Uker, Youker, Euker: How Do You Spell Euchre?
Uker, youker, euker, yuker and ucher are all ways people type euchre, the four-player card game said YOO-ker. Same game, same two bowers, same five tricks. If you searched any of those spellings, this is the game you meant.
Play Euchre free
Said YOO-ker, spelled euchre
Two syllables, stress on the first. Nothing about the six letters e-u-c-h-r-e tells a new player that, so the game gets written the way it sounds, and the sound-alike spellings are what people type into a search box.
Why it is spelled that way
The most-cited origin is the Alsatian game Juckerspiel, carried to America by German-speaking immigrants. We give that as the standard account rather than settled fact, since card-game etymology is murky, but it explains the odd spelling. The word "bower" has the same German roots: Bauer, farmer.
Where people play it
In the United States the game is strongest in the Midwest, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio among them, and in upstate New York. In Canada it is played across a wide area from Nova Scotia west, Ontario included. It is also played in Cornwall, Devon and the Channel Islands in Britain, and in Australia and New Zealand, where the rules differ in small ways.
The game in one minute
Four players in two partnerships and a 24-card deck, nine through ace in each suit. One card is turned up to propose trump, and each player may order it up or pass. If all four pass, a second round lets any player name a different suit, and if that comes round to the dealer, the dealer is stuck and must name one (our tables play stick the dealer). The Jack of trump is the right bower, the highest card in the game, and the other Jack of the same colour is the left bower, second highest and counted as a trump. Five tricks a hand: three or four score the makers a point, all five is a march worth 2, and failing your own call means you are euchred and the other side scores 2. The maker can go alone, without a partner, for 4 points on a sweep. First team to 10 points wins.
One game, many house rules
Every region has its own version. Some tables throw the hand in when everyone passes twice. In Canada, Britain and Australia the dealer's partner who orders the dealer up has to go alone. British games play to 11 instead of 10. Our variants page goes through them and says which ones we play. The game here is the four-player North American game.
Uker questions
Is uker the same as euchre?
Yes. Uker is just the spelling that matches the sound, YOO-ker. Same bowers, same five tricks, same arguments.
How do you pronounce euchre?
YOO-ker. Two syllables, stress on the first. The spelling is a historical accident, not a pronunciation guide.
What is a bower?
One of the two most powerful cards in the hand. The Jack of the trump suit is the right bower; the Jack of the same colour is the left bower and counts as a trump. Our glossary covers the rest of the table talk.
What does being "euchred" mean?
The side that named trump failed to take three tricks, and the defenders score 2.
Can I play uker online free?
Yes, right here in the browser: against bots, or at a private table with friends. No download and no account.
Keep reading
- How to Play Euchre: the rules, in the order a hand is played.
- Euchre Terms: bowers, loners and table talk.
- Euchre Strategy: calling, leading and going alone.
- Euchre Variants: three-hand, British euchre, bid euchre and the house rules.
- Going Alone in Euchre: loner rules, scoring and defence.
- Euchre for 2 and 3 Players: 3-handed cutthroat rules and 2-handed euchre.