Euchre is my "family game" on my dad's side. It's a
great game for family gatherings because once learned
it's easy to play on "auto-pilot" and chat while
playing.
Once you know the heuristics, it's mostly luck, but
it still manages to be very entertaining with the
potential for great swings in score.
## Setup
Remove 2-8 of all suits from the deck (leaving 9-Ace,
24 cards total).
Split into two teams of two, sitting across from your
partner.
Decide which player should go first (see "Extra Bits").
## Goal
Be the first team to 10 points.
## Play
Points are scored by winning hands, which are won by
winning the majority of "tricks" in a hand. Read on
for definitions.
### The Basics: Hands, Tricks, and Trump
Euchre is a trick taking game: players play one card
from their hand (one at a time, clockwise) and the
highest card wins "the trick".
Each "hand" of euchre deals 5 cards to each player, so a
"hand" consists of 5 "tricks".
The first trick starts with the player to the left of the
dealer "leading" and goes clockwise in order. The winner
of the "trick" takes the cards (to keep track of the win)
and is the player to lead the next trick.
In Euchre, you *must follow suit if you can*. So if hearts
are led, you must play a heart if you have one.
Only cards of the led suit (or the trump suit, which is
determined during the deal phase) can win a trick. Any
cards of another suit, regardless of face value, can not
win the trick (but could win a future trick, if their
suit is led).
Aces are high, so within a suit the ordering is:
9 < 10 < J < Q < K < A
However, the chosen trump suit has a different ordering:
9 < 10 < Q < K < A < JC < J
Where JC is the "jack of the same color". The JC *acts
like the trump suit for all following purposes for the
duration of the hand*.
I'll repeat since this is the most confusing rule:
> The Jack of the same color as the trump suit
> behaves as if it were the same suit as trump
> for all following purposes.
For example, if Hearts are trump, then the Jack of Diamonds
becomes the second highest card for the duration of the
hand and must be treated like a Heart (i.e. if hearts
are led and the JoD is your only heart, it must be played!
If diamonds are played, the Jack need not be played).
The winner of the trick is then determined by:
1. The highest card of trump suit played (if any)
2. The highest card of the led suit
And remember: the only way to play trump on a trick where
trump wasn't led is if you don't have any of the led suit
(you are "short suited").
### How to Select the Trump Suit
Deal 5 cards to each player. Players can look at their
own cards but can't share them.
Of the four remaining cards, the dealer flips the top one
face up. The remaining 3 are hidden for the duration of
the hand. The flipped card is the "trump candidate".
Starting to the left of the dealer and going clockwise,
each player states whether they would like the candidate
suit to be named trump, at which point the voting stops.
The two outcomes are then:
A. A player tells the dealer to "pick it" (declaring the
candidate trump), and optionally chooses to "play alone"
B. All players pass (do not wish the suit to be trump)
In the case of (A), the dealer must pick the flipped card
and swap it for a card of their choosing in their hand
(which is discarded without revealing it). The suit of
the picked card will be trump for the hand and the player
who "ordered" the dealer to pick it is the team "making
it" (relevant for Scoring). If the player calling trump
chooses to play alone, their partner is skipped for the
hand (and should keep their cards hidden).
If all players, including the dealer, pass (B), the dealer
turns down the card and begins the second round of trump
selection: starting with the left of the dealer, each
player has the chance to choose any suit *other than the
suit just turned down* to be trump. This stops at the first
player to choose a suit. Like before, the player choosing
the suit is "making it" (and can choose to play alone),
but unlike before the dealer does not get to swap a card.
If the second round concludes with all passes (including
the dealer), the hand is "thrown in". The player to the
left of the dealer becomes the new dealer and we start
again.
### Scoring a Hand
There are 5 tricks per hand, and the goal is to win the
majority (3/5), but bonus points are given in certain
circumstances.
The score is determined by:
* Whether the winning team chose the trump suit
* Whether the winning team played alone
* Whether all the tricks were won
Since only the calling team can choose to play alone,
there's really only two outcomes.
1. If the team "making trump" (called trump) wins:
* 3 or 4 tricks: 1 point
* 5 tricks together: 2 points
* 5 tricks alone: 4 points
2. If the team who did not call trump wins, 2 points
are given to that team regardless of number of tricks
The team with the minority of tricks (0/1/2) gets 0 points.
### Starting the Next Hand
After the hand is scored, the player to the left of the
dealer becomes the new dealer and a new hand begins
with a new round of voting on trump suit.
### Extra Bits
Rules I've always seen played:
* During trump selection, the dealer must have one
of the same suit to pick the card ("have one to pick it")
Some rules my family plays:
* If the dealer's partner orders the dealer to "pick it"
(first round trump), they must play alone (without the
dealer)
* To decide who goes first at the start, we play "first
Jack": the deck is shuffled and cards are flipped in
front of each player until a Jack is shown; that player
gets the first deal.
Rules I've heard of but don't play:
* "Shit on the dealer": The dealer must call a suit at
the end of the second round (no "throw in"s allowed).
* "Ace no face": a player having one ace and 4 9's and
10's may declare "ace no face" to force a throw-in.
Tips on scorekeeping:
* You could use pen and paper, but my family always uses
the 2 and 3 cards (which are not needed for play). They
can count to 10 by counting 1 point for every suit
symbol shown and adding 5 points if the cards are
crossed.
## Terminology
If you play long enough you may come across these terms:
* "Right Bower": Jack of trump (also: "The Right")
* "Left bower": Jack of same color as trump (also:
"The Left")
* "Making Trump": The team to call trump is said to
be "making trump"
* "Getting Set" or "Euched": when the team not making
trump wins, the team that was making trump is said
to have been "euched" or "set"
## General Heuristics / Strategy
* "Grandpa Bill's Rule": if you turn a Jack, pick it! (named
after my great grandpa Bill). Generally works since you
have a guaranteed one (the Jack), and you have to have
one in your hand to pick it--you can usually short-suit
yourself by discarding strategically when picking the
Jack and if that suit is led you can play your other
trump. Then, count on your partner for one!
* "Count on your partner for one": if you have a guaranteed
two, call it!
* "Don't trump your partner's ace": if you're ever the third
in a trick and your partner is leading with an Ace of the
led suit, don't trump it! The odds that the final opponent
has trump and can play it (doesn't have to follow suit)
are not worth it (plus, if they can, the odds are high they
can over-trump you, making your trump a waste).
* If you have a guaranteed three, try it alone (the upside
of the 4 points vs the 2 points of bringing your partner
along makes it worthwhile).
* Being the dealer is an advantage! You have the chance
to ditch a lousy card or shortsuit yourself and pick up
a trump card.
* "Euchre Gloaters Never Win": for my Uncle Andy; don't
gloat about being in the lead until you've truly won!
A 9-0 game is still just two loners from anyone's game!
