How to play euchre

The standard four-player game step by step, then the regional rules and the two-, three- and six-player versions.

These are the rules of the common North American game, explained in our own words. Euchre varies a lot from place to place, so each variation below is labelled: a table option is a rule whole regions play; a house rule is a local custom. Agree yours before the first deal.

Cards, players and the aim

• 24 cards: the A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9 of each suit. Put the rest of the pack aside (a few spares make good score markers).
• Four players, two teams. Partners sit opposite each other. Dealing, bidding and play all go to the left (clockwise).
• The aim: one side picks the trump suit and must then win at least three of the five tricks. The first side to 10 points wins.
• First dealer: any fair method. A popular one: deal cards face up around the table and the first player to get a black jack deals.

The deal and the up-card

1. The dealer shuffles and the player on the dealer's right cuts.
2. Deal five cards to each player, starting on the dealer's left, in two passes of twos and threes (for example 3‑2‑3‑2, then 2‑3‑2‑3).
3. The four cards left over are the kitty. Turn the top one face up: the up-card. Its suit is the first suit offered as trumps. The three cards under it stay hidden for the whole hand.

Bidding, round one: order it up or pass

Starting on the dealer's left, each player in turn may pass or accept the up-card's suit as trumps. An opponent of the dealer says "I order it up"; the dealer's partner may say "I assist"; the dealer says "I pick it up". Whoever accepts, their side become the makers (callers) and the other side are the defenders. Bidding stops at once.

The dealer then takes the up-card into their hand and discards any one card face down, so they have five again. If all four pass, the dealer turns the up-card face down and that suit can't be trumps this hand.

Bidding, round two: name a suit

Starting on the dealer's left again, each player may pass or name any suit except the one turned down. The first suit named is trumps. Nobody picks up a card in round two. If all four pass again, the cards are thrown in and the deal passes to the left (unless you play stick the dealer).

A suit the same colour as the turned-down card is called next. Calling next from the dealer's left is a popular habit, since the dealer turned that colour down.

Going alone

A player with a very strong hand may say "alone" when they make trumps. Their partner lays their cards face down and sits out, and the lone player plays both opponents. In this site's standard rules the player on the loner's left leads first (many tables keep the usual lead from the dealer's left instead; see below). If the dealer's partner orders up alone in round one, the dealer is the one who sits out, so nobody picks up the up-card.

A loner who takes all five tricks scores 4. Three or four tricks score 1, the same as with a partner; fewer than three and the defenders score 2.

The play

1. The player on the dealer's left leads to the first trick (unless someone is alone).
2. Everyone must follow suit if they can. Remember the left bower is a trump, not a card of its printed suit. If you can't follow, play anything, trump or not.
3. The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.
4. The winner of each trick leads to the next. Five tricks make a hand.

Trump order, highest first: right bower (jack of trumps), left bower (the other jack of the same colour), then A, K, Q, 10, 9 of trumps. See every suit on the trump order page, which can also tell you who won a trick.

Failing to follow suit when you could is a revoke (renege). The usual penalty is 2 points to the other side; agree the details at your table.

Scoring and winning

A euchre scores 2 whether or not the makers went alone, and whether the defenders took three tricks or all five. The first side to reach 10 wins; points are added at the end of a hand, so 9 plus a march is 11, and still a win. A side on 9 is "in the barn". Use the scorekeeper or a printable score card.

Regional rules and variations

Stick the dealer table option

If round two comes back to the dealer with no suit named, the dealer must name one (not the turned-down suit). No hand is ever thrown in. Also called "screw the dealer"; common in tournaments and progressive parties because it keeps the game moving.

Canadian loner table option

Played in Canada and also found in Britain and Australia: the dealer's partner may not order up the up-card to play with the dealer. They can make that suit trumps only by going alone, and the dealer then sits out. In round two the dealer's partner names a suit as normal.

Defending alone table option

When a maker goes alone, one defender may also go alone, so it's one against one. If the lone defender euchres the loner, it scores 4 instead of 2. When both are alone, the lone defender leads first. The scorekeeper has a switch for this rule.

Who leads against a loner table option

Some tables have the player on the loner's left lead; others keep the normal lead from the dealer's left (skipping the partner who sits out). It matters: a loner who gets the first lead can cash their winners straight away.

Farmer's hand house rule

A hand of nothing but 9s and 10s (some allow one higher card) may be shown before bidding, for a redeal or to swap three cards with the hidden kitty cards. The details vary a lot; agree them first.

Super-euchre house rule

If the makers take no tricks at all, the defenders score 4 instead of 2.

The benny (joker) table option

Add a joker to make 25 cards. It is the benny or best bower: the highest trump of all, above the right bower, whatever suit is trumps, so trumps have eight cards. In the British game, if the joker is turned up, the dealer names trumps and the dealer's side are the makers. Some groups use the 2 of spades in place of a joker.

32 cards table option

Add the 8s and 7s below the 9s. Everyone still gets five cards, so twelve stay out of play and it's much harder to tell where the high cards are. Common in New Zealand.

Game to 5, 7 or 11 table option

Ten is usual in North America; 11 is common in Britain, Australia and New Zealand; 5 or 7 make a short game.

No trump and low house rule

Borrowed from bid euchre: some groups let a player call "no trump" (jacks are ordinary cards) or "low" (no trumps and every suit ranks upside down, 9 high). Not part of standard euchre; agree how they score.

Two, three and six players

Three players: cut-throat euchre

Several games share the name. In one long-established form everyone gets five cards and bids as usual; the maker plays alone against the other two, who team up for that hand. The maker scores 1 for three or four tricks and 3 for a march; if euchred, each opponent scores 2. Everyone keeps their own score.

Buck euchre (dirty clubs) is a different three- or four-player game where everyone plays for themselves and counts down from a starting total. Its rules vary widely.

Two players

An old two-handed game uses 32 cards: five each, the next card turned up, and bidding much as in the four-hand game. Makers score 1 for three or four tricks and 2 for five; a euchre gives the other player 2; game is 5. A modern 24-card version deals each player two hands of five and lets them swap the first for the second before bidding.

Six players

Two teams of three sitting alternately, with sevens and eights added (or two packs). A march or a euchre then scores 3, and a lone march 6.

Euchre tools