Euchre Rules, Bowers and Score Keeper

The deck and the deal

Take the 9s, 10s, jacks, queens, kings and aces out of a standard deck. Partners sit across from each other. The dealer gives each player 5 cards in two passes going left: 3 then 2 to each player, or 2 then 3, as long as everyone ends with 5. The 4 cards left over (the kitty) go face down in the middle, and the dealer turns the top one face up. The deal passes one seat to the left after every hand.

Choosing trump

1. Round one. Starting left of the dealer, each player either passes or tells the dealer to pick up the turned card. Any player can do it, including an opponent of the dealer. That card's suit becomes trump. The dealer adds the card to their hand and discards one card face down.
2. Round two. If all four pass, the dealer turns the card face down. Starting left of the dealer again, each player may name any other suit as trump, or pass. The turned-down suit is off limits for this hand.
3. All pass twice. Under the standard rules, throw the hand in and the next player deals. Many tables play stick the dealer instead (see house rules).

The team that chose trump is the makers; the other team defends. The player who chooses trump may also say they are going alone. Their partner puts their cards face down and sits out the hand.

How the cards rank

In the trump suit the order is: jack of trump (right bower), the other jack of the same color (left bower), then A, K, Q, 10, 9. That makes 7 trumps. In the other three suits the order is A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, except that the suit sharing trump's color has lost its jack and has only 5 cards.

The left bower is the one that causes arguments. If spades are trump, the J♣ is a spade for that whole hand. When clubs are led you cannot play the J♣ to follow suit, and when spades are led you must play it if it is your only spade. The trump helper above shows the order for all four suits.

Playing a hand

The player to the dealer's left leads the first card. Everyone must follow the suit that was led if they can, counting the left bower as trump. If you cannot follow suit, you may play a trump or throw away any other card. The highest trump wins the trick; with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads the next trick. Play all 5 tricks, then score.

When someone goes alone, the references disagree on the first lead. Bicycle keeps the lead with the player left of the dealer, passing it to the next player around if that player is the one sitting out. Pagat has the player on the lone player's left lead. Pick one and stick to it.

Example, hearts trump: West leads the A♦. North follows with the 9♦, East has no diamonds and plays the J♦, South plays the K♦. East wins. The J♦ was a heart this hand, so East was out of diamonds and allowed to trump with it.

A few things good players do

• Count to 7. There are only 7 trumps, and 4 cards stay in the kitty. Once you have seen 5 or 6 trumps played, the rest are easy to place.
• Lead trump when you made it and hold the right bower. Pulling the opponents' trumps protects your aces in the other suits.
• Call next. In the second round, the player left of the dealer often names the suit of the same color as the card that was turned down. The reason: the dealer chose not to pick up a card of that color, which hints the dealer is short of it, including its two jacks, and those same two jacks are the bowers for both suits of that color. This is a habit, not a rule.
• Go alone with the top three trumps or close to it. 4 points for a lone march is the fastest way to 10, and taking 3 or 4 tricks alone still scores 1.

Euchre scoring

The first team to 10 wins. Shorter games to 5 or 7 are common. Only one team scores per hand, so the finish never ties.

Keeping score with two cards

The traditional way to keep Euchre score uses no paper. Each team takes two cards left over from stripping the deck, usually a 5 and a 6 (some tables use a 4 and a 6). One card lies face up, and the other lies face down across it, covering some of its pips. The number of pips you can see is the team's score; slide the top card to show one more pip each time you score. Once you pass what one card can show, flip the cards around and keep counting on the second one. Exact layouts differ from table to table.

House rules

These are common but not universal. Agree on them before the first deal.

• Stick the dealer. If the first three players pass in round two, the dealer may not pass and must name a trump suit. No hand is thrown in. Pagat lists it as a variant.
• Farmer's hand. A player dealt a very weak hand, usually defined as nothing higher than a 10 (some tables say three 9s or 10s), may show three of those cards and swap them for the three face-down cards in the kitty before bidding starts. Versions differ on the details; some tables simply redeal.
• Defending alone. A defender may announce they will play alone against the makers. If they euchre the makers, their team scores 4 instead of 2. The keeper has a switch for this.
• Dealer's partner alone. If the dealer's partner orders the card up and goes alone, tables differ on whether the dealer still swaps in the turned card before sitting out. Settle it before it comes up.
• Shorter game. Play to 5 or 7 when time is short. The keeper offers both.

Euchre is built for four. Two- and three-player versions exist, but several different rule sets go by those names and neither of our references gives a standard one, so we do not cover them here. For two people, our card games for 2 list has games that work properly with two.

Euchre questions

What is the left bower in Euchre?

The jack of the other suit with the same color as trump. If hearts are trump, the J♦ is the left bower. It is the second-highest card, it counts as a heart for the whole hand, and it is no longer a diamond.

How many points do you get for going alone in Euchre?

A player who goes alone and takes all 5 tricks scores 4 points for the team. Going alone and taking 3 or 4 tricks scores 1, the same as a normal made bid. Getting euchred alone gives the other team 2.

What happens if everyone passes twice?

Under the standard rules the hand is thrown in and the deal passes to the next player. Many tables use "stick the dealer" instead, where the dealer must name a trump suit when the bidding comes back around the second time.

Can you call the same suit as the turned-down card?

No. Once the turn-up is turned down, its suit cannot be named as trump in the second round. Any of the other three suits can be.

How many points do you need to win Euchre?

The usual game is 10 points. Five and seven are common shorter games. Only one team scores on each hand, so there are no ties at the finish.