Euchre is a trick-taking game that originated with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the late nineteenth century. Today, Euchre is a favorite card game that’s played in many clubs and organizations on a regular basis. It’s a fun and fast-paced game that’s not difficult to learn. Euchre is a blend of chance and skill.
Basically, Euchre is played with a regular deck of cards. However, the Euchre deck consists of only twenty-four cards. Because the deuces through the eights have been removed. This leaves the nines, tens, jacks, queens, kings, and aces. A six and a four of any suit can be used as point counters for each team.
This game is played with four people. Each player has a partner who sits in the seat across from them. Each player takes a turn dealing, and the deal is passed clock-wise around the table. Every hand that is dealt consists of five playing cards. The cards are dealt in sets of three then two, or viceversa.
After the hand is dealt, the dealer turns up the next card and places it on top of the remaining four cards in the deck. At this time, each Euchre player should arrange his or her cards by suit. To start out, aces are the highest, then kings, and so on. But, after trump is made, this ranking will change slightly.
The object of Euchre is for each team to take as many tricks as possible during each hand.
To further explain the game of Euchre, let’s play a dummy hand:
Let’s say the dealer turned up the jack of spades. Player #1 to the dealer’s left begins the play.
He/She has no spades in their hand, so they pass. Player #2 is the dealer’s partner. If he or she orders up the spade, then their partner (the dealer) will pick the card up, then discard from their hand. But, player #2 has two low spades, and no off-suit aces to help, so they pass too. Player #3 has one spade and two off aces, but they decide to pass also. The dealer has enough spades in their hand to make them think they can take all five tricks. So he or she picks the jack of spades up, discards, and announces they are “playing it alone.” This means the dealer’s partner sits out this hand.
Now that trump has been made, the ranking of the cards has changed slightly. The trump suit ranks from highest to lowest in this order- Jack of spades, or right bower, Jack of clubs, or left bower, ace of spades, and on down the line. When trump is called, the other red or black jack becomes trump also as the second highest trump card.
The player to the dealer’s left leads, and each player follows suit. If a player doesn’t have the lead suit, then trump may be played. Remember, trump cards outrank all other cards.
If you call trump, either by picking up the face-up card, or by ordering the dealer to pickup the card, then your team must take at least three tricks to get one point. If you play the hand “alone”, then you must win all five of the tricks to get four points for that hand. If you play the hand alone and only win three tricks, then your team gets one point. Each Euchre game is played until one team reaches a total of ten points.
On the other hand, so to speak, if you call trump and the other team takes at least three tricks, then you and your partner have been “Euchered.” The opposing team then gets two points.
If all the players would have passed the turned up spade in the example, then the player to the dealer’s left would have had the chance to call trump. He or she could have made any suit- other than spades because it was already passed- trump. If he or she passed, the option would have continued its way clock-wise around the table. If no player calls trump, then the hands are thrown in, and the deal is passed to the next player.
Now that you have learned the basic plays in the game of Euchre, let’s learn some valuable tips that can help you play like a pro!
Tip 1. – Lead Trump and Disarm Your Opponent
If you have called trump, then you should lead with the highest ranking trump card you have. This will effectively pull trump out of your opponents’ hands. Follow through with the next highest trump you have, and so on.
Tip 2. – Don’t Lead Trump for Your Opponent
When your opponent calls the suit for trump, and it’s your turn to lead, it’s best not to lead trump. Lead an off-suit ace instead. This way, you’re not pulling trump from your partner’s hand. The only exception to this rule is if you think you have enough trump in your hand to euchre the other team.
Tip 3. – Count On Your Partner
As a rule of thumb, you should count on your partner to take one trick. That means, if you’re deciding to make trump or not, and you’re sure you can win two tricks out of the minimal three, go ahead and call trump. Chances are, unless your partner has a really crummy hand, that he or she can win the third trick.
This tip can also help you make trump by simply having a right bower and one low trump in your hand. How? If you can take a trick without using your bower, then you know your bower will take a trick too. Count on your partner for the third trick, and you’ve gained a point!
Tip 4. – An Effective Loner Stopper
When one of your opponents is playing alone, you and your partner want to take at least one trick in order to stop them. Your first thought may be to lead your highest card in effort to thwart their
attempts. This is usually a bad idea. Instead, try leading a card in a suit that you have several of.
Chances are, since you have several, no one else has that suit. This could give your partner the chance to trump over the opponent’s card in that hand.
Tip 5. – Pay Attention and Keep Track
This is the last, but certainly not the least important, rule of Euchre. You need to keep your eyes open and watch what cards are played when. Keep track of these cards in your mind, especially the trump cards! This tip will help you know when to play the right cards… and win!
