How to play Euchre

A 24-card pack: from a standard deck, keep the 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A of each suit. Four players in two partnerships, sitting opposite. Two spare 5s or 6s are traditional for keeping score.

Be the first partnership to 10 points, scored by winning at least three of the five tricks in a hand—especially when your side chose trumps.

1. 1Deal five cards to each player in batches of two and three.
2. 2Place the remaining four cards face down and turn the top one face up: this up-card proposes trumps.
3. 3In trumps, cards rank: right bower (jack of trumps), left bower (the other jack of the same color, which counts as a trump), then A, K, Q, 10, 9. Other suits rank A, K, Q, J, 10, 9.

1. 1Starting at the dealer’s left, each player either passes or accepts the up-card’s suit as trumps (“I order it up”); the dealer, last to speak, can accept by taking it up. Whoever accepts, the dealer adds the up-card to their hand and discards one card.
2. 2If everyone passes, the up-card is turned down. In a second round, each player may name any other suit as trumps, or pass. If all pass again, the hand is thrown in and the next player deals.
3. 3The side that chose trumps are the makers. Before play, the player who chose may go alone, with their partner sitting out the hand.
4. 4The player at the dealer’s left leads. Follow suit if you can (remember the left bower belongs to the trump suit); otherwise play any card. The highest trump wins, or the highest card of the suit led.

• Makers who win three or four tricks score 1 point; all five (a march) scores 2; all five by a lone player scores 4.
• If the makers take fewer than three tricks they are euchred, and the defenders score 2.
• The first side to 10 points wins.

• Stick the dealer: if the first three players pass in the second round, the dealer must name trumps.
• Some groups play to 11 or 15, or add a joker (the “benny”) as the highest trump.
• Bid Euchre and Pepper add bidding on how many tricks you will take.

• Count the bowers: a hand with both bowers and one more trump usually wins three tricks.
• As dealer, the up-card is extra strength for you—your opponents ordering it up is riskier than you taking it.
• Lead trumps when your side made it; save your aces to cash later when trumps are gone.