How to play Euchre
Rather learn by playing? A guided first hand, with a coach at your side, walks you through the bidding and the tricks. Learn in 3 minutes ▶
Euchre is a trick-taking game for four players in two teams. One team chooses trump and must then win at least 3 of the 5 tricks. The first team to 10 points wins.
At a glance
- 4 players, 2 teams. Partners sit across from each other.
- 24 cards: 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace in each suit. Everyone gets 5.
- The two highest trumps are the Jacks of the trump color: the Right Bower and the Left Bower.
- Two rounds of bidding decide trump. The team that names it are the makers.
- Makers who win 3 or more tricks score. Makers who don’t are euchred, and the other team scores 2.
The deal
- The dealer deals 5 cards to each player, clockwise from their left, in packets of 2 and 3: two or three cards on the first pass, the rest on the second.
- The 4 cards left over are the kitty. Its top card is turned face up for everyone to see.
- After each hand, the deal passes to the left.
Trump and the bowers
Once trump is chosen, the trump suit ranks from highest to lowest:
- Right Bower: the Jack of the trump suit.
- Left Bower: the other Jack of the same color. With hearts as trump, it’s the Jack of diamonds; with spades as trump, the Jack of clubs.
- Then the Ace, King, Queen, 10 and 9 of trump.
The Left Bower is a trump for the whole hand and no longer belongs to its printed suit. If diamonds are led and hearts are trump, the Jack of diamonds does not follow diamonds; if trump is led, it does.
The other suits rank Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9. The suit of the same color as trump has only five cards, because its Jack has become the Left Bower.
Bidding, round 1: order it up or pass
- Starting with the player to the dealer’s left, each player in turn may order it up or pass.
- Ordering it up makes the suit of the turned card trump. The dealer then takes that card into their hand and discards one card face down.
- When it’s the dealer’s turn, they may pick it up themselves: same result, the card’s suit becomes trump and the dealer discards one.
- Ordering up your partner as dealer gives your team the turned card. Ordering up an opponent hands it to them, so be sure your hand is strong enough.
Bidding, round 2: name a suit
- If all four pass, the turned card is turned face down.
- Starting again left of the dealer, each player may name any other suit as trump, or pass. The suit that was turned down can’t be named.
- If everyone passes again, the hand is thrown in and the deal moves to the next player.
- Stick the dealer (option): the dealer can’t pass in round 2 and must name a suit, so every hand is played.
Going alone
- Whoever chooses trump, in either round, may decide to go alone. Their partner lays their cards face down and sits out the hand.
- The lone player plays against both opponents. Winning all 5 tricks this way is worth 4 points.
- If the dealer is the lone player’s partner, the dealer sits out and the turned card is not picked up.
Playing the tricks
- The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick. If that player is sitting out, the next player leads.
- Everyone else plays one card in turn. You must follow suit if you can. Remember that the Left Bower counts as trump, not as its printed suit.
- If you can’t follow suit, you may play any card, including a trump.
- The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.
- The winner of each trick leads the next one.
Scoring
| Result of the hand | Points |
|---|---|
| Makers take 3 or 4 tricks | 1 to the makers |
| Makers take all 5 tricks (a march) | 2 to the makers |
| A lone player takes 3 or 4 tricks | 1 to the makers |
| A lone player takes all 5 tricks | 4 to the makers |
| Makers take fewer than 3 tricks: euchred | 2 to the defenders |
Winning the game
The first team to reach 10 points wins. You can set a shorter game to 5 or a longer one to 15 in the settings.
Choosing the first dealer
A common way to pick the first dealer: one player deals cards face up, one at a time around the table, and the first player to get a black Jack deals first. Some tables cut the deck instead, and the lowest card deals. After that, the deal moves one seat to the left each hand.
Reneging
Not following suit when you could is a renege. At a real table, the hand usually stops when a renege is caught and the other team scores 2 points, or 4 if they were playing alone. House rules vary, so agree on the penalty before you start.
In this game you can’t renege by mistake: only the cards you are allowed to play can be played.
Misdeals
If a player gets the wrong number of cards, or a card is turned face up during the deal, it’s a misdeal. The cards are gathered and dealt again, usually by the same dealer. The game always deals correctly, so this only happens at a real table.
Defending alone (variant)
Some tables let one defender go alone against a lone player. Their partner sits out too, and if the lone defender euchres the loner, the defenders score 4 points instead of 2. This game doesn’t use the rule.
Glossary
- Bower
- One of the two highest trumps: the Right Bower (the Jack of trump) and the Left Bower (the other Jack of the same color).
- Kitty
- The 4 cards left over after the deal. Its top card is turned up for the first round of bidding.
- Order up
- In round 1, telling the dealer to pick up the turned card, which makes its suit trump.
- Makers
- The team that chose trump. They need 3 of the 5 tricks.
- Euchre, euchred
- When the makers take fewer than 3 tricks: they are euchred and the defenders score 2 points.
- Loner
- A player who goes alone, without their partner, for a chance at 4 points.
- March
- Taking all 5 tricks: 2 points for the makers, 4 for a loner.
- Next
- In round 2, the suit of the same color as the turned-down card. A common call for the player left of the dealer.
- Crossing
- Calling a suit of the other color from the turned-down card in round 2 (also called reverse next).
- Stick the dealer
- A house rule: if everyone else passes in round 2, the dealer must name trump.
- Farmer’s hand
- A hand with only 9s and 10s. Some tables let the player swap it for the kitty.
- Benny
- The Best Bower: an extra card (the Joker) ranked above both bowers in some older versions of Euchre.
Controls
- When it’s your turn to bid, tap Pass, Order up (or Pick up as dealer) or Alone. In round 2, tap the suit you want as trump.
- Tap a glowing card to play it. The bowers wear a crown, and the Left Bower sits with your trumps so you always know it is one.
- With hints on, tap a dimmed card to see why it can’t be played.