Work with your partner to collect at least least 3 tricks. Winning all five tricks is called a March, while picking the trump suit and failing to win at least three is getting Euchred.
Strategy
Rule bending is encouraged in Euchre, so if you can get away with signaling to your partner, or assuming the role of the dealer when it isn’t your turn — go for it. It only counts against you if you get caught.
How to Play:
- Euchre requires just 24 cards — Ace through 9 of each suit, so take out every card 2-8 and set them aside. Pair off into two teams of two players. As in Spades Table Talk is against the rules, and players are not allowed to communicate the details of their hand to their partner.
- Deal each player five cards, and place the remaining cards in the middle of the table. This is the Kitty.
- The dealer then turns the top card of the Kitty face up, and asks each player in turn if they would like that suit to be the trump suit for that hand, or if they would like to pass. By choosing that suit, that player declares that they and their partner will win the majority of tricks in the forthcoming hand. If that suit is chosen by any of the three players, or the dealer, the dealer then adds that card to their hand, and discards a card of their choosing back into the Kitty. If all four players pass, then each player, starting to the dealer’s left, is given the opportunity to choose the trump suit. The suit rejected in the initial round, however, may not be named. If all four players pass again, the dealer declares a mis-deal, collects the cards, shuffles and deals the hand again. A player can also choose to Go Alone, meaning that they believe they can win all 5 tricks without the help of their partner. If a player chooses to Go Alone, their partner discards their cards and does not participate in the hand.
- Once the trump suit is declared, all cards in that suit plus the jack in the corresponding suit of the same color become trump cards. In the trump suit, two jacks are the highest ranked cards (the suited jack is called the Right Bower, and the followed by A, K, Q, 10, 9). In the non-trump suits, the ranking is in the usual order A-9.
- The player to the dealer’s left begins by playing a card of their choosing. Like Spades or Hearts, the remaining players continue with a card of their choosing, following suit if possible. If they can’t follow suit they can either play a trump card, or discard a card of another suit.
- Once all cards have been played, score the hand as follows:
- Partnership making trump wins 3 or 4 tricks – 1 point
- Partnership making trump wins 5 tricks – 2 points
- Lone hand wins 3 or 4 tricks – 1 point
- Lone hand wins 5 tricks – 4 points
- Partnership or lone hand is euchred, opponents score 2 points
7. The first team to score 10 points wins the game.
