The rules of Euchre

The whole game on one page, in the order a beginner needs it, from the three sources that agree: pagat.com, Bicycle and the Semi-Official Euchre Home Page. Where they differ, we say so, and we say what the app plays.

1. The table

Four players in two partnerships, partners sitting across from each other. The pack is 24 cards: the 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit. The first side to 10 points wins.

One suit of the 24-card pack. The 2 to 8 are not used.

2. The deal

The dealer gives five cards to each player, clockwise from the left, in two rounds: three then two, or two then three, each player getting one packet of each size. The next card is turned face up. The other three are not used. After every hand the deal passes to the left.

3. Trump and the bowers

One suit is trump each hand, and any trump beats any card of another suit. In the trump suit the jack is the highest card, the right bower; the other jack of the same color is the next highest, the left bower, and it counts as a trump for every purpose. Below them come the ace, king, queen, 10 and 9. The other suits rank ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9.

Right

Left

Hearts trump: the seven trumps in order, the J♦ among them. Diamonds are left with the A, K, Q, 10 and 9.

4. Making trump, round one

Starting at the dealer’s left, each player passes or accepts the turned card’s suit as trump. An opponent of the dealer orders it up; the dealer’s partner assists; the dealer picks it up. As soon as anyone accepts, the dealer takes the turned card into hand and puts one card face down. The side that made trump are the makers; the other side are the defenders.

5. Round two, and the stuck dealer

If all four pass, the turned card is turned down, and from the dealer’s left each player passes or names any other suit as trump. The turned-down suit may not be named. If all four pass again, the base rules throw the hand in and the deal passes. With stick the dealer, the dealer may not pass a second time and must name a suit. Rated play in the app uses stick the dealer, as every Midwest league rulebook we found does. More on stick the dealer.

6. Going alone

The player who makes trump may play alone, saying so at that moment. The partner puts their cards down and sits the hand out. A lone hand that takes all five tricks scores 4 points instead of 2. More on going alone.

7. The play

The player on the dealer’s left leads the first trick (if that seat is sitting out, the next player round). Everyone must follow suit if they can; otherwise they may play any card. The highest trump wins the trick, or, if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads the next. The left bower follows a trump lead, never its printed suit.

Hearts are trumpGary led the A♦

Barb

Gary

Your card

Deb

You, your turn

Left bower

Diamonds were led. Your J♦ is the left bower, a heart this hand, so it cannot follow. Your 10♦ is your only diamond, and you must play it.

Play the 10♦

The left bower moment, as the app shows it: the J♦ is grayed because it is a heart this hand.

8. Scoring

Three or four tricks score the makers 1 point; all five, a march, 2; a lone march, 4. If the makers take fewer than three they are euchred, and the defenders score 2. Every score, drawn with the cards.

Score kept on a six and a four, as the app keeps it.

9. Where the sources differ

Each difference is a setting in the app. Standard is what rated play uses.

The targetpagat.com and the Semi-Official page: 10 points in North America. Bicycle: 5, 7 or 10, as agreed.In the app: 10. Quick plays to 5.

Stick the dealerOff in the base rules of all three. pagat.com and the Semi-Official page describe it as a common variation: the dealer may not pass in round two and must name a suit. Every Midwest league rulebook we found plays it.In the app: On in Standard (rated play), Defend alone and Quick. Off in Throw-in and Ontario, where the hand is thrown in and the deal passes.

Ordering up with no trumpThe World Euchre Championship and the Ontario Senior Games require a trump in hand to order up, the left bower counting. Ohio’s tournament rules allow ordering while void.In the app: Allowed in Standard, Throw-in, Defend alone and Quick. Ontario requires a trump.

The dealer’s partner orders upIn the US any player may order up and play with a partner (pagat.com). In Canada, Australia and England the dealer’s partner who orders up plays alone.In the app: Alone in Ontario. With a partner in the others.

Defending aloneBicycle: only the player who made trump may go alone. The Semi-Official page: a defender may go alone against a loner. pagat.com: some tables do not allow it, and some allow it only against a loner; in the British game any player may.In the app: Never in Standard. Against a loner in Defend alone, for 4 points if the lone defender euchres the maker.

Who leads against a lonerBicycle and the Semi-Official page: the player on the dealer’s left leads, or the next player round if that seat is sitting out. pagat.com, in the British game: the player on the lone player’s left leads, and when a maker and a defender both play alone, the defender leads.In the app: The dealer’s left, as Bicycle and the Semi-Official page say, in every rule set.

The first dealerpagat.com: deal cards round until a black jack appears. Bicycle: draw cards, lowest deals.In the app: The first black jack, dealt from the sealed deal so it can be checked.

10. Things that only happen at a real table

A renege, a misdeal or an exposed card cannot happen in the app: the deal comes from a sealed shuffle and the app offers only the cards you may play. For what a real table does, see renege and misdeal.

The rules, page by page

The bowersWhich jack is which, and why the left bower follows trump.

ScoringThe points for every result, drawn with the cards.

Stick the dealerWhen the dealer cannot pass, and where it is played.

Going aloneWho may, who sits out, who leads, and what it scores.

Dealing and ordering upThree and two, the turned card, ordering up and assisting.

Renege and misdealWhat happens at a real table when a card is played wrong.

House rulesFarmer’s hand, ace no face, no first blood and the rest.

A printableThe rules on one sheet, to print for the table.

Learn it on the table instead: Euchre March teaches the first hand with a coach, then the bowers, following suit, scoring, round two and going alone, one short lesson at a time.