What is Euchre?
Euchre is a fast paced, trick taking card game built around teamwork, strategy, and quick rounds of play. While there are many variations and house rules, this guide focuses on the most common form of the game, four player Euchre.
What you need to play
- 4 players: seated directly across from their partner.
- A standard 52-card deck: stripped down to 24 cards, using only the 9s through Aces.
- A way to keep score: such as pen and paper or spare 6 and 4 cards.
The Goal of the Game
Be the first team to reach 10 or more points to win.
The Setup
Four players are seated around the table. You and Jenn are partners, and Dale and Allison are your opponents.
In Euchre, partners sit across from each other and work together to win tricks and score points.
The Euchre Deck
Remove all 2s through 8s from a standard 52 card deck. You are left with 24 cards: the 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of each suit. These are the only cards used in Euchre.
Dealing the Cards
Determine the First Deal
A common way to determine who deals first is to have someone deal the cards face up, one at a time, until a player receives the first jack or ace. That player becomes the first dealer.
How to Deal Cards
Dealing in Euchre is a little different from many other card games. The dealer gives each player either two or three cards at a time until everyone has five cards. This keeps the deal quick and the game moving.
A typical deal follows one of two patterns: 2 3 2 3 or 3 2 3 2.
Once all the cards are dealt, the dealer places the remaining 4 cards face down in the center of the table and turns the top card face up. This card is called the upcard. Its suit becomes the first suit players can choose as trump during the ordering up process.
Click through the full deal to see how the first dealer is chosen, how the cards are dealt, and how the center pile and upcard are set.
Card Rankings
Normal (Non-Trump) Suit Rankings
Without trump, every suit ranks the same way from highest to lowest.
The Basics of Trump
Any suit that is not trump follows the normal ranking. Once a suit becomes trump, the order changes dramatically, with the Jack of trump becoming the highest card in the game.
Trump is the suit that outranks all other suits for that hand.
If hearts are trump, even a low heart can beat the highest card from a non trump suit. This is why choosing trump is such an important decision.
The Right Bower
The jack of the trump suit is called the right bower. It is the highest card in the game.
The Left Bower
The jack of the same color as trump, but from the other suit, is called the left bower. It is the second highest card in the game and counts as a trump card.
The Jack of trump is the highest card in the game.
The Jack of the suit of the same color joins trump and ranks second.
Remember, J♦ counts as a Heart when Hearts are trump, not as a Diamond!
Trump Rankings
Select a trump suit to see how the full card ranking changes. Pay close attention to where the Jacks end up.
Choosing Trump
Trump is chosen in two rounds. In the first round, players may order up the upcard. If everyone passes, a second round begins.
Round 1: Ordering
Each player, in turn, decides whether to have the dealer pick up the upcard, making that suit trump, or pass. If a player orders it up, the dealer takes the upcard and discards one card face down from their hand. That suit becomes trump, and the team that ordered it up becomes the calling team. If all four players pass, the game moves to the bidding phase.
Click through this example to see what happens when a player orders it up and the dealer adds the upcard, then discards to return to five cards.
You've been dealt K♦, Q♦, J♥, 10♠, 9♣. The top card is still face down. Click Next → to turn it up and see which suit is being proposed as trump.
Be mindful of who you are ordering up to. If you order up an opponent, you are guaranteed to give the other team at least one trump, so it usually takes a stronger hand to order up to the opponent.
When you or your partner is the dealer, you have the advantage, which often means you can afford to order up a bit more aggressively.
Round 2: Bidding
Starting again to the dealer’s left, each player may name any suit as trump, except the one turned down, or pass.
In this version, the dealer must choose a suit if everyone else passes. This is called stick the dealer, a common rule that keeps the game moving.
The team that selects the trump suit becomes the calling team.
Click through this stick the dealer example to see Round 1 get turned down and the dealer forced to name trump in Round 2.
You've been dealt J♥, A♥, K♥, A♠, 9♦. The top card is still face down. Click Next → to reveal it and see which suit is being proposed as trump.
Playing the Hand
What is a Trick?
A trick is one round of play in which each player places one card face up in the center of the table. In a standard four player hand, each trick contains four cards. If a player chooses to go alone, their partner sits out, so each trick contains three cards instead.
One player wins the trick, collects the cards, and leads the next one. Since each player starts with 5 cards, there are 5 tricks in every hand.
How a Trick is Played
The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick.
- Lead any card. The suit of that card becomes the lead suit for the trick.
Follow suit if you can. Moving clockwise, each player must play a card of the led suit if they have one.
Remember, the left bower counts as trump, not its printed suit. If trump is led and it is your only trump, you must play it!
- Cannot follow suit? Play any card. If you do not have a card in the led suit, you may play any card, including a trump card.
- Highest trump wins. If any trump card is played, the highest trump wins the trick, regardless of the suit that was led.
- No trump played? Highest card of the led suit wins. If no trump is played, the highest card in the led suit takes the trick.
- The trick winner leads next. The winning player collects the cards, sets them aside face down, and leads any card to begin the next trick.
Here is a full example hand you can click through step by step. It shows following suit, trumping in, and how the bowers work during actual play.
Going Alone
If your hand is strong enough, you can go alone when you make trump. Your partner sits out, and you try to win the hand by yourself.
Click through this solo example to see a player order it up alone, send their partner to the sideline, and play all five tricks without help.
Jenn is the dealer. Click Next to reveal the upcard and see which suit is being proposed as trump.
Scoring
After all 5 tricks are played, tally up each team’s tricks and determine the score for the hand using the tables below.
Standard Scoring
| Outcome | Points Awarded | To Whom |
|---|---|---|
| Calling team wins 3 or 4 tricks | 1 point | Calling team |
| Calling team wins all 5 tricks | 2 points | Calling team |
| Calling team is euchred (wins only 1 to 2 tricks) | 2 points | Defending team |
Going Alone Scoring
| Outcome | Points Awarded | To Whom |
|---|---|---|
| Going alone and winning 3 or 4 tricks | 1 point | Calling team |
| Going alone and winning all 5 tricks | 4 points | Calling team |
| Going alone and being euchred | 2 points | Defending team |
First team to reach 10 points wins the game! After each hand, the deal passes to the left and play continues until one team reaches 10 or more.
Ready to Play
You now know everything you need to start playing Euchre. The more you play, the easier it becomes to recognize strong hands, track trump, and make confident decisions.
Focus on the basics, pay attention to what cards have been played, and enjoy the game!