How to Play Euchre: Card Game Rules
How to play euchre, in short: four players in two partnerships get five cards each from a 24-card deck (9 through Ace), and the dealer turns the next card face up. Starting at the dealer's left, each player either orders that card's suit up as trump or passes. If all four pass, the card is turned down and each player may name one of the other three suits. At our tables the dealer must name one if it comes all the way round again.
The side that made trump (the makers) needs 3 of the 5 tricks. The Jack of trump (the right bower) and the other Jack of the same colour (the left bower) are the two highest trumps. Makers score 1 point for 3 or 4 tricks and 2 for all five. If they take fewer than 3 they are euchred and the defenders score 2. The first team to 10 points wins.
The full euchre rules follow in the order a hand is played, starting from the moment everyone looks at the up-card. Where home games disagree, we say which way our tables go.
Round one: order it up or pass
The dealer gives everyone five cards in packets of two and three, then turns the next card face up on top of the four that are left (the kitty). That up-card proposes trump. Nobody has to accept it.
- The player on the dealer's left speaks first: "order it up" makes the up-card's suit trump, or they pass.
- The dealer's partner is next. Ordering your own dealer up is called assisting.
- Then the player on the dealer's right.
- The dealer speaks last and can pick the card up or turn it down.
As soon as anyone orders it up, the dealer takes the up-card into their hand and discards one card face down. The player who ordered it and their partner are the makers. Ordering it up always gives the dealer a trump, which helps your side when the dealer is your partner and hands a card to the other side when they aren't.
Round two: name a suit, or the dealer is stuck
If all four pass, the up-card is turned face down and its suit can't be trump this hand. Starting again on the dealer's left, each player may name any of the other three suits, or pass.
If the first three pass again, our tables stick the dealer: the dealer has to name a suit, so every hand gets played. The basic rule, as Pagat gives it, is different: a second round of passes throws the hand in and the deal moves on. Pagat lists stick the dealer among the North American variations and notes it is often played when time is short.
Going alone, before the first lead
Once trump is fixed, the player who made it may go alone. Their partner puts their cards face down and sits the hand out, so three people play the five tricks. A lone maker who takes all five scores 4 instead of 2. Our going alone page covers when it pays.
At our tables only the maker is offered a loner. Some groups also let a defender "defend alone"; we don't deal that option.
The bowers: two Jacks on top
Say hearts are trump. The trump suit, high to low, becomes:
J♥ (right bower) · J♦ (left bower, now a heart) · A♥ · K♥ · Q♥ · 10♥ · 9♥
The J♦ belongs to hearts for the whole hand. If it is your only heart you must play it on a heart lead, it can't follow a diamond lead, and only the J♥ beats it. That makes seven trumps in the deck and leaves diamonds with five cards.
Playing the five tricks
- The player on the dealer's left leads the first trick. If that player is sitting out behind a loner, the next player round leads instead.
- Follow the led suit if you can, counting the left bower as trump and never as its printed suit.
- If you can't follow, play anything. Trumping is allowed but never required.
- The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the highest card of the led suit wins. Whoever wins leads the next trick.
Euchre scoring: points for each hand
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Makers take 3 or 4 tricks | 1 |
| Makers take all 5 (a march) | 2 |
| Makers take fewer than 3 (euchred) | defenders 2 |
| Lone maker takes all 5 | 4 |
| Lone maker takes 3 or 4 | 1 |
First team to 10 points wins. Against the bots you can also pick a shorter game to 7. Being euchred hurts twice: you score nothing and the other side gets 2.
House rules that start arguments
- Stick the dealer, or throw it in
- Covered above. Our tables stick the dealer.
- The dealer's partner must go alone
- In Britain, Canada, Australia and parts of New Zealand, a dealer's partner who orders the dealer up has to play the hand alone. Common US practice lets the partner assist and play the hand as a normal partnership. Our tables play it the US way.
- Game to 10 or 11
- North American euchre is played to 10. The British game is normally played to 11, and Australian and New Zealand tables commonly do the same. We play to 10.
The farmer's hand, defending alone and railroading are on the euchre variants page.
Your first calls
- Count trump as seven cards, and always ask where the left bower is.
- Three trumps plus an off-suit ace is the classic hand to order it up. Two small trumps is a pass.
- Lead trump as the maker; lead an off-suit ace as a defender.
- Both bowers plus an ace is the textbook loner.
- Stuck as dealer? Name your longest suit, ideally one where you hold a bower.
More on each of these in euchre strategy.
Euchre rules questions
What exactly is the left bower?
The Jack of the same colour as trump. With spades trump, the J♣ is the left bower: it counts as a spade, and only the J♠ beats it. It never counts as a club while spades are trump.
What does "euchred" mean?
The makers failed to take three tricks, so the defenders score 2.
What if everyone passes twice?
Our tables stick the dealer: they must name a suit, any suit except the one turned down. Some home games throw the hand in and redeal instead.
Can the defenders go alone?
Not at our tables. Only the player who made trump is offered a loner. Some groups allow a defender to go alone, often only against a lone maker; British rules let either side play alone.
Why only 24 cards?
That is the standard euchre deck, 9 through Ace in four suits. It keeps trump dense: with the left bower, seven of the 24 cards are trump in every hand.
Why did the game play a card for me?
Against the bots, when exactly one card is legal, it is played for you after a short pause. In online games, a turn that runs out of time gets your lowest legal card.
Can you go alone in Euchre, and what is it worth?
Yes, if you made trump. Declare it before the first lead and your partner sits the hand out. Taking all five tricks alone scores 4 points instead of 2; taking three or four still scores the normal 1.
How many points do you need to win Euchre?
10 points is the North American standard and our default. British games usually play to 11. Games against the bots can also be set to 7.
Keep reading
- Euchre Strategy: when to order up, pass or go alone.
- Euchre Variants: the house rules and which ones we play.
- Euchre Terms: bowers, loners and table talk.
- Going Alone in Euchre: loner rules, scoring and defence.
- Euchre for 2 and 3 Players: 3-handed cutthroat rules and 2-handed euchre.