How to play Euchre

Objective

Choose a trump suit and win at least three of the hand’s five tricks with your partner. If the partnership that chose trump fails, it is euchred and the defenders score instead. The first partnership to 10 points wins.

This page uses North American four-player Euchre with a 24-card deck and no joker. If all four players pass in both rounds of choosing trump, the hand is abandoned and the next dealer redeals. The popular stick-the-dealer rule is a variant.

Setup

Make a 24-card deck using the 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace of every suit. Partners sit opposite each other. Choose a dealer; the deal moves clockwise after each hand, including a passed-out hand.

Deal five cards to each player, commonly in packets of two and three. Place the four remaining cards in the middle as the kitty and turn its top card face up.

Trump and the bowers

In the trump suit, cards rank from high to low:

1. Right bower: the jack of trump.
2. Left bower: the other jack of the same colour as trump.
3. Ace, king, queen, 10, 9 of trump.

The left bower changes suit for the hand. If hearts are trump, J♥ is highest and J♦ is second-highest; J♦ counts as a heart, not a diamond. In every non-trump suit, cards rank ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, except that the left bower has left its printed suit.

Turns

Choose trump

Starting left of the dealer, players get two rounds to choose trump.

In the first round, each player either passes or orders up the turned suit. If anyone orders it up, that suit becomes trump. The dealer adds the turned card to their hand and discards one card face down to the kitty. The partnership of the player who ordered up becomes the makers.

If everyone passes, turn the card face down. In the second round, each player may name any of the other three suits as trump or pass. If all four pass again, gather the cards without scoring; the player left of the old dealer becomes dealer and deals a new hand. This is the primary passing convention on this page.

After trump is chosen and before the opening lead, a maker may go alone. Their partner places their cards face down and does not play that hand.

Play the tricks

The player left of the dealer leads any card. Each active player plays one card clockwise and must follow the suit led if possible. Remember that the left bower belongs to trump for following-suit purposes.

The highest trump wins a trick containing trump. Otherwise, the highest card of the suit led wins. The trick winner leads next. Continue until all five tricks are complete.

Worked example

Hearts are trump. J♥ is the right bower and J♦ is the left bower, so both cards count as hearts and outrank A♥.

If diamonds are led, a player whose only printed diamond is J♦ has no diamond for this hand. They may play another card, including the J♦ as trump. Playing it is not a failure to follow suit because the left bower legally belongs to hearts.

Winning

Score after five tricks:

Result	Points
Makers take 3 or 4 tricks	Makers score 1
Makers take all 5 tricks, called a march	Makers score 2
Lone maker takes 3 or 4 tricks	Makers score 1
Lone maker takes all 5 tricks	Makers score 4
Makers take 0, 1 or 2 tricks and are euchred	Defenders score 2

Move the deal clockwise and play again. The first partnership to reach 10 points after a completed hand wins. If both sides use cards as score markers, keep those cards outside the 24-card playing deck.

Common mistakes

• Ranking the ace above the bowers. The right and left bowers are the two highest trumps.
• Following the printed suit of the left bower. It belongs entirely to the trump suit for that hand.
• Letting the dealer keep six cards. When ordered up, the dealer takes the turned card and discards one.
• Assuming only an opponent can order the dealer up. In this ruleset any player may order up, including the dealer’s partner.
• Leading from the dealer. The player left of the dealer leads the first trick.
• Forcing a second-round choice. Here, four more passes end the hand and move the deal.

Variants

Stick the dealer forbids the dealer from passing in the second round, so every deal produces a trump suit. It is common, but it is not the passing rule above. Agree on it before play.

Some games use 28 or 32 cards by adding lower ranks. British forms may use a joker, often called the Benny, as the highest trump. Canadian rules can restrict the dealer’s partner from ordering up unless going alone. Tables also differ on whether a defender may go alone and how that scores.

Targets of 5, 7 or 11 appear alongside the 10-point game. Changing the target does not change a hand’s scoring, but it changes match length. State the target when teams are formed.