring to the Ace of Spades as the Death Card, regardless of whether a trump or not. Tradition dictates that the Death Card should not be led on the first trick unless defending against a lone attacker as it will otherwise invariably be trumped. A cleverer lead is known as the "Brisey" which involves leading the left bower in an attempt to trick one of your opponents into a renege (a failure to correctly follow suit). The Brisey is named after the late Brian Mauger, a famous Guernsey Euchre player (he isn't dead but is often late). If a defender has won two tricks already and still has possession of the Benny then he must slap it onto his forehead as a sign of the guaranteed euchre.
Extra cards
Players can also play with the extra cards 8 and 7, which adds more uncertainty to which trump cards can still be in opposing players' hands.Dealing Variations
One variation exists where the player to win the last trick is the dealer for the next trick.Strategy
Many sources for euchre strategy exist, but one popular and humorous version are the "Ten Commandments of Euchre" by noted Euchre master Harvey Lapp* The commandments are:
- Thou shalt not pass a biddable hand.
- Thou shalt counteth upon thy partner for one trick.
- Thou shalt not trumpeth thy partner's ace.
- Thou shalt trumpeth thy partner's king.
- Thou shalt leadeth trump to thy partner's order.
- Thou shalt not leadeth trump to thine opponent's order.
- When thou hath ordered trump, leadeth thy right bower to smite thy foes.
- Ordereth not the right bower unto thy partner's hand unless thou canst go alone.
- Goeth alone whenever thou canst, unless thy team hath eight or nine points.
- Thou shalt not complaineth about the cards the Lord thy Euchre God hath bestowed upon you.
See also
External links
"Euchre"